EuroTrash Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Hi, I hope someone is going to tell me the answer to this:If you're giving a fairly formal talk to a group of people, and you want to kick off by relating a sequence of events, would you do it in the perfect or the past historic? I'm hoping the perfect would be acceptable, I'd find past historics hard as I never use them. I'm starting to think I've bitten off more than I can chew :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 I think that it is ok to use the passé composé in an oral presentation, even though the simple past would be perfect ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Norman,You can be just tooo clever at times!I thought the past historic was only used for writing, not talking, otherwise perfect or imperfect depending on meaning for past tenses .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allanb Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 NormanH: I would go further than that and say that the passé composé would be not just acceptable, but normal. I think the "past historic" is really quite unusual in French speech (unless, of course, the speaker is reading from a text). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 I agree with you all that the passé composé is usual in oral use, and perfectly acceptable in the circumstances.However, the OP said "fairly formal talk to a group of people, and you want to kick off by relating a sequence of events,"and the tense used for formal narration is the passé simple..That's why I think it could be used in this particular case.It also gives the sense that things have definitively finished. There used to be rule that if it happened over 24 hours ago it was told in the passé simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTrash Posted October 9, 2011 Author Share Posted October 9, 2011 Thanks for that, it's a great relief as I had started writing it out in the passé composé, and then yesterday I happened to notice that something I was listening to on the radio was all in the past historic (it was someone summarising a singer's biography). Which put me into a panic.allanb, I probably will be reading it all out from my notes but I'll be trying to look as if I'm not ...Edit - sorry, crossed with N's last post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Yes you do hear it on the radio or TV when a biography or an account of an historical event is narrated. In a way that doesn't count as everyday speech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Not wishing to throw a spanner in the works here, but I notice that when guides are taking you round a historic building, they talk about the history in the present - or even the future - tense! "Louis XIV va dire a sa femme...." [8-)]Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 The past historic would mark you out as a very very formal speaker (although I agree that you do hear it on occasions especially the PH of être. Personally I would avoid it.M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 If I were listening to a talk (or reading a paper on something, for that matter) - I think I'd be more likely to enjoy it and respond to it if the speaker/writer was comfortable with the language, rather than being absolutely precise with it. Thus, I'd use the tense which comes the most naturally to you. The important thing is to interest and inform the audience - then they'll forgive the odd gramatical error/quirk, imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTrash Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Thanks all. Loiseau, I think maybe I'll leave the fancy tense-shifting stuff for next time (and there won't be a next time!!!). Cooperlola, I'm going to cling on hard to your comment cos they'll have plenty of oddities, grammatical errors, quirks and franglicisms to forgive, so let's hope my natural charm and enthusiasm will win the day.Incidentally, what's French for "Unnaccustomed as I am to public speaking ..."? !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 [quote user="EuroTrash"]let's hope my natural charm and enthusiasm will win the day. [/quote]Bound to![:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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