Talking About Past Life Changes in French: Moving and Changing Jobs
Learn elementary French to say you moved to a new city or changed jobs, and to share how you felt about those past changes.
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In this lesson you will learn to talk about changes that already happened in your life: moving to a new city and changing jobs. In French, these are usually expressed with the passé composé, a past tense built from a helping verb plus a past participle. You will practise the verbs déménager (to move house), changer (to change) and commencer (to start), and you will add simple feeling words so you can say whether the change was easy, difficult or exciting.
By the end, you can…
- say that I moved to a new city and name the city.
- say that I changed jobs and when it happened.
- describe how I felt about a past change using simple adjectives.
- ask another person about a recent move or job change.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
J'ai déménagé à Lyon l'année dernière.
I moved to Lyon last year.
zhay day-may-nah-ZHAY ah lee-ON lah-nay der-NYEHR
Use déménager for moving house or apartment, not for moving an object. The passé composé uses avoir: j'ai déménagé.
J'ai changé de travail en mars.
I changed jobs in March.
zhay shahn-ZHAY duh trah-VYE ahn MARS
French says changer de travail, with de, not changer mon travail. Use en plus a month for a past date.
J'étais un peu stressé(e) au début.
I was a bit stressed at the beginning.
zhay-TAY un puh stress-AY oh day-BOO
Add -e to stressé if the speaker is female: stressée. Au début means at the start of that period.
C'était une bonne décision.
It was a good decision.
say-TAY ewn bun day-see-ZYON
C'était is the imperfect of être and describes your opinion of the whole situation, not a single event.
Tu as déménagé quand ?
When did you move?
tew ah day-may-nah-ZHAY kahn
Informal question to a friend (tu). Word order stays the same; the question word goes at the end.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
For completed past changes, use avoir plus a past participle: j'ai déménagé (I moved), j'ai changé (I changed), j'ai commencé (I started). For feelings and background at that time, use the imperfect: j'étais content(e) (I was happy), c'était difficile (it was difficult). Example: J'ai déménagé en 2022 et j'étais très nerveux. Notice that déménager takes avoir, not être, in this meaning.
When to use it
Use the passé composé for the change itself, because it is a finished event: J'ai changé de travail. Use the imperfect for how you felt during that period: J'étais triste de quitter mes amis. To give a date, use en plus a year (en 2021) or a month (en mai), and l'année dernière for last year. Do not use the present for these past events: J'ai déménagé, not Je déménage, when the move is finished.
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Salut ! J'ai déménagé à Nantes le mois dernier.
Hi! I moved to Nantes last month.sah-LEW zhay day-may-nah-ZHAY ah NAHNT luh mwa der-NYAYAh bon ? Et tu as changé de travail aussi ?
Really? And did you change jobs too?ah BON ay tew ah shahn-ZHAY duh trah-VYE oh-SEEOui, j'ai commencé un nouveau poste en avril. J'étais stressé au début.
Yes, I started a new position in April. I was stressed at the beginning.wee zhay koh-mahn-SAY un noo-VOH POST ahn ah-VREEL zhay-TAY stress-AY oh day-BOOC'est courageux ! Moi, j'ai déménagé il y a deux ans, et c'était une bonne décision.
That's brave! As for me, I moved two years ago, and it was a good decision.say koo-rah-ZHUH mwah zhay day-may-nah-ZHAY eel ee ah duh ahn ay say-TAY ewn bun day-see-ZYONA little context goes a long way
In everyday French conversation, il y a plus a time expression (il y a deux ans) is the normal way to say 'ago' and is more common in speech than a precise date. The informal tu is standard between friends and colleagues of similar age; with a new boss or an older stranger, use vous: Vous avez déménagé quand ? Note that déménager is used in both France and Quebec, but in Quebec you may also hear the verb emménager for moving into a new home.
One thing to watch for
Je suis déménagé à Paris.
Try this instead: Déménager uses avoir in the passé composé: J'ai déménagé à Paris. A small group of verbs (aller, venir, arriver, partir, rester, etc.) use être, but déménager is not one of them. Compare: Je suis allé à Paris (I went to Paris) versus J'ai déménagé à Paris (I moved to Paris).
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you say 'I changed jobs in May' in French?
Show a sample answer
J'ai changé de travail en mai.
Changer de travail is the fixed expression, and en mai gives the month. J'ai changé mon travail would sound like you altered the job itself, so it is not the natural choice.
2Which tense fits: J'___ (être) très content quand j'ai déménagé ?
Show a sample answer
J'étais très content quand j'ai déménagé.
The imperfect étais describes your feeling during that past period, while the passé composé ai déménagé marks the completed event. J'ai été content is possible but suggests a brief moment rather than a lasting feeling.
3Ask a friend informally when they moved.
Show a sample answer
Tu as déménagé quand ?
With tu, the simplest informal question keeps normal word order and puts quand at the end. You may also hear Quand est-ce que tu as déménagé ?, which is equally correct.
Use j'ai déménagé and j'ai changé de travail for finished past changes, and j'étais or c'était for how you felt at the time.
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