Question

Why is it in French it's called the "perfect" tense and "imperfect" tense?

Answer 1

In french there are many varying past tenses. Two of them that I have learned are the imperfect and passe compose. The imperfect distingushes in english went to the store and was going to the store. One discribes the journey to the store and one only tells you that you arrived and were physically at the store. The imperfect is a discription or a periode of time. hope this helps

Answer 2

My teacher always described the difference by talking about a camera. If the film was still rolling , eg I was eating when... Then it is the imperfect. If it is a photo that has been taken, ie the action has ended then it is the perfect, eg I ate a cake - I am not still eating it, the action has ended.
Hope that helps a bit!