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Je lisais quand une branche est tombée.

Je lisais quand une branche est tombée.
I was reading when a branch fell.
From Lesson 133:Past tense contrast: interruptions·French

Breakdown of Je lisais quand une branche est tombée.

je
I
quand
when
lire
to read
tomber
to fall
la branche
the branch

Questions & Answers about Je lisais quand une branche est tombée.

Why do we use lisais (Imparfait) for the first part and est tombée (Passé Composé) for the second?
This is a classic interrupted action sentence! Je lisais (I was reading) sets the background scene, which is an ongoing action in the past. The phrase est tombée (fell) is the sudden, specific event that interrupts that background. We use the Imparfait for the background and the Passé Composé for the interruption.
Why is the helping verb est instead of a for the verb tomber?
Most verbs use avoir in the Passé Composé, but tomber is one of the special motion verbs (often remembered with the Dr. & Mrs. Vandertramp list). These verbs always use être as their helper verb, which is why it is est tombée and not a tombé.
Why is there an extra e at the end of tombée?
Because tomber uses être as its helper verb, its past participle must match the gender and number of the subject doing the action. The subject here is une branche, which is feminine and singular. So, we add an -e to tombé to make it tombée.
What role does quand play here?
The word quand means when, and it acts as the bridge between the ongoing background action and the sudden interruption. You will very often see quand right before the Passé Composé in sentences like this, signaling that the interrupting event is about to happen.

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