Passé composé vs Imparfait French past tenses

Question

The following quoted material appears at: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait/ 
All in the past vs Relevance to present
Imparfait describes something that is entirely in the past.
Il voulait toujours être médecin. He always wanted (used to want) to be a doctor.J’y mangeais souvent. I often ate there / I used to eat there often (but never again).
Passé composé explains something that started in the past and continues today.
Il a toujours voulu être médecin. He has always wanted to be a doctor.J’y ai souvent mangé. I have often eaten there (and might again).
Are you sure you don't have this in reverse? It seems like the passé composé would be used for the finished actions in the quote above.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Sydney, 
It helps to think about the fact that the passé composé is equivalent to 3 different English tenses:
Simple past: I ateEmphatic past: I did eatPresent perfect: I have eaten
All of the above are equivalent to J'ai mangé, but the third in particular makes the relationship between the present and past explicit. 
Likewise for J'ai voulu - This means "I have wanted" but we don't say that; we just say "I wanted." That's also how we translate Je voulais, so it's important to consider again the three English translations of the passe composé to remember that when there's a connection to the present, you need the passé composé, not the imparfait.

Answer

Hi Sydney, 
This is one for Laura so I will alert her to it but I am not sure about her availability. 
These are best addressed directly on her website.
Bonne Continuation !

Answer

Sydney,

will leave it for Laura to explain, but the examples are definitely correct as given.

The use/choice of ‘ tense ‘ conveys meaning, and the tenses used here are consistent with the intended meaning.

Both passé composé and imparfait refer to the past, but imparfait is not used for actions/events/‘feelings’ still occurring/true in the present.

Answer

I see it gets involved; that's a new one on me. I simply thought that imparfait generally means the action doesn't have a defined cut-off point and that the passé composé generally referred to completed actions, so this is a new wrinkle for me.

Answer

Sydney, attached a link you might find useful - Hugo Cotton goes through standard and ‘ advanced ‘ uses and differences between imparfait and passé composé ( advanced from about the 14th minute, if I remember correctly ).

It is in understandable French.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rpQ5xeFneg