se marier - simple past or passé composé?

Question

In the examples we have "Elle se maria cette année-là." and in the quiz "Je me suis marié ce jour-là". I think the first is the simple past, the second passé composé - but why choose one over the other? Or are they equivalent?

Accepted Answer

Hi Steven,
'Elle se maria' is in the passé simple ( past historic).
'Je me suis marié' is in the passé composé .
They have the same value, but the passé  simple is essentially a written tense used for narrating actions in the past (mainly found in literature) and the passé composé is its spoken equivalent.
You will not hear the passé simple spoken in every day speech.
Hope this helps!