Originally Posted by
ina
We don't have, as far as I know, an equivalent of Serbian "simple past" tense, like the passé simple is to the passé composé. But we do have imperfect (kupovah cveće - j'achetais des fleurs).
Well, we most frenquently use three simple tenses you mentioned before, but in everyday, short conversations. But even for one more complex everyday chatting, so to say, almost all tenses and verb constructions are needed. There is no preferences. It's not about preferences, you have to use them. You can only choose your style of speaking using certain construction or tense.
For example:
Zatvorih vrata (aorist) i
Zatvorila sam vrata (perfekat) (I closed the door) means the same, but I personally prefer the aorist, it's more..... elegant.
Ja ću raditi is somehow more formal (but you would sound like a nice girl
).
Ja ću da radim is more common in everyday conversation (bypassing the infinitive).