Passe compose in "I've always found it magical"

Question

"I've always..." describes something that starts in the past and must surely still be going on. How is that not the use of imparfait? Similarly in another recent lesson, "I fell in love with..." again states a condition now (in love) that began in the past. Yet both of these were phrased in Passe Compose. I've read and reread the lessons on passe-compose/imparfait but they do not seem to address "I've always found... I fell in love...". Please help, Je suis tellement exaspéré ! :-)

Accepted Answer

This question comes up often - I have answered a few times recently, but can’t find those responses, and others, currently through ‘Search’. In brief, passé composé is used for events true in the past and still true in the present - “toujours” and “jamais”, for instance, both indicate this.

Have a look at the very good YouTube clip from Hugo. This specific topic is discussed in the ‘advanced’ cases section (from memory about 14-15 minutes in).

It is also worth reading the attached external link from Camille for another overview of usage of passé composé or imparfait :

https://youtu.be/3rpQ5xeFneg

https://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/french-verb-conjugation/passe-compose-versus-imparfait/