L’imparfait – the imperfect
The Imperfect Tense
The Imperfect Tense is used to describe:
1. a state in the past,
2. a repeated action in the past or
3. how things used to be.
Common trigger words for the Imperfect
Tense are:-
was, were, used to.
The Imperfect Tense
In order to form the Imperfect Tense in
French, you
1. find the 1st person plural (nous) form of the Present
Tense
2. remove the - ons
3. add on the endings:-
• je … ais nous … ions
• tu … ais vous … iez
• il … ait ils … aient
The Imperfect Tense - parler
So for the verb parler, it would be
nous parlons
parl
parlais etc.
parler – to speak
English
French
je parlais I was speaking, I used to speak
tu parlais you were speaking, you used to speak
il/elle parlait (s)he was speaking, he used to speak
nous parlions we were speaking, we used to speak
vous parliez you were speaking, you used to speak
ils/elles parlaient they were speaking, they used to speak
aller – to go
French English
j’allais I was going, I used to go
tu allais you were going, you used to go
il/elle allait (s)he was going, he used to go
nous allions we were going, we used to go
vous alliez you were going, you used to go
ils/elles allaient they were going, they used to go
être - to be
The only verb which is irregular in the
Imperfect Tense is être, whose stem is ét...
So the whole of the Imperfect Tense of être
is:
être
French English
j’étais I was, I used to be
tu étais you were, you used to be
il/elle était (s)he was, he used to be
nous étions we were, we used to be
vous étiez you were, you used to be
ils/elles étaient they were, they used to be
– ger and – cer verbs
Care must also be taken with verbs ending in
-ger and -cer.
In the 1st person plural of the present tense
of these verbs, they are:
– nous mangeons and
– nous lançons.
– ger and – cer verbs
This has implications for the Imperfect
Tense.
Whenever the ending of the Imperfect starts
with an i, you either
drop the e or
drop the cedilla from the ç
The Imperfect Tense of
manger
French English
je mangeais I was eating, I used to eat
tu mangeais you were eating, you used to eat
il/elle mangeait (s)he was eating, he used to eat
nous mangions we were eating, we used to eat
vous mangiez
you were eating, you used to eat
ils/elles mangeaient
they were eating, they used to eat
The Imperfect Tense of
lancer
French English
je lançais I was throwing, I used to throw
tu lançais you were throwing, you used to throw
il/elle lançait (s)he was throwing, he used to throw
nous lancions we were throwing, we used to throw
vous lanciez
you were throwing, you used to throw
ils/elles lançaient
they were throwing, they used to throw