The imperfect: French tense

 

 

In this lesson we are going to talk about the French imperfect tense: l’imparfait.

• How it is formed,
• When to use it
• Regular verbs and special cases.
• Then, I have prepared a PDF for you that you can download for free to practice.

 

The formation of the imperfect

The formation of the imperfect is simple but there are certain irregularities to memorize.

To form the imperfect tense of regular verbs, you must use the “nous” form of the verb in the present tense.

Take the example of the verb “parler »

• Conjugate the verb in the present tense: “nous parlons”,
• remove the ending “ons”,
• and add the endings:–ais, –ais, –ait, –ions, –iez, –aisent.
• This rule works with all verbs, except the ones we’re going to talk about now.

 

PARLER	CHOISIR	PRENDRE
Je parlais	Je choisissais	Je prenais
Tu parlais	Tu choisissais	Tu prenais
Il/elle/on parlait	Il/elle/on choisissait	Il/elle/on prenait
Nous parlions	Nous choisissions	Nous prenions
Vous parliez	Vous choisissiez	Vous preniez
ils/elles parlaient	ils/elles choisissaient	ils/elles prenaient

 

 

 

 

Particular case

 – Impersonal verbs :

• Pleuvoir ->il pleuvait
• Falloir – > il fallait

– The verb to be

•   J’étais.
•   Tu étais.
•   Il était/elle était.
•   Nous étions.
•   Vous étiez.
•   Ils étaient/elles étaient.

 

– Verbs in -GER 

For the first two people of the plural, the E of the radical disappears. 

MANGER	CHANGER	LOGER
je mangeais	je changeais	je logeais
tu mangeais	tu changeais	tu logeais
il/elle/on mangeait	il/elle/on changeait	il/elle/on logeait
nous mangions	nous changions	nous logions
vous mangiez	vous changiez	vous logiez
ils/elles mangeaient	ils/elles changeaient	ils/elles logeaient

 

 – Verbs in -CER

 The particularity :the first 2 people of the plural, we delete the cedilla.  

COMMENCER	PLACER	LANCER
je commençais	je plaçais	je lançais
tu commençais	tu plaçais	tu lançais
il/elle/on commençait	il/elle/on plaçait	il/elle/on lançait
nous commencions	nous placions	nous lancions
vous commenciez	vous placiez	vous lanciez
ils/elles commençaient	ils/elles plaçaient	ils/elles lançaient

-Verbs in -IER 

They have two “ii” to first 2 people plural. The “i” of the radical and the “i” of the imperfect ending. 

 

ETUDIER	SIGNIFIER	NIER
j’étudiais tu étudiais il étudiait nous étudiions vous étudiiez ils étudiaient	je signifiais tu signifiais il signifiait nous signifiions vous signifiiez ils signifiaient	je niais tu niais il niait nous niions vous niiez ils niaient

 

– Verbs ending in -YER 

They have the particularity of having the letters“y” and “i” following each other to the first 2 people of the plural: 

PAYER	ENVOYER	VOUVOYER
je payais tu payais il payait nous payions vous payiez ils payaient	j’envoyais tu envoyais il envoyait nous envoyions vous envoyiez ils envoyaient	je vouvoyais tu vouvoyais il vouvoyait nous vouvoyions vous vouvoyiez ils vouvoyaient

How to use the imperfect French Tense

 

Multiple uses : 

1/ to describe and comment :

 

• Il faisait chaud et il y avait beaucoup de vent. It was hot and very windy

 

2/ to talk about the indefinite duration of an action:

 

• Ma mère travaillait pendant des heures le week-end. My mother worked long hours on weekends.

Here the action has neither beginning nor end. With the imperfect, we therefore emphasize the progress, the duration of the action.

3/ to talk about habitual or repeated actions

 

Tous les vendrediis, il faisait du sport. Every Friday, he played sport.

Here with the structure“every” we emphasize the frequency of the action. We therefore use the imperfect tense to mark the habit. 

4/ to talk about past actions that take place simultaneously in the past

 

• Elle peignait pendant que son mari chantait. She painted while her husband sang.

In this sentence, the 2 actions in the imperfect tense take place at the same time. She was reading/her husband was listening to the radio.

5/ To suggest = propose, we use (and) if +imperfect

 

• Et si nous allions nous promener cet après-midi ? What if we went for a walk this afternoon?

In this sentence, we use if + imperfect to suggest that someone do something. 

6/ to ask something politely or mitigate a request. 

 

• Je voulais vous demander un service. I wanted to ask you a favor
• Je voudrais vous demander un service / une glace, s’il vous plaît. I would like to ask you for a favor/ice cream, please

Orally, the imperfect often replaces the present conditional to express a request.

7/ to make a hypothesis about the present, we use the structure: if + imperfect+conditional present

 

Si j’avais du temps, je ferais le tour du monde. If I had time, I’d go around the world.

Be careful, because after the hypothetical verb, never use the present conditional but:

If + imperfect + present conditional.  

8/ Used in indirect speech:

 

When the introductory verb is in (compound past, imperfect, simple past, past perfect – passé-composé, imparfait, passe-simple, plus-que-parfait), respect the concordance of tenses. Indeed, if in direct speech the 2nd verb, the verb of the message is in the present tense, in indirect speech, it is in the imperfect tense.

• Roger lui a dit : « je viens à six heures. ». Roger said to him: “I’m coming at six. »

Here it is about direct speech ; there is an introductory verb in the past tense “a dit ”, a colon and quotation marks. Here the verb “viens” is in the present tense.

• Roger lui a dit qu’il venait à 6 heures. Roger told him he was coming at 6 o’clock. 

It’s about indirect speech : there are no more quotation marks, nor the colon and the verb of the message is in the imperfect tense.

 

9 / to talk about an event that almost happened 

 

• Une minute de plus et le gâteau brûlait.  Another minute and the cake would have burned.
• Un peu plus, tu tombais. A little more, and you would fall.

Here, the imperfect expresses an action not carried out.

 

Passé composé or imparfait (imperfect French tense)?

 

Many students have trouble determining when to use the compound past tense (le passé composé) and when to use the imperfect tense (l’imparfait). 

 

The imparfait is used for incomplete actions while the passé composé is reserved for completed ones, but of course it’s more complicated than that.

 

Imparfait explains what was happening, with no indication of when or even if it ended.

 

• J’étais à l’école.I was at school.
• Je faisais mes devoirs. I was doing my homework

 

Passé composé announces what happened, actions that were completed.

 

• Je suis arrivé tôt.I arrived early.
• J’ai fini mes devoirs. I finished my homework.

Imparfait details what used to happen on a regular basis, or happened an indefinite number of times.

 

• J’étudiais le lundi.I used to study on Mondays.
• Je perdais constamment mon livre. I was always losing my book.

 

Passé composé expresses what happened a specific number of times.

 

• J’ai étudié lundi.I studied on (a specific) Monday.
• J’ai perdu mon livre deux fois.I lost my book twice.

Imparfait indicates an ongoing state of being or feeling.

 

• J’aimais l’école.I liked school.
• J’étais toujours inspiré par mes profs.I was always inspired by my teachers.

 

Passé composé reports a change in a state of being, a new feeling.

 

• À ce moment, j’ai détesté l’école. At that moment, I hated school.
• J’ai été inspiré par ton succès. I was (became) inspired by your success.

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. have often eaten there (and might again).

Imparfait describes what was happening or how something was …

 

• J’étais à l’école …I was at school …
• J’essayais d’étudier …I was trying to study …

 

… when the passé composé interrupted with news of some occurrence.

 

• … quand il a commencé à pleuvoir.… when it started raining
• … mais mon ami m’a posé une question.… but my friend asked me a question.

 

Some French words and phrases are virtually always used with the imparfait (imperfect French Tense), while others seem to stick like glue to the passé composé. These lists can help you determine which tense you need in any given sentence.

 

Imparfait		Passé composé
chaque semaine chaque mois chaque année	every week every month every year	une semaine un mois un an	one week one month one year
le week-end	on the weekends	un week-end	one weekend
le lundi, le mardi…	on Mondays, on Tuesdays…	lundi, mardi…	on Monday, on Tuesday
tous les jours	every day	un jour	one day
le matin, le soir	in the mornings, in the evenings	un matin, un soir	one morning, one evening
toujours	always (in the past)	toujours	always (and still now)
normalement d’habitude	usually	plusieurs fois	several times
en général généralement	in general generally	une fois, deux fois…	once, twice…
parfois quelquefois	sometimes	soudain soudainement	suddenly
de temps en temps	from time to time	tout à coup	all of a sudden
rarement	rarely	tout d’un coup	in one fell swoop
autrefois	formerly	d’abord	first
		ensuite, puis	next, then
		enfin	finally
		finalement	in the end

 

Now you know all about the imperfect tense. Let’s move on to practice 🚀

 

Exercises and corrections

 

Click here to get your exercise book and answers. And if you want more about French Grammar, go there.

If you have any doubts or questions, comment and I’ll get back to you. Don’t stay like that

 

A bientôt

Julie