l’imparfait
| PARLER TO SPEAK | |
| je parlais tu parlais il/elle parlait | nous parlions vous parliez ils/elles parlaient |
| FINIR TO FINISH | |
| je finissais tu finissais il/elle finissait | nous finissions vous finissiez ils/elles finissaient |
| VENDRE TO SELL | |
| je vendais tu vendais il/elle vendait | nous vendions vous vendiez ils/elles vendaient |
| NAGER TO SWIM | |
| je nageais tu nageais il/elle nageait | nous nagions vous nagiez ils/elles nageaient |
| PRONONCER TO PRONOUNCE | |
| je prononçais tu prononçais il prononçait | nous prononcions vous prononciez ils prononçaient |
| ÊTRE TO BE | |
| j'étais tu étais il était | nous étions vous étiez ils étaient |
While French uses the passé composé to describe specific actions that occurred in the past, the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing, continuous, repeated and habitual actions from the past. The imparfait is the “used to” tense. It’s also used to describe backgrounds for stories and events.
To form the imparfait take the nous form of the verb in the present tense. Take off the -ons and add the following endings to the stem: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, iez, -aient.
Note that for verbs with spelling changes in the nous form in the present tense such as nager and prononcer, the spelling changes are carried over to the imperfect for all forms starting with -a.
Also note that the verb etre is the only verb in French with an irregular imperfect stem of ét + ending.
More Resources:
Related Lessons:
- French Passé Compose Overview
- Passé Composé – Irregular Verbs
- Passé Composé – Être Verbs
- Plus-Que-Parfait
- Futur Antérieur
Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho and have helped hundreds of students to learn French via Skype or Zoom since 2014. 
