The French Past Imperfect Tense "l’imparfait” is used to describe past actions that are still going on, or actions that occurred regularly in the past.
This Tense should not be used for completed actions
e.g. He was eating when you called him They were sleeping in the loft.
Adding using the present “nous” form of the verb, dropping the ”–ons” and adding the following endings, forms this tense
French Past Imperfect Tense verb endings
English person
French person
Imperfect ending
I
Je
~ ais
You (informal)
Tu
~ais
He/she
Il, elle
~ait
We
Nous
~ions
You (informal)
Vous
~iez
They
Ils/elles
~aient
Below are examples for each of the three types of regular verbs:
French Past Imperfect Tense ~ ER verbs
e.g. manger – to eat
Je mangeais – I was eating
Tu mangeais – you were eating
Il/elle mangeais – he/she was eating
Nous mangions – we were eating
Vous mangiez – you were eating
Ils/elles mangaient – they were eating
Example
Je mangeais de la soupe – I was eating soup
French Past Imperfect Tense ~ IR verbs
e.g. finir – to finish
Je finissais – I was finishing
Tu finissais – you were finishing
Il/elle finissait – he/she was finishing
Nous finissions – we were finishing
Vous finissiez – you were finishing
Ils/elles finissaient – they were finishing
Example
Je finissais mon livre – I was finishing my book
French Past Imperfect Tense ~ RE verbs
e.g. rendre – to return
Je rendais – I was returning
Tu rendais – he were returning
Il/elle rendait –
he/she was returning
Nous rendions – we were returning
Vous rendiez – you were returning
Ils/elles rendaient – they were returning
Example
La boulangère rendait la monnaie – the baker was returning the currency
Attention:
You must be very careful when you use the French Past Imperfect tense. The following expressions can all be translated by the Imperfect tense:
J’allais I went I was going I used to go I would go
I went to swimming pool every Wenesday = J’allais à la piscine tous les Mercredis I was going to eat sooner = J’allais manger plus tôt I used to go at the library = J’allais à la bibliothèque I would go to see my grand mother = J’allais voir ma grand mere
The verb être:
This is the only verb, which is irregular in the French Past Imperfect tense.
The stem used is êt- plus the endings above.
Therefore:
J’êtais - I was
Tu êtais - you were
Il/elles êtait - he/she was
Nous êtions - we was
Vous êtiez - you were
Ils/elles êtaient - they was
Spelling Changes
Verbs that end in –cer and –ger make changes to keep the g and c sounds soft
-ger verbs:
add an e after the g
-cer verbs
change the c to a ç
e.g. manger
Je mangeais - I ate
Tu mangeais - you ate
Il/elle mangeait - he/she ate
Nous mangions - we ate
Vous mangiez - you ate
Ils/elles mangeaient - they ate
Verbs with roots that end with an I will have two Is in the nous and vous forms
e.g. étudier
J’étudias – I studied
Tu étudias – you studied
Il/elle étudiat – he/she studied
Nous étudiions – we studied
Vous étudiiez – you studied
Ils/elles étudiaient – they studied
