In this article, you will:

  • Discover or rediscover the imparfait tense
  • Understand the construction of the imparfaitimparfait tense
  • Learn the usage of the imparfait tense
  • Master the imparfait in French

This article will help you answer the following questions:

  • What is the imparfait tense?
  • How to construct the imparfait tense?
  • What are the conjugations of the imparfait tense?
  • In which situations to use the imparfait tense?

 

 

 Construction of the imparfait :  

The recipe to construct the imparfait :
 

  1. Choose a verb. For example: finir
     
  2. Conjugate it in the present tense with us: nous finissons
     
  3. Remove the ending “ons” and keep the stem: finiss
     
  4. Add the following endings according to the subject:
    Je : ais
    Tu : ais
    Il / Elle / On : ait
    Nous : ions
    Vous : iez
    Ils / Elles : ient
     

⚠️ Exceptions:

Être : j’étais - tu étais - il / elle / on était - nous étions - vous étiez - ils / elles étaient
 

 

 Use of the imparfait :  

The imparfait allows to describe a place, a situation, an action, a person or a state of mind :
 

For example: Quand j’étais enfant, j’adorais les animaux et dessiner.

This sentence describes a person. The imperfect is used to describe a place, a situation, an action, a person, or a state of mind in the past. Here, in our example, the subject describes themselves when they were a child.
 

 

The imparfait allows to talk about past habits :
 

For example: On se retrouvait tous les samedis au parc pour jouer au ballon ou faire d’autres activités.
 

Here, we talk about our past habits. “Every Saturday, we used to meet”, it was a habit to meet every Saturday to play. The imperfect is used to describe habits, things we used to do regularly in the past.
 

 

The imparfait allows to talk about a memory :
 

For example: Quand j’étais ado, j’allais souvent voir ma grand-mère à Toulon.
 

Here, we evoke a memory. It’s not a habit, as “often” does not imply a regularly, daily action. The imperfect is used to talk about a memory in the past.