French Imperfect Tense
L’imparfait – the French imperfect tense – is one of the ways you can speak in the past. You may have already learned the passé composé, which is used in a different context. Scroll down for my video lesson on the French imperfect tense. You can download a free PDF of this lesson guide in my private French Grammar Library.
What’s the difference between the imparfait and the passé composé?
- The imparfait does not require a helping verb.
- The imparfait does not have a past participle.
- The imparfait is used to give descriptions about the past.
- The passé composé is used to talk about things that happened.
- Use the passé composé to talk about things that had a definite beginning and a definite ending.
- Use the passé composé to talk about a sequence of events.
Sample sequence of events in the passé composé.
| I got up this morning. | Je me suis levé(e) ce matin. |
| I brushed my teeth. | Je me suis brossé les dents. |
| I got dressed. | Je me suis habillé(e). |
| I went to work. | Je suis allé(e) au travail. |
Add description to the sequence of events using the imparfait. The imparfait is what makes the sequence of events interesting!
| English | passé composé = what happened | imparfait = description |
| When I woke up this morning, | Quand je me suis levé(e) ce matin, | |
| I really didn’t want to get out of bed because I was tired. | Je ne voulais vraiment pas sortir du lit parce que j’étais fatigué(e). | |
| I got up anyway, | Je me suis levé(e) quand même, | |
| and I went into the kitchen. | et je suis allé(e) dans la cuisine. | |
| When I got in there, it was dark and I was afraid, | Quand j’y suis arrivé(e), | il faisait noir et j’avais peur, |
| but I made the coffee anyway. | mais j’ai fait le café de toute façon. |
When should you use the French imperfect tense?
Use the imparfait to say someone was doing something.
WAS + VERB-ing
WERE + VERB-ing
| I was walking. | Je marchais. |
| He was reading. | Il lisait. |
| She was eating. | Elle mangeait. |
Use the imparfait to express what you used to do. These are not things that only happened once or twice.
| When I was little, | Quand j’étais petit(e), |
| in the summer I used to always go to my grandmother’s house, | pendant l’été j’allais toujours chez ma grand-mère, |
| and we would always climb to the top of a tree and spy on people. | et nous grimpions toujours en haut d’un arbre pour espionner des gens. |
Remember, the passé composé is used to give a sequence of events that had specific beginnings and endings.
| Once, when I was ten years old, | |
| imparfait | Une fois, quand j’avais 10 ans |
| I caught a cricket and I ate it! | |
| passé composé | J’ai attrapé un cricket et je l’ai mangé! |
Forming the French Imperfect Tense
There is only ONE irregular verb stem in the imparfait: ÊTRE
Besides the verb ÊTRE, what are the last three letters of all verbs in the present tense NOUS form? -ONS
- To form the stem to which you will add the imperfect endings, you need to know the present tense NOUS form of the verb in question.
- Find the NOUS form of the verb, take off the -ONS, and there you have your stem.
| finir | nous finissons | finiss- |
French imperfect tense endings chart
| (JE) verb + AIS | (NOUS) verb + IONS |
| (TU) verb + AIS | (VOUS) verb + IEZ |
| (IL – ELLE – ON) verb + AIT | (ILS – ELLES) verb + AIENT |
| I was finishing my homework. I used to finish my homework. | Je finissais mes devoirs. |
| You were finishing your homework. You used to finish your homework. | Tu finissais tes devoirs. |
He was finishing his homework. She used to finish her homework. We were finishing our homework. | Il finissait ses devoirs. Elle finissait ses devoirs. On finissait nos devoirs. |
| We were finishing our homework. We used to finish our homework. | Nous finissions nos devoirs. |
| You were finishing your homework. You used to finish your homework. | Vous finissiez vos devoirs. |
| They were finishing their homework. They used to finish their homework. | Ils finissaient leurs devoirs. |
Pronouncing the imparfait endings
The JE – TU – IL – ILS endings sound exactly the same.
| AIS | IONS |
| AIS | IEZ |
| AIT | AIENT |
ÊTRE is the only irregular verb stem in the imparfait.
Pourquoi? What is the present tense NOUS form of être?
| We are | Nous sommes |
ÊTRE is the only verb that doesn’t end in -ONS in the present tense.
ÊTRE conjugation in the imperfect
| I was | J’étais |
| You were | Tu étais |
| He was | Il était |
| She was | Elle était |
| We were | On était |
| We were | Nous étions |
| You were | Vous étiez |
| They were | Ils étaient |
| They were | Elles étaient |
Verbs ending in -CER: Commencer
The present tense NOUS form has a spelling change that remains in the imperfect.
| Present: nous commençions STEM: COMMENÇ- | je commençais |
| tu commençais | |
| il commençait | |
| The NOUS form doesn’t have a Ç | nous commencions |
| The VOUS form doesn’t have a Ç | vous commenciez |
| ils commençaient |
Verbs ending in -GER: Manger
The present tense NOUS form has a spelling change that remains in the imperfect.
| Present: nous mangeons STEM: MANGE- | je mangeais |
| tu mangeais | |
| il mangeait | |
| The NOUS form doesn’t have an E | nous mangions |
| The VOUS form doesn’t have an E | vous mangiez |
| ils mangeaient |
Verbs ending in -IER: Étudier
These verbs just look FUNNY in the imperfect.
| Present: nous étudions STEM: ÉTUDI- | j’étudiais |
| tu étudiais | |
| il étudiait | |
| The NOUS form has two ii | nous étudiions |
| The VOUS form has two ii | vous étudiiez |
| ils étudiaient |
Expressions that imply repetition or habitual actions in the past
| autrefois | in the past |
| chaque jour | every day |
| chaque semaine | every week |
| chaque année | every year |
| de temps en temps | from time to time |
| d’habitude | usually |
| en général | generally |
| fréquemment | frequently |
| généralement | generally |
| habituellement | habitually |
| parfois | sometimes |
| quelquefois | sometimes |
| souvent | often |
| toujours | always |
| tous les jours | every day |
| tous les mois | every month |
| tout le temps | all the time |
Examples
| lire = to read Find the stem: NOUS LISONS Take off the -ONS STEM: LIS- ADD THE ENDINGS | I was reading the newspaper. Je lisais le journal. We were reading a good book. Nous lisions un bon livre. They were reading a magazine. Ils lisaient un magazine. |
Using the imparfait and the passé composé together
| We were reading the magazine. | On lisait le magazine. |
| when the phone rang. | quand le téléphone a sonné. |
