The imperfect tense – L’imparfait

The French imperfect tense (L’imparfait) is a tense used to talk about the past. This tense is primarily used to talk about something that used to happen or to describe a past situation.

	How do you form the imperfect tense in French?

Take the stem of a verb in the nous form in the present tense
Let’s use the verb to watch. That’s regarder
Regarder in the nous form in the present tense is: nous regardons (it means we watch or we are watching)
You take the stem – regard
And you add the correct endings depending on what you want to say.

Let’s try to work out how we would say: He was watching TV or He used to watch

You take the stem: regard
Since you want to say he, you have to use il
The ending for il is ait
TV in French is la télévision
Therefore, “he was watching TV” is il regardait la télévision

What are the endings of the imperfect tense in French?

Audio	Personal pronouns	Endings
	Je	ais
	Tu	ais
	Il	ait
	Elle	ait
	On	ait
	Nous	ions
	Vous	iez
	Ils	aient
	Elles	aient

Let’s try to work out how we would say I was finishing all my homework or I used to finish all my homework

Finir is to finish in French
Take the stem of the verb in the nous form in the present tense
Finir in the nous form in the present tense is nous finissons (it means we finish or we are finishing)
You take the stem – finiss
Since you want to say I, you have to use Je
The ending for Je is ais
All my homework in French is tous mes devoirs
Therefore, I was finsihing all my homework is Je finissais tous mes devoirs.

Some useful rules and one exception to know

If the stem of the verb ends with G or C, you must change them to GE and Ç respectively in front of an A.

For instance, the stem of manger is mang so if you want to say I was eating, you’ll need to take the stem mang and add an e before adding the right ending ais: je mangeais

Let’s take a verb with a stem ending in c like commencer. Its stem is commenc. If you want to say we used to start, you’ll need the stem commenc and change it to commenç and add the correct ending ions: nous commençions

Être is the only exception

Être is the only verb that won’t use the nous form in the present tense, it is therefore the only irregular verb. It will use the following stem in the imperfect tense: ÉT

ÊTRE in the imperfect tense		English translation
J’étais		I was
Tu étais		You were
Il était		He was
Elle était		She was
On était		One was
Nous étions		We were
Vous étiez		You were
Ils étaient		They were
Elles étaient		They were

Useful verbs ending in -ER in the imperfect tense

	Verbs in the infinitive form
	Jouer (to play)
	Visiter (to visit)
	Penser (to think)
	Arriver (to arrive)
	Demander (to ask)
	Chanter (to sing)
	Manger (to eat)
	Parler (to speak)
	Écouter (to listen)

	Verbs in the imperfect tense
	Je jouais (I was playing OR I used to play)
	Tu visitais (you were visiting OR you used to visit)
	Il pensait (he was thinking OR he used to think)
	Elle arrivait (she was arriving OR she used to arrive)
	On demandait (one was asking OR one used to ask)
	Nous chantions (we were singing OR we used to sing)
	Vous mangiez (you were eating OR you used to eat)
	Ils parlaient (they were speaking OR they used to speak)
	Elles écoutaient (they were listening OR they used to listen)

	Endings: was/were + ing (used to)
	ais
	ais
	ait
	ait
	ait
	ions
	iez
	aient
	aient

Useful verbs ending in -IR in the imperfect tense

	Verbs in the infinitive form
	Finir (to finish)
	Partir (to leave)
	Dormir (to sleep)
	Choisir (to choose)
	Ouvrir (to open)
	Sortir (to go out)
	Offrir (to offer)
	Grossir (to put on weight)
	Réussir (to succeed)

	Verbs in the imperfect tense
	Je finissais (I was finishing OR I used to finish)
	Tu partais (you were leaving OR you used to leave)
	Il dormait (he was sleeping OR he used to sleep)
	Elle choisissait (she was choosing OR she used to choose)
	On ouvrait (one was opening OR one used to open)
	Nous sortions (we were going out OR we used to go out)
	Vous offriez (you were offering OR you used to offer)
	Ils grossissaient (they were putting on weight OR they used to put on weight)
	Elles réussissaient (they were succeeding OR they used to succeed)

	Endings: was/were + -ing (used to)
	ais
	ais
	ait
	ait
	ait
	ions
	iez
	aient
	aient

Useful verbs ending in -RE in the imperfect tense

	Verbs in the infinitive form
	Prendre (to take)
	Vendre (to sell)
	Attendre (to wait)
	Dire (to say)
	Comprendre (to understand)
	Apprendre (to learn)
	Boire (to drink)
	Écrire (to write)
	Lire (to read)

	Verbs in the imperfect tense
	Je prenais (I was taking OR I used to take)
	Tu vendais (you were selling OR you used to sell)
	Il attendait (he was waiting OR he used to wait)
	Elle disait (she was saying OR she used to say)
	On comprenait (one was understanding OR one used to understand)
	Nous apprenions (we were learning OR we used to learn)
	Vous buviez (you were drinking OR you used to drink)
	Ils écrivaient (they were writing OR they used to write)
	Elles lisaient (they were reading OR they used to read)