Chapitre 4

Grammaire

L’imparfait

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L’imparfait

Définition

The imparfait (imperfect) is a past tense used to describe states of being, activities that were ongoing, or habitual actions in the past.

It is easy to form, but its use can be complex. You’ll keep learning more about how to use it as you continue in French.

Formation

To form the imparfait, take the nous form of the present tense, drop the -ons, and add the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Same for pronominal verbs (s’amuser, s’ennuyer…).

NOTE: ONE exception: être.

Note: verbs whose stem ends in -i (etudier, crier, rire...) have two i in the nous and vous forms only: Nous etudiions, vous etudiiez, nous criions, vous criiez......

Note: Stem changing verbs like voyager and commencer add an e or ç to maintain the soft g or s sound, before imparfair endings which begins with a (je voyageais, tu voyageais, il/elle/on voyageait, ils/elles voyageaient)

Négation:

Place ne ... pas around the conjugated verb: Je ne dansais pas (I wasn't dancing / I didn't use to dance), Tu ne t'amusais pas (You weren't having a good time / You didn't use to have a good time).

Emplois generaux/When to use:

1. To describe on-going actions in the past that have unclear endings.

Often these on-going activities are interrupted by actions which would use the passé composé.

tip: etre, avoir, vouloir, pouvoir are very often in the imparfair when they are in the past since they typically describe states of being

2. To describe habits or repeated events in the past.

Tip: In this case, we often use "used to" or "would" in English. Where english has several ways to express this tense (see example), french uses just the imparfait

3. To describe states of being, like situations, emotions, age, weather.

Tip: Pay attention to words that indicate interruptions or changes, like "soudain" (suddenly): these words are usually followed by the passe compose

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