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Imparfait

Past tense for descriptions, habits, ongoing actions, background. Stem from nous form of présent + endings -ais / -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient. être is the only irregular: j'étais.

Examples

  • Quand j'étais petit, je jouais.When I was little, I played.
  • Il faisait beau.It was nice (weather).

How it works

The "ongoing past" — for descriptions, habits, background and repeated actions. It matches English "was doing" and "used to do". It often appears alongside the passé composé when telling a story.

FORM (very regular): 1. Take the nous-form of the présent and drop -ons:

parler → nous parlons → parl-
finir → nous finissons → finiss-
prendre → nous prenons → pren-
faire → nous faisons → fais-

2. Add these endings:

je -aisnous -ions
tu -aisvous -iez
il/elle -aitils/elles -aient
je parlaisI was speaking / I used to speak
tu parlaisyou were speaking
il parlaithe was speaking
nous parlionswe were speaking
vous parliezyou were speaking
ils parlaientthey were speaking

The ONE irregular stem is être, which uses ét-:

j'étaisI was
tu étaisyou were
il étaithe was
nous étionswe were
vous étiezyou were
ils étaientthey were

WHEN TO USE IT rather than the passé composé:

description, setting
Il faisait beau.The weather was nice.
habit, "used to"

Quand j'étais petit, je jouais au foot. When I was little I used to play football.

an ongoing action that got interrupted

Je lisais quand il est arrivé. I was reading when he arrived. (imparfait = was reading; passé composé = arrived, one finished event)

a state of mind
Il avait peur.He was afraid.
Je voulais partir.I wanted to leave.

Trigger words

quand j'étais…, autrefois (in the past), souvent (often), chaque jour (every day), d'habitude (usually), pendant que (while).

Translation tip

"I was Xing" or "I used to X" → imparfait. "I did X" → passé composé.

What you'll practise

  1. 1. Regular imparfait conjugation

    Take the nous-form stem from présent (parlons → parl-) and add -ais/-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient.

    • Je parlais.I was speaking.
    • Nous mangions.We were eating.

  2. 2. être imparfait (irregular)

    The one irregular stem, ét-: j'étais (I was), tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient.

    • Elle était fatiguée.She was tired.

  3. 3. Imparfait vs passé composé

    Imparfait = background, ongoing, descriptive. Passé composé = a single completed action that happened.

    • Je lisais quand il est arrivé.I was reading when he arrived.

  4. 4. Imparfait for 'used to' / habits

    Habitual past actions translate as 'used to X' or 'would X'.

    • Quand j'étais jeune, je jouais.When I was young, I used to play.

Practise it until it sticks

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