By the end of this lesson you'll be able to form the imparfait of any verb you know, and use it to describe how things were and what you used to do.
A second past tense
You've learned to tell what happened with the passé composé. The imparfait does a different job: it describes how things were, and what used to happen again and again.
Forming it is easy. Take the nous form of the present, remove -ons, and add these endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| je parlais / tu parlais / il parlait | zhuh par-LEH / tew par-LEH / eel par-LEH | I was speaking, I used to speak / you… / he… |
| nous parlions / vous parliez / ils parlaient | noo par-LYOHN / voo par-LYAY / eel par-LEH | we… / you… / they were speaking, used to speak |
Other verb families work exactly the same way, as nous finissons and nous attendons show.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| je finissais / tu finissais / il finissait | zhuh fee-nee-SEH / tew fee-nee-SEH / eel fee-nee-SEH | I was finishing, I used to finish / you… / he… |
| nous finissions / vous finissiez / ils finissaient | noo fee-nee-SYOHN / voo fee-nee-SYAY / eel fee-nee-SEH | we… / you… / they were finishing, used to finish |
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| j'attendais / tu attendais / il attendait | zhah-tahn-DEH / tew ah-tahn-DEH / ee-lah-tahn-DEH | I was waiting, I used to wait / you… / he… |
| nous attendions / vous attendiez / ils attendaient | noo-zah-tahn-DYOHN / voo-zah-tahn-DYAY / eel-zah-tahn-DEH | we… / you… / they were waiting, used to wait |
The irregular verbs from the lesson on common irregular verbs follow the same rule, because you start from nous: nous prenons gives je prenais, nous buvons gives je buvais, nous lisons gives je lisais, nous faisons gives je faisais, and nous avons gives j'avais.
Être, the one exception
Nous sommes has no -ons to remove, so être has a stem of its own: ét-.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| j'étais / tu étais / il était | zhay-TEH / tew ay-TEH / ee-lay-TEH | I was / you were / he was |
| nous étions / vous étiez / ils étaient | noo-zay-TYOHN / voo-zay-TYAY / eel-zay-TEH | we were / you were / they were |
J'étais fatigué.
I was tired. (said by a man)
How it sounds
Four of the six forms sound the same: je, tu, il and ils, spelled -ais, -ais, -ait and -aient. So je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait and ils parlaient are identical to the ear. Only nous and vous (-ions, -iez) sound different.
Three spelling changes
Three small groups need care. Each change comes from a simple logic.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| je mangeais / nous mangions | zhuh mahn-ZHEH / noo mahn-ZHYOHN | I was eating / we were eating |
| je commençais / nous commencions | zhuh koh-mahn-SEH / noo koh-mahn-SYOHN | I was beginning / we were beginning |
| nous étudiions / vous étudiiez | noo-zay-tew-dee-YOHN / voo-zay-tew-dee-YAY | we were studying / you were studying |
- Manger and other verbs in -ger keep an e before a, to keep the g soft: je mangeais. Before i, the g is already soft, so there's no e: nous mangions.
- Commencer and other verbs in -cer take a ç before a, to keep the s sound: je commençais. Before i, a plain c already sounds like s: nous commencions.
- Étudier and other verbs in -ier have a stem ending in i, and the ending starts with i, so you get two in a row: nous étudiions, vous étudiiez.
What it's for
At this stage, the imparfait has two main uses.
Habits: what used to happen regularly. Words like tous les jours, souvent, le samedi and d'habitude go naturally with it. Souvent is from the lesson on adverbs.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| d'habitude | dah-bee-TEWD | usually |
| il y avait | eel-yah-VEH | there was, there wereFixed form. |
| c'était | say-TEH | it wasFixed form. |
Tous les jours, je prenais le bus.
Every day, I took the bus.
Le samedi, nous allions au marché.
On Saturdays, we used to go to the market.
D'habitude, il finissait à cinq heures.
He usually finished at five o'clock.
Descriptions: age, weather, feelings and appearance, with the words from the lesson on describing people and the lesson on weather and seasons.
J'avais douze ans.
I was twelve.
Il pleuvait, et il faisait froid.
It was raining, and it was cold.
Elle avait les cheveux longs et elle était timide.
She had long hair and she was shy.
Two fixed forms come up all the time: il y avait (there was, there were) and c'était (it was). Il pleuvait and il y avait are learned as forms, since there's no nous form to start from.
Il y avait un marché, et c'était super.
There was a market, and it was great.
En français
- Tu habitais à Lille ? (Did you live in Lille?)
- Oui, j'avais dix ans. Il pleuvait souvent ! (Yes, I was ten. It often rained!)
- Et le samedi ? (And on Saturdays?)
- Nous allions au cinéma. C'était super. (We used to go to the cinema. It was great.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on childhood memories uses the imparfait to talk about when you were little. After that, the lesson on choosing between the two past tenses shows you how to combine it with the passé composé.