I was confused initially as this lesson was to be devoted to regular verbs. The conjugation of être is given in a later lesson an includes the same example copied above. To prevent confusion, I suggest this particular example be removed from this lesson and also the video clip on être as there is another lesson devoted to this subject.
The Imperfect tense (Imparfait) is very easy to conjugate in French as MOST verbs follow the same pattern of conjugation (EXCEPT for être - Conjugate être in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense))
Look at these examples of verbs in Imparfait:
Je faisais un château de sable.
I was making a sandcastle.
Tu chantais à l'école?
Were you singing at school?
Elle avait un chien.
She had a dog.
Nous parlions français ensemble.
We used to speak French together.
Vous choisissiez votre maison.
You were choosing your house.
Ils étaient meilleurs amis cette année-là.
They were best friends that year.
How to form the Imparfait
1. Take the nous form of the verb in Présent indicatif
2. Drop the -ons ending
3. Add the following endings
| je / j' | -ais |
| tu | -ais |
| il/elle/on | -ait |
| nous | -ions |
| vous | -iez |
| ils/elles | -aient |
Examples :
- parler : nous parlons (we are talking) -> je parlais
- finir : nous finissons (we are finishing) -> je finissais
- faire : nous faisons (we are doing) -> je faisais
- prendre : nous prenons (we are taking) -> je prenais
When to use the French Imperfect Tense (Imparfait)
Note that Imparfait is used in a variety of ways where we use very different tenses in English!
Expressing continuing action in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense)
Expressing habits or repeated actions in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense)
Describing and expressing opinions in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
avoir
Elle avait un chien.
She had a dog.
chanter
Tu chantais à l'école?
Were you singing at school?
choisir
Vous choisissiez votre maison.
You were choosing your house.
faire
Je faisais un château de sable.
I was making a sandcastle.
Nous faisions du sport.
We used to do sport.
finir
Il finissait son repas.
He was finishing his meal.
parler
Nous parlions français ensemble.
We used to speak French together.
Q&A Forum 5 questions, 14 answers
Suggestion re : example (Substitute a different one with ils..)
"Ils étaient meilleurs amis cette année-là."
Asked 1 month ago
Andrea asked:View original
Suggestion re : example (Substitute a different one with ils..)
"Ils étaient meilleurs amis cette année-là."
I was confused initially as this lesson was to be devoted to regular verbs. The conjugation of être is given in a later lesson an includes the same example copied above. To prevent confusion, I suggest this particular example be removed from this lesson and also the video clip on être as there is another lesson devoted to this subject.
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I'm confused by the block of examples immediately following the "How to form the Imparfait" section above....
These are the examples given:
- parler : nous parlons (we are talking) -> je parlais
- finir : nous finissons (we are finishing) -> je finissais
- faire : nous faisons (we are doing) -> je faisais
- prendre : nous prenons (we are taking) -> je prenais
All the verbs have the same ending despite the subject. Perhaps I'm missing something
Asked 3 months ago
ChrisCorrect answer
I guess the point is that the imperfect is formed using the stem of the verb in the first person plural, present tense. Then the imperfect is formed appending the approriate imperfect ending to that stem. In the examples, they used only the first person singular (je) ending. The others work the same way, though:
Nous parlons. --> drop the -ons to get the stem --> parl --> add appropriate imperfect ending:
je parlais, tu parlais, il/elle/on parlait, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils/elles parlaient.
Danilo asked:View original
I'm confused by the block of examples immediately following the "How to form the Imparfait" section above....
These are the examples given:
- parler : nous parlons (we are talking) -> je parlais
- finir : nous finissons (we are finishing) -> je finissais
- faire : nous faisons (we are doing) -> je faisais
- prendre : nous prenons (we are taking) -> je prenais
All the verbs have the same ending despite the subject. Perhaps I'm missing something
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Could you highlight one line a bit more? "Present nous form" in l'imparfait... I keep forgetting that part.....
I have recently become addicted to this site, and I'm filling in all of the gaps in my self learning. One thing has tripped me up more than once... Using the "present nous form" in l'imparfait. I know it's already in bold font, but could you highlight that line in color with stars and big arrows around it?? :P Thanks for a GREAT site!
Asked 10 months ago
AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Donovan !
I agree there's never too much colour in a grammar lesson :)
I hope the updated version will work for you!
Bonne journée !
Donovan asked:View original
Could you highlight one line a bit more? "Present nous form" in l'imparfait... I keep forgetting that part.....
I have recently become addicted to this site, and I'm filling in all of the gaps in my self learning. One thing has tripped me up more than once... Using the "present nous form" in l'imparfait. I know it's already in bold font, but could you highlight that line in color with stars and big arrows around it?? :P Thanks for a GREAT site!
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“We we’re driving...” Nous conduisions or Nous étions conduire? Merci!
Were not we’re
Asked 1 year ago
ChrisCorrect answer
Nous étions -- We were.
Nous conduisons. -- We drive / we are driving.
Nous conduisions. -- We were driving / we used to drive.
Nous avions conduit -- We had driven / we had been driving.
Nous avons conduit. -- We drove.
Grammatically, you never use the infinitive (conduire) after an auxiliary verb (être) in a compound tense.
Also, the English continuous form (-ing form) does not have a one-to-one correspondence in French.
-- Chris.
Merci, Cécile. Why not nous étions conduire? This is a new level for me. I’ve re-read the related lessons but I’m still missing it. I feel like it’s staring me in the face but I’m not seeing it. Thanks in advance for helping me see my error.
Nous étions conduire doesn't mean anything. It is a literal translation from English which simply has nomparallel in French.
-- Chris.
Nous étions conduire doesn't mean anything. It is a literal translation from English which simply has nomparallel in French.
-- Chris.
Mais no! :-)
if it means nothing, then why does it show up in Conjugate être in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense)
Merci
By “it” I mean nous étions. Why, grammatically, is it incorrect to use it in “ we were driving”? Isn’t one use of l’imparfait yo express continuing action in the past?
And also I just realized I was mistaken in using être as the auxiliary. I was thinking of driving as a coming/going verb. Thank you again.
Anna asked:View original
“We we’re driving...” Nous conduisions or Nous étions conduire? Merci!
Were not we’re
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the verb sourire has an irregular spelling in l'imparfait. Can you explicate this? Thank you, Lea
Asked 3 years ago
AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Lea !
The verb "sourire" does follow the rule of that lesson:
the Présent form for "nous" is: nous sourions
So if we follow the rule, the stem for l'Imparfait will be souri-
E.g. je souriais, tu souriais, il souriait, nous souriions, vous souriiez, ils souriaient
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Except for etre, faire and dire.
In the Michel Thomas Series he said: Except for être (vous êtes) , faire (vous faites) and dire (vous dites), the "sound" of the first person singular (imperfect) always follows the "sound" of the 2nd person plural of the present tense.
vous avez (j'avais), vous parlez (je parlais), vous devez (je devais), vous voulez (je voulais) etc.
Go to online conjugator @ http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-french-verb-pouvoir.html
and check for yourself.
Lea asked:View original
the verb sourire has an irregular spelling in l'imparfait. Can you explicate this? Thank you, Lea
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