In L'Imparfait, 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 L'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.
The Imperfect tense (L'Imparfait) is very easy to conjugate as most verbs, regular and irregular conjugate the same way.
Take the Présent 'nous' form of the verb and drop the -ons ending and add these endings:
| je / j' | -ais |
| tu | -ais |
| il/elle/on | -ait |
| nous | -ions |
| vous | -iez |
| ils/elles | -aient |
E.g. faire: nous faisons (we are doing) -> je faisais
Notice L'imparfait is used in a variety of ways where we use very different tenses in English!
When to use the French Imperfect Tense (L'Imparfait)
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
Nous faisions du sport.
We used to do sport.
Je faisais un château de sable.
I was making a sandcastle.
finir
Il finissait son repas.
He was finishing his meal.
parler
Nous parlions français ensemble.
We used to speak French together.
Q&A
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7/07/16
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 !
William
Kwiziq community member
20/03/17
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.
Anna
Kwiziq community member
28 July 2018
9 replies
“We we’re driving...” Nous conduisions or Nous étions conduire? Merci!
Were not we’re
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
29 July 2018
29/07/18
It is -
Nous conduisions .
Anna
Kwiziq community member
29 July 2018
29/07/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
29 July 2018
29/07/18
Nous étions conduire doesn't mean anything. It is a literal translation from English which simply has nomparallel in French.
-- Chris.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
29 July 2018
29/07/18
Nous étions conduire doesn't mean anything. It is a literal translation from English which simply has nomparallel in French.
-- Chris.
Anna
Kwiziq community member
29 July 2018
29/07/18
Mais no! :-)
if it means nothing, then why does it show up in https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/revision/grammar/conjugate-etre-in-l-imparfait-imperfect-tense?
Merci
Anna
Kwiziq community member
29 July 2018
29/07/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
31 July 2018
31/07/18
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.
Anna
Kwiziq community member
31 July 2018
31/07/18
Anna
Kwiziq community member
31 July 2018
31/07/18