L’Imparfait The passé composé and the imparfait Adverb placement Français 2 Chapitre 6 Grammaire 1

The imparfait The imparfait (imperfect) tense tells _______________or what ___________________ repeatedly in the past. It is also translated as _____________________________. To form the imperfect drop the –ons from the present tense nous form and add these endings: Je -_____ Nous -_____ Tu -_____ Vous -_____ Il/Elle -_____ Ils/Elles -_____

The imparfait: Conjugate parler finir vendre

The imparfait Verbs like manger and commencer that have spelling changes in the nous form keep the spelling change in the imperfect in all forms except in the nous and vous forms. (nous mangeons) (nous commençons) je nous tu vous il/elle/on ils/elles je nous tu vous il/elle/on ils/elles

The imparfait j’ nous tu vous il/elle/on ils/elles Etre is the only verb that has an irregular stem: _____ j’ nous tu vous il/elle/on ils/elles

The passé composé and the imparfait Use both the passé composé and the imparfait to talk about the past. Use the imparfait to tell how things were or what used to happen over and over. Quand j’étais jeune, nous allions à la plage chaque été. (When I was young, we used to go to the beach every summer.)

The passé composé and the imparfait You also use the imparfait to give descriptions. Il faisait très beau. Il y avait beaucoup de fleurs. (It was very nice out. There were a lot of flowers.)

The passé composé and the imparfait Us the passé composé to say what happened or what someone did in a set period of time. Une fois, j’ai fait un château de sable incroyable! (One time, I made an incredible sandcastle!)

The passé composé and the imparfait Sometimes you need to use both the passé composé and the imparfait in the same sentence. You can tell what was going on (imparfait) when another action happened (passé composé). Je jouais aux dames quand le téléphone a sonné. (I was playing checkers when the phone rang.)

The passé composé and the imparfait Use the mnemonic device CHEATED to help remember when to use the imparfait Continuous action Habitual action Endless action (weather, age) Time (only when saying what time it was) Emotion Description

CHEATED CONTINOUS HABITUAL ENDLESS AGE

CHEATED TIME EMOTION/STATE OF MIND DESCRIPTION

Adverb placement Generally place adverbs that tell how much, how often, or how well someone does something after the conjugated verb. Je joue souvent aux dames et hier, j’ai bien joué. (I often play checkers and yesterday, I played well.)

Adverb placement Comme ci comme ça, quelquefois, and de temps en temps are exceptions, place them at the beginning or end of a sentence. Je joue aux dames comme ci comme ça. De temps en temps, je joue avec ma soeur. Quelquefois je gagne, mais je perds quelquefois aussi. (I’m alright at checkers. From time to time I play with my sister. Sometimes I win, but sometimes I lose too.)

Adverb placement Most other adverbs, such as those of time (hier, maintenant) and those ending in -ment usually go at the beginning or end of the sentence. Normalement je passe le samedi avec mes copains. (Normally I spend every Saturday with my friends.)