L’imparfait – the imperfect

The Imperfect Tense The Imperfect Tense is used to describe: 1. a state in the past, 2. a repeated action in the past or 3. how things used to be. Common trigger words for the Imperfect Tense are:- was, were, used to.

The Imperfect Tense In order to form the Imperfect Tense in French, you 1. find the 1st person plural (nous) form of the Present Tense 2. remove the - ons 3. add on the endings:- je …ais nous …ions tu …ais vous …iez il /elle/on …ait ils/elles … aient

The Imperfect Tense - parler So for the verb parler, it would be nous parlons parl parlais etc.

parler – to speak French je parlais tu parlais il/elle/on parlait nous parlions vous parliez ils/elles parlaient English I was speaking, I used to speak you were speaking, you used to speak (s)he was speaking, one used to speak we were speaking, we used to speak you were speaking, you used to speak they were speaking, they used to speak

aller – to go French j’allais tu allais il/elle/on allait nous allions vous alliez ils/elles allaient English I was going, I used to go you were going, you used to go (s)he was going, oneused to go we were going, we used to go you were going, you used to go they were going, they used to go

être - to be The only verb which is irregular in the Imperfect Tense is être, whose stem is ét... So the whole of the Imperfect Tense of être is:

être French j’étais tu étais il/elle/on était nous étions vous étiez ils/elles étaient English I was, I used to be you were, you used to be (s)he was, one used to be we were, we used to be you were, you used to be they were, they used to be

– ger and – cer verbs Care must also be taken with verbs ending in -ger and -cer. In the 1st person plural of the present tense of these verbs, they are: – nous mangeons and – nous lançons.

– ger and – cer verbs This has implications for the Imperfect Tense. Whenever the ending of the Imperfect starts with an i, you either drop the e or drop the cedilla (hook) from the ç

The Imperfect Tense of manger French je mangeais tu mangeais il/elle/on mangeait nous mangions vous mangiez ils/elles mangeaient English I was eating, I used to eat you were eating, you used to eat (s)he was eating, one used to eat we were eating, we used to eat you were eating, you used to eat they were eating, they used to eat

The Imperfect Tense of lancer French je lançais tu lançais il/elle/on lançait nous lancions vous lanciez ils/elles lançaient English I was throwing, I used to throw you were throwing, you used to throw (s)he was throwing, one used to throw we were throwing, we used to throw you were throwing, you used to throw they were throwing, they used to throw