Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 9

CEFR A2-B1

4 min read

Test yourself (26 questions)

French Imparfait

The imparfait is the cleanest tense to conjugate in French. One stem, one set of endings, and exactly one irregular verb in the whole language.

How to form it

Step 1: take the -form of the present tense.

Step 2: drop the - ending. You're left with the stem.

Step 3: add the imparfait endings.

PersonEnding
-ais
-ais
/ / on-
-ions
-iez
/ -

Worked through with :

  • nous -> stem parl-
  • je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlaient

With :

  • nous -> stem finiss-
  • je finissais, tu finissais, il finissait, nous finissions, vous finissiez, ils finissaient

With :

  • nous -> stem -
  • je faisais, tu faisais, il faisait, nous faisions, vous faisiez, ils faisaient

With :

  • nous -> stem pren-
  • je prenais, tu prenais, il prenait, nous prenions, vous preniez, ils prenaient

The only irregular

is the only verb in the entire language with an irregular imparfait stem. Use - with the standard endings.

SubjectForm
j'
/
/

That's it. Every other verb - including avoir, faire, aller, devoir, pouvoir, vouloir - is regular. (Avoir comes out as , , , , because nous -> av-; faire is because nous faisons -> fais-. These follow the rule, they aren't exceptions.)

When to use it

Three core uses.

1. Habitual past actions ("used to", "would"):

  • j' , foot. (When I was little, I used to play football.)
  • , ma grand-. (Every Sunday, we used to eat at my grandmother's.)
  • , j' à . (I used to live in Paris.)

2. Ongoing past actions ("was X-ing"):

  • , téléphone a . (While I was reading, the phone rang.)
  • m'as , . (When you called me, I was sleeping.)

3. Background description and states (the scene, weather, age, time, feelings):

  • . (The weather was nice.)
  • J' . (I was twenty years old.)
  • . (She was tired.)
  • C' . (It was Sunday morning.)
  • y . (The house was big and there was a garden.)

Time markers that trigger the imparfait

If any of these appear in the sentence, imparfait is almost certainly the right tense.

  • (often)
  • (always)
  • / / (every day / week / year)
  • / (each day / week)
  • d' / (usually / normally)
  • (while)
  • j' / (when I was little / young)
  • à (at that time)

The je / il / ils ambiguity

The je, tu, il and ils forms can all sound similar in spoken French (parlais, parlais, parlait, parlaient all reduce to the same /ɛ/ sound). In writing they're distinct; in speech, context and the subject pronoun do the disambiguating.

Worked examples

  • j' à l', j' maths. (When I was at school, I liked maths.)
  • . (My father worked at a bank.)
  • à . (We spoke French at home.)
  • pleuvait. (It was cold and it was raining.)
  • , à . (Every summer, we used to go to the beach.)
  • l'air . (She looked happy.)

Common mistakes English speakers make

Trying to invent irregular forms because the verb is irregular in the present: is regular in the imparfait (j'avais), is regular (je faisais), is regular (je prenais). The only irregular stem is - from être. Forgetting the -i- in the nous and vous forms - in the imparfait is , with both an -i- and the -ons (the -i- comes from the imparfait ending, the -ons is part of -ions). And confusing imparfait with passé composé for bounded events - j' cinéma is wrong, the bounded "yesterday" wants passé composé: cinéma.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/10

Conjugate the verb in brackets into the imparfait to match the subject.

  1. Quand j' petit, je jouais souvent. (être, irregular)

  2. Mon père en ville. (travailler)

  3. Nous avec ma mère. (parler)

  4. Il nuit et il pleuvait. (faire)

  5. Tous les jours, nous en ville. (aller)

  6. Tu toujours tard le matin. (dormir)

  7. Elle peur à cette époque. (avoir, regular in the imparfait)

  8. Les enfants en ville. (jouer)

  9. Je souvent ce film. (regarder)

  10. Vous chez vous le matin. (rester)

Translation drill

0/8

Translate each sentence into French using the imparfait.

  1. When I was little, I used to play often.

  2. We spoke with my mother.

  3. The weather was nice.

  4. She was young.

  5. My father worked in town.

  6. Every day, we used to go to town.

  7. I was tired.

  8. The children were sleeping.

Pick the right one

0/8

Pick the tense the sentence wants: imparfait for habitual or ongoing past, passé composé for a single bounded event. Choose imparfait or passé composé.

  1. Tous les jours, je au parc. (going habitually)

  2. Hier, je au cinéma. (one bounded event)

  3. Quand j'étais petit, je souvent. (used to)

  4. Hier, le téléphone une fois. (one bounded event)

  5. Il beau ce matin-là. (background weather)

  6. Pendant que je , le chat dormait. (ongoing action)

  7. Elle tôt ce matin. (one completed action)

  8. Nous toujours chez nous le matin. (habit)

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Frequently asked questions

How do you form the French imparfait?
Take the nous-form of the present tense, drop the -ons ending, and add: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Parler -> nous parlons -> parl- -> je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlaient. Finir -> nous finissons -> finiss- -> je finissais. Faire -> nous faisons -> fais- -> je faisais. The whole language has one irregular stem: être uses ét- (j'étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient).
When do you use the imparfait in French?
Three core uses. First, habitual past actions - 'used to' or 'would' (quand j'étais petit, je jouais au foot = when I was little, I used to play football). Second, ongoing past actions - 'was X-ing' (pendant que je lisais, le téléphone a sonné = while I was reading, the phone rang). Third, background description and states - setting the scene, weather, age, time, feelings (il faisait beau, j'avais vingt ans, elle était fatiguée). Time markers like souvent, toujours, tous les jours, quand j'étais petit all signal imparfait.