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French grammar Part of Chapter 9

CEFR A2-B1

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Test yourself (27 questions)

French Imparfait Tense: Endings, Conjugation and Uses

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

The French imparfait describes what used to happen, what was going on, and how things were. To form it, take the form of the present, drop -ons, and add one set of endings: gives . Only is irregular: .

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Fill in the blank

0/3

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

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

  2. Mon père en ville. (travailler) (travailler, il)

  3. Nous avec ma mère. (parler) (parler, nous)

The imparfait at a glance

The whole tense on one screen: the stem from , then six endings that never change.

the imparfait endingwritten, not saidthe être stema letter that keeps the sound softWhat do the colours mean?
nous parlons, drop -ons, add -ais: je parlais, I was speaking
SubjectEndingparlerêtre
-ais
-ais
/ / on-
-ions
-iez
/ -

Four of the six forms (, , , ) sound the same: , and all end in one "è" sound, and the rest of the ending is written, not said: . Only and sound different.

Building the stem from nous

Every verb but gets its stem the same way, including the ones that are irregular in the present.

Verbnous formStemImparfait
parl-
finiss-
-
pren-
av-
all-

, and look as if they should be irregular, and are not: - I had, - I was doing. is said as if it were written "fesais", like .

The only irregular: être

takes the stem ét- with the normal endings. It is the commonest imparfait in the language, because it describes.

  • . - I was tired.
  • . - It was Sunday.
  • . - We were young.

The stem is ét- with é, never ê: , not êtait.

Spelling details: mangeais, commençais

The rule never breaks, but the stem keeps what the form had.

Verb typeExampleWhy
-ger e keeps the g soft before a
-cer ç keeps the c soft before a
stem in -i the stem's i, then the ending's i

Before an i the softening letter is not needed: , .

Impersonal verbs have one form, and you will meet them constantly: - you had to, - there was.

When to use it: three jobs

The imparfait shows the past as a stretch you are inside, with no start or end in view. That gives it three jobs.

  • je jouais au foot (a habit: used to)

  • je dormais (in progress: was sleeping)

  • il faisait beau (the scene: description)

Timeline from past to now, with now marked.

JobExampleEnglish
A habit: used to , .On Saturdays we used to go to the park.
Was -ing .I was sleeping.
Description .The weather was nice and I was ten.

Description covers the weather, the time, age, how people looked and felt: . - She was happy. . - It was eight o'clock.

For one finished event, French uses the instead: , . - Yesterday I went to the park. The passé composé vs imparfait guide sets the two side by side.

Words that signal the imparfait

These words describe repetition or a long stretch, so they usually come with the imparfait.

Word or phraseEnglishExample
often . - I often read.
always . - He was always there.
every day .
on Saturdays , .
when I was little , .
at that time , .

They are signals, not laws: . (I have often thought of you) counts the times as a finished set, so it takes the .

Beyond the past: si and polite requests

The imparfait also does two jobs that are not about the past at all.

  • , . - If I had the time, I'd leave. (si clauses)
  • ? - How about going to the cinema?
  • . - I wanted to ask you something. (softer than )

Common mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
was, in the past, is
êtait the stem is ét-, with é
(was) the ending is -ions
takes -ais, takes -
, , one finished event:

What to do next

  1. Build + drop -ons for five verbs you know, then say the form.
  2. Describe a childhood photo: , , .
  3. Then learn the choice in passé composé vs imparfait.

Practise: test yourself

Build the word

0/6

Build the imparfait from the stem and the ending.

  1. je + parler (nous parlons)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. nous + finir (nous finissons)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. il + faire (nous faisons)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. ils + avoir (nous avons)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  5. vous + être

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  6. je + manger (nous mangeons)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Fill in the blank

0/7

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

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

  2. Mon père en ville. (travailler) (travailler, il)

  3. Nous avec ma mère. (parler) (parler, nous)

  4. Il beau ce jour-là. (faire) (faire, stem fais-)

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

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

  7. Les enfants dans la maison. (dormir) (dormir, ils)

Spot the mistake

0/4

Tap the mistake.

Pick the right one

0/6

Which job is the imparfait doing: a habit (used to), an action in progress (was -ing), or a description (how it was)?

  1. Tous les jours, je prenais le bus. (every day)

  2. Je dormais. (I was sleeping)

  3. Il faisait froid. (the weather)

  4. Elle avait dix ans. (her age)

  5. Le samedi, nous allions au parc. (on Saturdays)

  6. Tu regardais un film. (you were watching)

Translation drill

0/4

Translate each sentence into French using the imparfait.

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

  2. The weather was nice.

  3. My father worked in town.

  4. The children were sleeping.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you form the French imparfait?
Take the form of the present, drop -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. : , stem parl-, . : , stem finiss-, . : , stem fais-, . Only has its own stem, ét-: , , , , , .
When do you use the imparfait in French?
For three things in the past. Habits, what used to happen: , (when I was little, I used to play football). Actions in progress: (I was sleeping). Description and states: (the weather was nice), (I was ten). Words such as , , and to it.
Is irregular in the imparfait?
No. is irregular in the present but regular in the imparfait: gives the stem av-, so , , , , , . The same goes for (), ( ) and ( ). Every verb except follows the rule.
How do you say 'used to' in French?
With the imparfait, not a separate word. I used to live in is ; we used to go to the beach every summer is . English 'would' for a past habit works the same way: , (on Sundays we would eat at my grandmother's).
Why does have two i's?
Because the stem of already ends in i ( , stem étudi-), and the ending -ions adds another. So and are correct, and they keep the imparfait apart from the present . ( ) and ( ) do the same.