[📑 FINAL] Imparfait: how to write it

Imparfait is a French past tense. It describes states and actions that were ongoing or repeated in the past. The imperfect can correspond to the English simple past tense (I did, I went …), but also to structures such as used to and would and even the past progressive (I was doing, I was going …)

How to conjugate the imperfect tense in French

To conjugate the imperfect tense in French, add the following endings:

Person	er-verbs (ex. amier)	ir-verbs (ex. finir)* add iss	re-verbs (ex. vendre)
1_st person singular (I)	j’aimais	je finissais	je vendais
2_nd person singular (you)	tu aimais	tu finissais	tu vendais
3_rd person singular (he/she/it)	il/elle/on aimait	il/elle/on finissait	il/elle/on vendait
1_st person plural (we)	nous aimions	nous finissions	nous vendions
2_nd person plural (you)	vous aimiez	vous finissiez	vous vendiez
3_rd person plural (they)	ils/elles aimaient	ils/elles finissaient	ils/elles vendaient

* Most ir-verbs are conjugated like finir. Choisir, maigrir, réfléchir and réussir belong to this group. Here we add an ‘iss’ to the word stem before the conjugation.

The verb avoir is regular in the imperfect; only être has an irregular conjugation in this tense.

Person	avoir	être
1_st person singular (I)	j’avais	j’étais
2_nd person singular (you)	tu avais	tu étais
3_rd person singular (he/she/it)	il/elle/on avait	il/elle/on était
1_st person plural (we)	nous avions	nous étions
2_nd person plural (you)	vous aviez	vous étiez
3_rd person plural (they)	ils/elles avaient	ils/elles étaient

Exceptions to the conjugation rules

For verbs ending in ‘-cer’, replace the ‘c’ with ‘ç’ to preserve the soft c sound. This ç remains unchanged in the imparfait (except for nous and vous).
Example:
lancer —
je lançais, tu lançais, il lançait, nous lancions, vous lanciez, ils lançaient
For verbs that end in -ger, keep the ‘e’ to preserve the soft g sound. This e remains unchanged in the imparfait (except for nous and vous).
Example:
manger —
je mangeais, tu mangeais, il mangeait, nous mangions, vous mangiez, ils mangeaient
The verbs falloir and pleuvoir, which are only used in the 3_rd person singular, are conjugated as follows in the imparfait:
Example:
falloir → il fallait
pleuvoir → il pleuvait

How to write negatives

In negative sentences, the imparfait comes after the first part of the negation (ne) and before the second part of the negation (pas). Example (negative in red):

J’aimais. → Je n’aimais pas.
Nous vendions→ Nous ne vendions pas.