French Imparfait Tense

French Past Tenses

• Two versions of the past tense in French:

  • Passé Composé (PC): For sudden or completed events.

  • Example:

    • "I slept" → PC: j'ai dormi

  • Imparfait (Imp): For ongoing events, states of being, or conditions.

  • Example:

    • "I was sleeping" → Imp: je dormais

    • "I used to sleep" → Imp: je dormais

• Examples of Imparfait:

  • "It rained" → PC: il a plu

  • "It was raining" → Imp: il pleurait

Formation of Imparfait

• Steps to form the imparfait:

  1. Take the nous form of the present tense.

  2. Remove the -ons ending.

  3. Add the imperfect endings:

  • je + ais

  • tu + ais

  • il/elle + ait

  • nous + ions

  • vous + iez

  • ils/elles + aient

• Irregular Verb:

  • Only irregular verb stem is être → ét-

• Examples in Imparfait:

  • je mangeais

  • tu étais

  • il parlait