Frenchvita

The imperfect

Formation:

Good news ! The endings of the imperfect are always the same :

• -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient

regardless of the group to which the verbs belong to or whether they are regular or irregular.

Have a look :

Chanter (to sing)	Finir (to finish)	Rendre (to put back)
Je chan t -AIS	Je fini -ISS- AIS	Je rend -AIS
Tu chant -AIS	Tu fini -ISS- AIS	Tu rend -AIS
Il chant -AIT	Il fini -ISS- AIT	Il rend -AIT
Nous chant -IONS	Nous fini -ISS- IONS	Nous rend -IONS
Vous chant -IEZ	Vous fini -ISS- IEZ	Vous rend -IEZ
Ils chant -AIENT	Ils fini -ISS- AIENT	Ils rend -AIENT

Note that the 1st and 2nd person of the plural are very similar to the present tense indicative with just the addition of the "i".

The stem you need to use for the imperfect is the one you have in the present tense at the 1st or 2nd person of plural. For example:

Boire – to drink

• Present Je bois, tu bois, il boit but nous buvons, vous buvez, ils boivent
• Imperfect Je buvais, tu buvais, il buvait, nous buvions, vous buviez, ils buvaient

Exercise: Change the present tense of the following verbs into the imperfect
Here is a list of verbs in the infinitive form. You need to find their form in the imperfect tense and then use them to fill the gaps with the right verbs in the text beneath the list.

Use of the imperfect

This is the tense which, as its name indicates, is imperfect. It is considered incomplete. There is no sense of a start or a finish and it gives the impression to exist only in the past, in the background of a time with no connection with today.

Its main uses are:

The equivalent of the English expression “used to”.

I used to wear red trousers – Je portais des pantalons rouges.
It emphasizes the ritual or the habitual in the past

• When I was young, I lived/used to live in France
  • Quand j’étais enfant, j’habitais en France.

To describe what was taking place at a certain point in time.

• I was eating when he arrived
  • Je mangeais quand il est arrivé.

Note that the imperfect is used in conjunction with the perfect to describe the set up of the action.

• I was very young when my father left my mother
  • J’étais très jeune quand mon père a quitté ma mère.

The background is “when I was young” and the action is “when my father left my mother”.

To describe a situation or a state in the past

The house had white curtains at the windows in the kitchen, the rooms were very small and you had to use a very tiny bathroom.

La maison avait des rideaux blancs aux fenêtres de la cuisine, les pièces étaient très petites et vous deviez utiliser une toute petite salle-de-bains.

Exercise: Fill the gaps with either the perfect or the imperfect

Now we'll take a look at: The Past Historic