Imperfect - Imparfait Learn the French Past Tense

The French imperfect (imparfait) is a descriptive past tense that indicates an ongoing state of being or a repeated or incomplete action. The beginning and end of the state of being or action are not indicated, and the imperfect is very often translated in English as was or was ___-ing. The imperfect can indicate any of the following: 1. Habitual Actions or States of Being Quand jà ©tais petit, nous allions à   la plage chaque semaine. –  When I was young, we used to go to the beach every week.Lannà ©e dernià ¨re, je travaillais avec mon pà ¨re. – I worked with my father last year. 2. Physical and Emotional Descriptions: Time, Weather, Age, Feelings Il à ©tait midi et il faisait beau. –  It was noon and the weather was nice.Quand il avait 5 ans, il avait toujours faim. –  When he was 5, he was always hungry. 3. Actions or States of an Unspecified Duration Je faisais la queue parce que javais besoin de billets. –  I stood in line because I needed tickets.Il espà ©rait te voir avant ton dà ©part. –  He was hoping to see you before you left. 4.  Background Information in Conjunction With the Passà © Composà © Jà ©tais au marchà © et jai achetà © des pommes. –  I was at the market and I bought some apples.Il à ©tait à   la banque quand il la trouvà ©. –  He was at the bank when he found it. 5. Wishes or Suggestions Ah! Si jà ©tais riche! – Oh, if only I were rich!Si nous sortions ce soir? –  How about going out tonight? 6. Conditions in si Clauses Si javais de largent, jirais avec toi. – If I had some money, I would go with you.Sil voulait venir, il trouverait le moyen. –  If he wanted to come, he would find a way. 7. The Expressions à ªtre en train de and venir de in the Past Jà ©tais en train de faire la vaisselle. – I was (in the process of) doing the dishes.Il venait darriver. –  He had just arrived. Rules of Conjugation French imperfect conjugations are often easier than other tenses, as the imperfect of virtually all verbs—regular and irregular—is formed the same way: dropping the  -ons  ending from the present indicative  nous  form of the verb and adding the imperfect endings. Être (to be)  is the only irregular verb in the imperfect because the present tense  nous sommes  has no  -ons  to drop. So it has the irregular stem  Ãƒ ©t-  and uses the same endings as all other verbs. As in many other tenses,  spelling change verbs, that is, verbs which end in  -cer  and  -ger, have minor spelling changes in the imperfect. Verbs that end in  -ier  have an imperfect root that ends in i, so end with double i in the  nous  and  vous  form of the imperfect. French Imperfect Conjugations Here are the imperfect endings and conjugations for the regular verbs  parler  (to speak) and  finir  (to finish), the  -ier  verb  Ãƒ ©tudier  (to study), the spelling change verb  manger  (to eat), and the irregular verb  Ãƒ ªtre  (to be): Pronoun Ending parler parl- finir finiss- à ©tudier à ©tudi- manger mange- à ªtre à ©t- je (j') -ais parlais finissais à ©tudiais mangeais à ©tais tu -ais parlais finissais à ©tudiais mangeais à ©tais il -ait parlait finissait à ©tudiait mangeait à ©tait nous -ions parlions finissions à ©tudiions mangions à ©tions vous -iez parliez finissiez à ©tudiiez mangiez à ©tiez ils -aient parlaient finissaient à ©tudiaient mangeaient à ©taient