![]() ![]() When I was little I like to drink hot chocolate.Ģ. Quand j’étais un enfant, j’aimais boire le chocolat chaud.Learning how to use the imperfect tense (l ‘imparfait) can be a challenge for many students. For example, j’étais (I was, used to be). The verb However, être(to be) has an irregular imperfect stem ét. Drop the -ons from nous avons and add appropriate imperfect ending. The verb avoir (to have) follows the same conjugation pattern of the verbs listed above. For example, Je partais (I was leaving, used to leave). For example, Je finissais (I was finishing, used to finish).įor irregular -ir verbs such as partir (to leave), drop the -ons from the nous form, nous partons and the appropriate ending. There is one exception: être (to be).įor regular -ir verbs such as finir, drop the -ons from the present tense nous form nous finissons and add the appropriate ending. The rule of dropping the -ons of the nous form in the present tense and adding the imperfect endings applies to every verb in the French language. For example, Nous parlons -> je parlais (I used to speak, was speaking). To form the imperfect, drop the -ons on the nous form of the present tense and add the endings-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez and -aient. This e remains unchanged in the imparfait (except in the 1 st and 2 nd person plural forms).The French imperfect tense is used to describe states of being and habitual actions in the past. ![]() For verbs that end in - ger, the present form in the 1 st person plural is constructed with e (in order to preserve the soft g sound).Je lan çais, tu lan çais, il lan çait, nous lancions, vous lanciez, ils lan çaient This ç remains unchanged in the imparfait (except in the 1 st and 2 nd person plural forms). For verbs that end in - cer, the present form in the 1 st person plural is constructed with ç (in order to preserve the soft c sound).To see the conjugation of any French verb in the imparfait, go to our verb conjugator. The verb avoir is regular in the imperfect only être has an irregular conjugation in this tense. Mentir, partir and sentir are part of this group. ** The ir-verbs that are not conjugated like finir, are conjugated like dormir. Here we add an - iss- to the word stem in the plural forms. Choisir, réagir, réfléchir and réussir belong to this group. * Most ir-verbs are conjugated like finir. passé composé to learn when to use which tense, then test yourself in the free exercises. Go to our dedicated page on imparfait vs. Learners of French often find it difficult to know when to use the imperfect tense and when to use the passé composé. They baked the cake and then ate a piece for dessert. While he was reading the recipe, Florence was preparing the cake batter.Įxample: Ils cuisaient le gâteau puis mangeaient une part au dessert. to talk about simultaneously occurring actions in the pastĮxample: Pendant qu’il regardait la recette, Florence préparait la pâte.Every day he would bake a cake with his friend Florence. to talk about a repeated action in the pastĮxample: Tous les jours, il faisait un gâteau avec son amie Florence.When Lucas was a kid, he was a big eater. to describe a person, a property, a comment or an explanation in the pastĮxample : Lucas était un enfant très gourmand.When he was young, Lucas really liked cake. We use the imperfect tense in the following situations:Įxample: Quand il était petit, Lucas aimait beaucoup les gâteaux. When to use the imperfect tense in French ![]()
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