French tense
French imparfait
The 'background' past tense. Used for ongoing states, repeated habits, and descriptions, anything that was going on, used to happen, or kept happening.
When to use Imparfait
Ongoing background
Use it for an action already in progress when another event occurred.
Je dormais quand tu as appelé.
I was sleeping when you called.
Past habits
Use it for actions that used to happen repeatedly.
Le mercredi, on allait au marché.
On Wednesdays, we used to go to the market.
Description and state
Use it for weather, age, feelings, appearance, and scene-setting.
Il faisait beau et les enfants jouaient dehors.
The weather was nice and the children were playing outside.
How to form Imparfait
Take the present nous form, remove -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Être alone uses ét-.
Patterns and conjugation examples
Nous minus -ons
Regular. Remove -ons from the present nous form and add the six imparfait endings.
parler , to speak
| je | parlais |
|---|---|
| tu | parlais |
| il | parlait |
| nous | parlions |
| vous | parliez |
| ils | parlaient |
Inherited -iss-
Regular. Group 2 verbs retain -iss- from nous finissons.
finir , to finish
| je | finissais |
|---|---|
| tu | finissais |
| il | finissait |
| nous | finissions |
| vous | finissiez |
| ils | finissaient |
Keep e after g
Transformation. Keep e before endings beginning with a to preserve the soft g sound.
manger , to eat
| je | mangeais |
|---|---|
| tu | mangeais |
| il | mangeait |
| nous | mangions |
| vous | mangiez |
| ils | mangeaient |
c → ç
Transformation. Use ç before endings beginning with a to preserve the soft c sound.
commencer , to begin
| je | commençais |
|---|---|
| tu | commençais |
| il | commençait |
| nous | commencions |
| vous | commenciez |
| ils | commençaient |
Highly irregular verbs
- être → étais · étions · étaient
Passé composé vs imparfait
Knowing each form is only half the job. The hard part is choosing from context: completed event or ongoing background, single action or repeated habit. Use the passé composé vs imparfait rules and free 12-question quiz to practice the distinction.