The Imperfect Tense – A Complete Guide.
It is used when we are talking about:
• An incomplete or interrupted action in the past
E.g. I was going out when the phone rang.
• Something that was done regularly in the past.
E.g. I used to go to town every week.
• Describing someone or something in the past tense.
E.g. He was tall and thin.
Verb Stems Verb Endings
Take the nous form of the present tense of the
verb you need, remove the ‘ons’ and you are Je ….............ais
left with the stem: Tu ….............ais
Jouer è nous jouons (present tense) Il/Elle …........ait
è jou = the stem Nous …..........ions
Finir è nous finissons (present tense) Vous …..........iez
è finiss = the stem Ils/ Elles ….....aient
Vendre è nous vendons (present tense)
è vend = the stem
Exemples:
Je jouais = I Tu finissais = Il vendait = Nous Elles
was playing/ You were He was regardions = attendaient
I used to finishing/ You selling/ He We were = They were
play used to finish used to sell watching/ We waiting/
used to watch They used to
wait
Irregular Verbs in the Present Tense.
1. Avoir = to have nous avons è stem = av
2. Faire = to do/make nous faisons è stem = fais
3. Aller = to go nous allons è stem = all
4. Voir = to see nous voyons è stem = voy
5. Vouloir = to want nous voulons è stem = voul
6. Boire = to drink nous buvons è stem = buv
7. Lire = to read nous lisons è stem = lis
8. Sortir = to go out nous sortons è stem = sort
9. Dire = to say nous disons è stem = dis
10. Prendre = to take nous prenons è stem = pren
11. Partir = to leave nous partons è stem = part
12. Manger = to eat nous mangeons è stem = mange
Exemples:
J’avais = I Elle sortait = Vous disiez Nous allions Ils lisaient =
had/ I used She was going = You were = We were They were
to have out / She used saying/ You going/ We reading/ They
to go out used to say used to go used to read
Irregular: There is ONLY one verb in French that does not follow the rule of
starting with the nous form of the present tense to get the stem è
ÊTRE because in the present tense = nous sommes
The stem of être for the imperfect tense = ét
E.g. J’étais = I was/ I used to be Nous étions = We were/ We used to be
CGazzal©2017
The Negative with Imperfect Tense Verbs.
In order to make imperfect tense verbs negative, we need to put the words n’/ne
and pas around the verb.
Exemples:
Quand j’étais petit, je n’aimais pas le chocolat! = When I was young, I didn’t used
to like chocolate!
Ils n’écoutaient pas en classe! = They weren’t listening in class!
Reflexive Verbs in the Imperfect Tense.
Add the reflexive pronouns:
Je me maquillais quand il est arrivé = I was putting on make up when he arrived.
Tu te brossais les dents = You were brushing your teeth …
Il se réveillait tôt le matin = He used to wake up early in the morning.
Elle s’amusait bien = She was enjoying herself.
Nous nous disputions souvent = We used to argue often.
Vous vous fâchiez tout le temps = You used to get angry all the time.
Ils se couchaient à 20h = They used to go to bed at 8pm.
The Negative Form of Reflexive Verbs in the Imperfect Tense.
In order to make reflexive imperfect tense verbs negative, we need to put the
words n’/ne and pas around the reflexive pronoun and the verb.
On ne se Tu ne te Il ne se Je ne me Ils ne se
disputait pas maquillais reposait pas levais pas couchaient
quand on pas = You quand je suis avant midi le pas
était plus didn’t used to arrivée = He weekend = facilement =
petits = put on make wasn’t I didn’t used They didn’t
We didn’t up relaxing to get up used to go to
used argue when I before 12 at bed easily
when we arrived the weekend
were younger
CGazzal©2017
