to describe an action that was in the process of

taking place, e.g.

I was watching je regardais

She was listening elle écoutait

We were talking nous parlions

They were singing ils chantaient

The Imperfect Tense is used in three different ways:

When something used to be the case or happened

regularly in the past, e/g:

I used to go there every week. j’y allais toutes les

semaines.

They used to visit us. Ils nous rendaient visite.

I used to eat pasta every day. Je mangeais des pâtes

tous les jours.

I went to the beach. J’allais à la plage.

When describing something in the past, e.g:

The sky was blue. Le ciel était bleu.

The sun was shining. Le soleil brillait.

It was brilliant. C’était génial!

The birds were singing. Les oiseaux chantaient.

It was raining. Il pleuvait.

How to construct the Imperfect Tense:

Take the “nous” form of the PRESENT TENSE of any verb (regular or irregular) (except “être”), e.g :

Nous parlons

Nous jouons

Nous choisissons

Nous vendons

Nous faisons

Remove the “ons” to find the imperfect stem of the verb, e.g:

Nous parlons parl

Nous jouons jou

Nous choisissons choisiss

Nous vendons vend

Nous faisons fais

Add the appropriate endings to the stem, e.g:

Here’s how its done:

Take the “nous” form of the present tense:

Nous regardons

Remove the “ons”, leaving the stem:

regard

Add the appropriate ending:

Now try some examples for yourself. Translate the following sentences into French. Take care, some of the verbs are irregular!

1. I was singing (chanter).

2. She used to dance (danser).

3. We used to work (travailler).

4. It was sunny (faire du soleil).

5. They were crying (pleurer).

6. I was drinking (boire).

7. She used to write (écrire).

8. He had a headache (avoir mal à la tête).

9. She was leaving (partir).

10. He was having his lunch (déjeuner).

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is “être” and it looks like this:

j’étais nous étions

tu étais vous étiez

il/elle/on était ils/elles étaient