Reminder:
The imperfect tense is used to express what was happening in the past, either a repeated action/routine or an ongoing action. So it is usually translated in English by 'used to' or 'was/were +ING'. The imperfect is often used for description in the past too.
Ex: Mon père nous achetait des croissants tous les dimanches. = My dad used to buy us croissants every Sunday. (habit)
Ex: Je dormais tranquillement = I was sleeping peacefully. (ongoing action)
Ex: Il y avait une grande piscine à l'hôtel. = There was a big swimming pool at the hotel. (description)
To form the imperfect tense, you need to take the nous form in the present tense and remove the -ons. Then you can add on the endings for the imperfect tense.
| je | -ais |
| tu | -ais |
| il /elle /on | -ait |
| nous | -ions |
| vous | -iez |
| ils /elles | -aient |
Ex: J'allais à l'école à pied = I used to go to school by foot.
Ex: Nous finissions l'école à quatre heures et demie. = We used to finish school at 4.30.
If a verb is irregular in the present tense, it will carry the irregularity in the imperfect tense, as it is formed from the nous form of the present, so it is important to know the irregular verbs in the present tense.
For instance: je faisais mes devoirs = I was doing my homework.
There is only one irregular verb in the imperfect which is être (to be). It is not formed from the nous form of the present. Here is its conjugation:
| j'étais | I was / I used to be |
| tu étais | you were / used to be |
| Il /elle /on était | he /she/we was/were / used to be |
| nous étions | we were / used to be |
| vous étiez | you were /used to be |
| ils /elles étaient | they were / used to be |
Ex: J'étais heureuse de le voir - I was happy to see him.
Test your understanding below with a quick starter question!