Le Passé Composé et l’imparfait
L’imparfait is a French past tense. It describes states and actions that were going or repeated in the past. L’ imparfait is used to tell stories and report on past actions mostly in written contents .We conjugate the imperfect by adding the ending ais , ais , ait , ions, iez , aient to the root of present tense noun form of verb.
We use the imperfect tense in the following situations:
- To describe a situation in the past
Quand il était petit Paul aimait beaucoup les gâteaux.
(When he was young, Paul really liked cake.)
- To express habit or repeated action
To express habit, or repeated action.
Nous attendions là tous les jours.
(We waited there every day.)
Chaque lundi elle allait au marché.
(Every Monday she went to the market.)
- To express suggestions
Si je le faisais pour toi?
if I did it for you?
- To express discretion
Je venais vous parler de son mari.
I came too talk to you about her husband.
- To talk about simultaneously occurring action in the past.
Pendant qu’il regardait la recette liza préparer la Pâte .
while he was watching the recipe liza prepare the dough.
- To describe a person, a property, a comment or an explanation in the past.
Paul était un enfant très gourmand.
Paul was a very greedy child.
- To talk about a repeated action in the past.
Tous les jours , il faisait un gâteaux avec son amie Florence.
Every day he baked a cake with his friend Florence.
| ER ais , ais , ait , ions , iez , aient | |
|---|---|
Donner (to give) |
|
| Je donnais | (I used to give) |
| Tu donnais | (You used to give) |
| Il/elle/on donnait | (He/she/ one used to give) |
| Nous donnions | (We used to give) |
| Vous donniez | (You used to give) |
| Ils/elles donnaient | (They used to give) |
Verbs in -ier,-uer and -éer note the juxtaposition of vowels with nous and vous.
| Ex: étudier (to study) | |
|---|---|
| J’ étudiais | (I was studying) |
| Tu étudiais | (You were studying) |
| Il/elle/on étudiait | (He/she/one was studying) |
| nous étudiions | (We were studying) |
| vous étudiiez | (You were studying) |
| ils/elles étudiaient | (They were studying) |
| Ex :Continuer ( to Continue) | |
|---|---|
| je continuais | (I continued) |
| tu continuais | (You continued) |
| Il/elle/on continuait | (He/she/one continued) |
| nous continuions | (We continued) |
| vous continuiez | (You continued) |
| ils/elles continuaient | (They continued) |
IR issais ,issais , issait , issions , issiez , issaient
| Finir ( to finish) | |
|---|---|
| Je finissais | (I used to finish) |
| Tu finissais | (You used to finish) |
| Il/elle/on finissait | (He/she/one used to finish) |
| nous finissions | (We used to finish) |
| vous finissiez | (You used to finish) |
| ils/elles finissaient | (They used to finish) |
| Ex: Venir (to come) | |
|---|---|
| je venais | (I was coming) |
| tu venais | (You were coming) |
| Il/elle/on venais | (He/she/ was coming) |
| nous venions | (We were coming) |
| vous veniez | (You were coming) |
| ils/elles venaient | (They were coming) |
OIR Verbs
| Devoir (need to/had to) | |
|---|---|
| Je devais | (I had to) |
| Tu devais | (You had to) |
| Il/elle/on devait | (He/she/one had to) |
| nous devions | (We had to) |
| vous deviez | (You had to) |
| ils/elles devaient | (They had to) |
| Recevoir (to receive) | |
|---|---|
| Je recevais | (I received) |
| Tu recevais | (You received) |
| Il/elle/on recevait | (He/she/one received) |
| nous recevions | (We received) |
| vous receviez | (You received) |
| ils/elles recevaient | (They received) |
| Pouvoir (Can) | |
|---|---|
| Je pouvais | (I could) |
| Tu pouvais | (You could) |
| Il/elle/on pouvait | (He/she/one could) |
| nous pouvions | (We could) |
| vous pouviez | (You could) |
| ils/elles pouvaient | (They could) |