IMPARFAIT
IMPARFAIT
The imperfect is used to express continuous past actions, habitual past actions, and incomplete events.
Time expressions often used with the imparfait:
autrefois
a cette époque-la chaque jour/mois/annee d'habitude tous les jours/mois souvent parfois jamais tandis que pendant que lorsque quand quelquefois |
in the past, long ago
in those days every day/month/year generally/usually every day/month often sometimes never whereas while when when sometimes |
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The imperfect is formed by dropping -ons from the nous form of the present tense and adding the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
NOTE:
1) With verbs ending in -ger, the letter e is inserted between g and the endings which begin with a:
eg. je mangeais but nous mangions
2) With verbs ending in -cer, the cedille is used with c before the endings which begin with a:
eg. ils commençaient but vous commenciez
1) With verbs ending in -ger, the letter e is inserted between g and the endings which begin with a:
eg. je mangeais but nous mangions
2) With verbs ending in -cer, the cedille is used with c before the endings which begin with a:
eg. ils commençaient but vous commenciez
When to Use the Imperfect - Quand utiliser l'imparfait
- a state of being
- a repetitive, continual, or habitual action
- a feeling or an emotion
- a description
- an action that is interrupted by another action
- in response to a question: What was going on? Ex. La porte était fermée.
Translation
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I was studying. J'étudiais.
We were studying. Nous étudiions. When he was young, he used to play tennis. Quand il était jeune, il jouait au tennis. When I was in Paris, I would always take the metro. Quand j'étais à Paris, je prenais toujours le métro. |
Examples of verbs mostly used with the imperfect tense:
avoir, croire, espérer, être, savoir, vouloir
avoir, croire, espérer, être, savoir, vouloir
Depuis + L'imparfait
- Describes something that started in the past and is continuing in the present.
- Sentence in imperfect usually followed by quand and the passé composé.
Ex. Nous voyagions depuis deux semaines quand nous avons rencontré ta cousine.
Expressions: 1) Ça faisait + expression of time + que
2) Il y avait + expression of time + que
......follow the same rule as depuis.
Ex. Ça faisait deux semaines qu'ils voyageaient.
Il y avait deux semaines qu'ils voyageaient.
They had been traveling for two weeks.
2) Il y avait + expression of time + que
......follow the same rule as depuis.
Ex. Ça faisait deux semaines qu'ils voyageaient.
Il y avait deux semaines qu'ils voyageaient.
They had been traveling for two weeks.
NOTE:
- Depuis quand (since when) - requires an answer that gives a specific date or time, not a length of time.
- Depuis combien de temps (how long) - requires an answer that gives the length of time.