Goal
You’ll be able to conjugate the imparfait (imperfect tense) correctly, and understand what kind of past meaning it expresses, distinct from the passé composé covered in the previous two lessons.
Learn
The imparfait describes an ongoing, habitual, or background past state — genuinely similar in role to Spanish’s imperfect tense, distinct from passé composé’s “completed single event” meaning.
Imparfait is formed the same way regardless of verb family: take the nous form of the present tense, remove -ons, and add the imparfait endings:
parler (nous parlons → parl-):
je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait,
nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlaient This formation method genuinely works for almost every French verb, including irregular ones, since it’s based on the present-tense nous form rather than the infinitive — a genuinely reliable, unified formation method unlike passé composé’s family-specific participle endings.
Common imparfait uses: Quand j’étais jeune, j’habitais à Paris. (When I was young, I lived in Paris — an ongoing past state), or setting a scene: Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti. (It was raining when I went out — imparfait for the background, passé composé for the specific interrupting event, directly foreshadowing the next lesson’s focus).
Decision Task
You want to form the imparfait of an irregular verb whose infinitive doesn’t follow -er/-ir/-re patterns cleanly. Before reading on: based on this lesson, what present-tense form would you actually start from to build the imparfait correctly?
Show Answer
The verb’s own present-tense “nous” form — imparfait is built from the nous form (minus -ons) regardless of whether the verb is regular or irregular, which is exactly why this formation method is described as genuinely reliable and unified across almost every French verb, unlike passé composé’s family-specific rules.
Common Mistake
Trying to form the imparfait directly from a verb’s infinitive using family-specific rules, the way passé composé participles work. Imparfait specifically uses the present-tense nous form as its base across virtually all verbs, a genuinely different and more universal formation method.
Practice Questions
1. Conjugate parler in the imparfait for “je”.
Show Answer
parlais
2. What present-tense form is used as the base for forming imparfait?
Show Answer
The “nous” form (with -ons removed).
3. Why is imparfait’s formation method described as more universally reliable than passé composé’s?
Show Answer
It works the same way across almost every verb, including irregular ones, since it’s based on the present nous form rather than family-specific infinitive patterns.
4. What kind of past meaning does imparfait express?
Show Answer
An ongoing, habitual, or background past state.
5. In Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti, which verb is imparfait and which is passé composé?
Show Answer
Pleuvait is imparfait (the ongoing background); suis sorti is passé composé (the specific interrupting event).
Try It Yourself
Without looking back, fully conjugate finir in the imparfait across all six subject forms.
Show Answer
finissais, finissais, finissait, finissions, finissiez, finissaient — based on the present nous form finissons, minus -ons.
Quick Check
1. What does imparfait describe?
Show Answer
An ongoing, habitual, or background past state.
2. What present-tense form is imparfait built from?
Show Answer
The nous form.
3. What is the “je” imparfait ending?
Show Answer
-ais
4. What is the “nous” imparfait ending?
Show Answer
-ions
5. Does imparfait’s formation method work the same way for irregular verbs?
Show Answer
Yes — that’s exactly what makes it genuinely reliable across almost every verb.