Unit 4 · Lesson 1
L'imparfait Formation
The imparfait is French's second key past tense. It describes ongoing states, background descriptions, habits, and repeated actions in the past. Fortunately, it has a very regular formation that applies to almost every verb.
The stem is found by taking the nous form of the present tense and removing -ons. Then add the six imparfait endings. Only être has an irregular stem: ét-.
Step-by-step: parler
1. nous parlons → remove -ons → parl-
2. Add endings: parlais, parlais, parlait, parlions, parliez, parlaient
Imparfait endings (all verbs)
je → -ais
tu → -ais
il/elle → -ait
nous → -ions
vous → -iez
ils/elles → -aient
Example: finir
nous finissons → stem: finiss-
je finissais · tu finissais · il finissait
nous finissions · vous finissiez · ils finissaient
Imparfait conjugations
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French
parler: je
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English
je parlais
Quand j'étais jeune, je parlais beaucoup.: When I was young, I talked a lot.
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être — the only irregular imparfait stem
Every verb except être forms its imparfait stem from the nous present tense. Être uses the stem ét- (from the Latin imperfect).
j'étais
I was
tu étais
you were
il/elle était
he/she was
nous étions
we were
vous étiez
you were (pl)
ils/elles étaient
they were
Verb + person → imparfait form
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Click a French word, then click its English match.
Form the imparfait
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Hint: imparfait of aller: stem = all- (from nous allons), add -ais
When I was a child, I used to walk to school.
L'imparfait formation quiz
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How do you find the imparfait stem of a verb?