Transcript The Imperfect - WordPress.com

L’imparfait
The imperfect tense
Talking about events in
the past - 2
Talking about events in the past
 French
is made easy by the fact that,
whereas in English we have five ways
of changing verbs to talk about the
past, in French there are only two.
 These two forms are called:
 LE PASSE COMPOSE (PERFECT TENSE)
 L’IMPARFAIT (IMPERFECT TENSE)
Talking about events in the past

1.
2.
3.

1.
2.
3.
The passé composé (Perfect Tense)
communicates:
I played
I have played
I did play
The imparfait (Imperfect Tense)
communicates:
I was playing
I used to play
I played (but I don’t anymore)
Je
L’imparfait - formation
Ils
Nous
 The
imperfect is easy to form but
requires a good knowledge of verbs
and how to conjugate them. Tu
 To achieve real fluency and
competence in French, you must
learn all the parts of the verb:
Elle
On
Vous
Il
Elles
Formation of the imperfect tense
In order to form the imparfait, you
need to follow three simple steps:
1. Look up the infinitive form of the
verb. You will find this form in the…
…DICTIONARY
2. Find the ‘nous’ form of the verb
3. Add an imperfect ending
There is only one important
exception!

Step 1 – Infinitives
Find the infinitive forms of the following
verbs
to
 to
 to
 to
 to
 to
 to
 to
 to

play
dance
finish
choose
sell
wait
have
do
be
jouer
 danser
 finir
 choisir
 vendre
 attendre
 avoir
 faire
 être

Step 2 – Find the ‘nous’ form of the
verbs
We
 We
 We
 We
 We
 We
 We
 We
 We

play
dance
finish
choose
sell
wait
have
do
are
Nous
 Nous
 Nous
 Nous
 Nous
 Nous
 Nous
 Nous
 Nous

jouons
dansons
finissons
choisissons
vendons
attendons
avons
faisons
sommes
Step 3 – adding the correct ending
 Take
the –ons off the nous ending
 e.g. Nous jouons
 Take the ‘nous’ away
 e.g. Nous jou
 You now have your imperfect ‘stem’
and are ready to add the correct
endings
Step 3 – Adding the correct ending
Je jou
 Tu jou
 Il/Elle/On jou
 Nous jou
 Vous jou
 Ils jou
 Elles jou

-ons
-ons
-ons
-ons
-ons
-ons
-ons
ais
ais
ait
ions
iez
aient
aient








Practice
For the following verbs, can you follow the
steps and write them in the correct imperfect
form?
Je (parler)
Tu (aller)
Il (partir)
Elle (sortir)
Nous (faire)
Vous (prendre) (careful!)
Ils (boire) (careful!)
Elles (manger) (careful!)








Je parlais
Tu allais
Il partait
Elle sortait
Nous faisions
Vous preniez
Ils buvaient
Elles mangeaient
Remember: These phrases mean
was …ing and used to …
The big exception!!
 You
will notice that one ‘nous’ form
does not end ‘-ons’
 Nous sommes
 You need to use a different stem:
J’étais
Tu étais
Il/Elle/On était
Nous étions
Vous étiez
Ils/Elles étaient
 You will notice the endings are the
same as for other verbs
Practice
 You
are now ready to write some
sentences in French
 Check your answers by answering
the following questions:
 Have you got the correct ‘nous’
form?
 Have you replaced the ‘nous’ with
the correct subject?
 Have you replaced ‘-ons’ with the
correct ending?
Translate the following sentences
into French…









I was playing
You were speaking
He used to win
She used to drink
We were having
You were doing
They(men) were
swimming
They(women) were
going out
When she was young
she played tennis

Je jouais
Tu parlais
Il gagnait
Elle buvait
Nous avions
Vous faisiez
Ils nageaient

Elles sortaient







Quand elle était jeune,
elle jouait au tennis
Maintenant à vous!
 You
should now be able to make up
some sentences of your own
 Write 5 sentences to say what you
used to do when you were younger.
 You can start your sentences…
 Quand j’ étais jeune…