Transcript 7B.2 The Imparfait

Point de départ
You’ve learned how the passé composé can express
past actions. Now you’ll learn another past tense, the
imparfait (imperfect).
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7B.2-1
The imparfait can be translated several ways into English.
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7B.2-2
The imparfait is used to talk about actions that took
place repeatedly or habitually during an unspecified
period of time.
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7B.2-3
To form the imparfait, drop the -ons ending from the
nous form of the present tense and replace it with
these endings.
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7B.2-4
Verbs whose infinitives end in -ger add an e before all
endings of the imparfait except in the nous and vous
forms. Verbs whose infinitives end in -cer change c to ç
before all endings except in the nous and vous forms.
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7B.2-5
Note that the nous and vous forms of infinitives ending
in -ier contain a double i in the imparfait.
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7B.2-6
The imparfait is used for description, often with the verb
être, which is irregular in this tense.
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7B.2-7
Note the imperfect forms of these expressions.
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7B.2-8
The verbs dire, lire, and écrire.
The verbs dire (to say), lire (to read), and écrire (to write)
are conjugated as follows: je dis, tu dis, il dit, nous
disons, vous dites, ils disent; je lis, tu lis, il lit, nous
lisons, vous lisez, ils lisent; j’écris, tu écris, il écrit,
nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent. The verb
décrire (to describe) is conjugated like écrire.
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7B.2-9
The verbs dire, lire, and écrire. (continued)
The past participle of dire, écrire, and décrire,
respectively, are dit, écrit, and décrit. The past
participle of lire is lu.
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7B.2-10
The verbs dire, lire, and écrire. (continued)
In the imparfait, these verbs have regular endings.
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7B.2-11
Essayez!
Choisissez la réponse correcte pour
compléter les phrases.
1. Muriel (réservais/réservait)
une chambre en ville.
2. Vous (partageait/partagiez)
une chambre avec un autre
étudiant.
5. Il (neigeait /fallait) mettre le
chauffage (heat) quand il
(faisaient /faisait) froid.
6. Qu’est-ce que tu (faisait /
faisais) à la plage?
3. Nous (écrivait/écrivions)
beaucoup à nos amis.
7. Vous (lisiez/lisaient)
beaucoup avant?
4. Il y (avait /était) un bon
restaurant au premier étage.
8. Nous (étaient /étions) trois
dans la petite chambre.
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7B.2-12