Imperfect (Imparfait)

Formation of the Imperfect

The imperfect (imparfait) of regular verbs is formed by dropping the -ons ending of the nous (we) form of the present tense and adding:

The imperfect of irregular verbs, with few exceptions, is formed the same way.

See also Irregular Verbs.

Meanings of the Imperfect

The imperfect tense is used:

1. To express continuous, habitual past actions, events, or situations. It is also used to describe the circumstances surrounding a past action or event.

   Les oiseaux chantaient tous les matins.
   (The birds sang every morning.)

   Marie était belle et intelligente.
   (Mary was beautiful and intelligent.)

   Le vent soufflait et il pleuvait.
   (The wind was blowing and it was raining.)

2. To express a physical or mental state or condition in progress in the past when used with verbs:

   aimer (to love), croire (to believe), desirer (to wish), éspérer (to hope), être (to be), penser (to think), pouvoir (to be able), préférer (to prefer), regretter (to regret), vouloir (to want), savoir (to know):

   Nous voulions (espérions) aller au théatre.
   (We wanted (hoped) to go to the theater.)

   Il préférait lire des romans.
   (He used to prefer/preferred reading novels.)

3. To express the day, month, time, etc. in the past:

   Il était midi. (It was noon.)
   C'etait jeudi. (It was Thursday.)

4. To describe a situation that was in progress in the past when another isolated event occurred:

   J'étais avec un ami quand vous m'avez vu.
   (I was with a friend when you saw me.)

   Les enfants pleuraient quand nous sommes arrivés.
   (The children were crying when we arrived.)

5. With conjunctions with the present conditional in sentences with si (if) expressing a condition:

   Si j'étais riche, je voyagerais beaucoup.
   (If I were rich, I would travel a lot.)

See Also:

• Verbs
• Verb Tenses
• 1st Conjugation
• 2nd Conjugation
• 3rd Conjugation
• Other Means to Express the Past
• Appendix of Irregular Verbs