French Grammar: The Imperfect Tense – Regular and Irregular Verbs

Posted by on Friday, July 17, 2015 · Leave a Comment 

French Grammar: The Imperfect Tense - Regular and Irregular Verbs

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Identify:

French Grammar: The Imperfect Tense – Regular and Irregular Verbs
la grammaire française: l’imparfait des verbes réguliers et irréguliers

When speaking about the past in English, you choose which past tense to use depending on the context and the meaning you wish to convey. In French sentences, you choose which past tense you use depending on the meaning you wish to convey.

Study:

When speaking about the past in English, you choose which past tense to use depending on the context and the meaning you wish to convey. In French sentences, you choose which past tense you use depending on the meaning you wish to convey.

Click here for an overview of the Imperfect Tense.
Click here for an overview of the Passé Composé (past perfect tense).
Click here for an overview of the Passé Composé vs. Imperfect Tenses.

It’s very easy to conjugate in the Imperfect (l’Imparfait) Tense, as long as you know your Present Tense conjugations! Just take the nous form of the Present Tense, drop the -ons ending, and then add the appropriate ending from the chart below.

Verbs that end in -ier (e.g., étudier) will end up with a double ‘i’ in the Imperfect nous and vous forms.  This isn’t irregular – it just looks odd. (And sounds odd, too, because you have to pronounce each letter ‘i’ individually.)

There is only one irregular verb in the Imperfect tense, and that’s the verb ÊTRE.  The stem for ÊTRE is ét-.

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Imperfect (Imparfait) Tense Endings for ALL Verbs
je [-ais]
tu [-ais]
il / elle / on [-ait]
nous [-ions]
vous [-iez]
ils / elles [-aient]

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Any irregular stems that occur in the nous form of the Present Tense will carry over into the Imperfect Tense.  Here’s a list of the most common irregular stems:

aller : nous allons –> all-
to go

avoir : nous avons –> av-
to have

boire : nous buvons –> buv-
to drink

conduire : nous conduisons –> conduis-
to drive

connaître : nous connaissons –> connaiss-
to know (a person or place)

courir : nous courons –> cour-
to run

croire : nous croyons –> croy-
to believe

devoir : nous devons –> dev-
must / should / ought to

dire: nous disons –> dis-
to say / to tell

écrire : nous écrivons –> écriv-
to write

être : nous sommes –> ét-
to be

faire : nous faisons –> fais-
to do / to make

falloir : (no nous form) –> fall-
to have to / to need to / must

lire : nous lisons –> lis-
to read

manger : nous mangeons –> mange- (NOTE: Drop the stem’s -e in the Imperfect vous form)
to eat

nager : nous nageons –> nage- (NOTE: Drop the stem’s -e in the Imperfect vous form)
to swim

pouvoir : nous pouvons –> pouv-
to be able / can

prendre : nous prenons –> pren-
to take

recevoir : nous recevons –> recev-
to receive

rire : nous rions –> ri-
to laugh

savoir : nous savons –> sav-
to know (facts / information)

sortir : nous sortons –> sort-
to leave / to go out

suivre : nous suivons –> suiv-
to follow

voir : nous voyons –> voy-
to see

vouloir : nous voulons –> voul-
to want

Here are some common verbs conjugated in the Imperfect Tense!

AVOIR : To have

J’avais beaucoup d’amis au lycée.
I had / used to have many friends in high school.

BÂTIR : To build

Vous bâtissiez des châteaux de sable à la plage.
You all used to build sand castles at the beach.

CHANTER : To sing

Elles chantaient dans la chorale.
They (feminine) used to sing in the choir.

ÊTRE : To be

Tu étais un enfant sage?
Were you (informal) a well-behaved child?

ÉTUDIER : To study

Nous étudiions dans la bibliothèque chaque lundi.
We used to study in the library every Monday.

MANGER : To eat

Je mangeais dans la cantine.
I used to eat in the school cafeteria.

VENDRE : To sell

Elle vendait ses livres à la fin de chaque semestre.
She used to sell her books at the end of every semester.

Adapt:

Il t’aidait?
Was he helping you (informal)?

Oui, il m’aidait tous les jours.
Yes, he used to help me every day.

Elles faisaient leurs devoirs chaque nuit?
Did they (feminine) used to do their homework every night?

Oui, elles faisaient leurs devoirs chaque nuit.
Yes, they used to do their homework every night.

Tu croyais en Père Noël quand tu étais petite?
Did you (informal) used to believe in Santa Claus when you were little?

Oui, je croyais en Père Noël quand j’étais petite.
Yes, I used to believe in Santa Claus when I was little.

Tools:

  • LEAF French Verb Conjugation Chart: -ER Verb Endings
  • LEAF French Verb Conjugation Chart: -IR Verb Endings
  • LEAF French Verb Conjugation Chart: -RE Verb Endings

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