Imparfait
Summary
The imparfait is a past tense for descriptions, habits and ongoing background actions, formed from the nous stem of the present plus the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
Explanation
The imparfait is one of the two main past tenses. Rather than reporting a single completed event, it describes how things were: it expresses descriptions and states (il faisait beau), habitual or repeated past actions (je jouais souvent), and actions in progress that form the background of a story (je dormais quand le téléphone a sonné).
Its formation is remarkably regular. Take the nous form of the present, drop the -ons ending to obtain the stem, and add the same endings to every verb: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. From nous parlons you get je parlais, nous parlions; from nous finissons (note the -iss-) you get je finissais; from nous prenons you get je prenais. Because the stem comes from nous, even most irregular verbs follow this pattern without trouble.
There is essentially one irregular stem: être, whose stem is ét- (j'étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient). Verbs in -cer and -ger keep their spelling change before the endings that begin with a: a -c becomes ç and a -g becomes ge, giving je commençais and je mangeais, but regular spelling returns in nous and vous (nous commencions, vous mangiez).
Two endings deserve special attention because they are easy to mishear or misspell. The je/tu/il endings (-ais, -ais, -ait) all sound alike, while the nous and vous endings (-ions, -iez) carry an i that is also present in the present-tense forms of some verbs, so nous finissions and vous étudiiez can look surprising but are correct.
The main pitfall, beyond using the wrong stem, is the constant tension with the passé composé. In a narrative the imparfait paints the scene and the passé composé reports the events that advance it: il pleuvait (background, imparfait) et soudain la voiture s'est arrêtée (event, passé composé). Choosing one over the other shifts the perspective on the same facts.
Rule of thumb: form the imparfait from the nous-present stem plus the fixed endings (only être is irregular), and reach for it whenever you would describe, set a scene, or talk about what used to happen, reserving the passé composé for the completed events.
Examples
Quand j'étais petit, je jouais au foot tous les jours. — When I was little, I played football every day. (Habit in the past; être is the only irregular stem (étais).)
Il pleuvait et nous regardions la télévision. — It was raining and we were watching television. (Two background actions in progress.)
Nous mangions souvent chez nos grands-parents le dimanche. — We often used to eat at our grandparents' on Sundays. (manger keeps the e before -ions only in 1s/2s/3s/3p; here nous mangions.)
La maison était grande et le jardin sentait bon. — The house was big and the garden smelled nice. (Description of a past setting.)
Je finissais mon travail quand tu as appelé. — I was finishing my work when you called. (Imparfait (background) interrupted by a passé composé event.)
Common mistakes
Nous finisions nos devoirs.
Nous finissions nos devoirs.
The imparfait is built on the present-tense nous stem, not the infinitive. For finir, nous finissons gives the stem finiss-, so every imparfait form keeps the -iss-: je finissais, nous finissions. Dropping it (finisions) uses the wrong stem. The rule of thumb: conjugate nous in the present, remove -ons, and add the imparfait endings.
Prerequisites
Related rules
past-tenseimperfectverb-endings