PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
Also known as: French imperfect tense · l'imparfait · imperfect tense
The imparfait is a French past tense used for habits, ongoing past actions, background descriptions, age, time, weather, and repeated situations. It is formed from the nous form of the present tense minus -ons, plus endings such as -ais, -ait, -ions, and -aient.
Use imparfait to describe what was happening, what things were like, or what someone used to do. Être is irregular: j'étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient.
Imparfait gives exam answers narrative depth. It lets candidates describe context before using passé composé for the completed event or result.
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