The imparfait in French: forms, uses and examples
Learn the imparfait in French: stems, endings, spelling, past habits and descriptions, with examples, common mistakes and a nine-question quiz.
In short
The French imparfait is a past tense used to describe what was happening, what things were like and what people used to do, without presenting the situation as a completed whole. Use it for background, ongoing situations and past habits; use the passé composé when you present a past event as a bounded occurrence.
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How do you form the imparfait?
Form the imparfait from the present-tense nous form minus -ons, then add the ending for your subject. Start from nous parlons, remove -ons to get parl-, and add -ais: je parlais. This method works across verb families, so you do not need separate imparfait endings for -er, -ir and -re verbs. Learn the present nous form accurately: nous finissons gives finiss-, not fin-.
| Present nous form | Stem | Imparfait example |
|---|---|---|
| nous parlons | parl- | je parlais |
| nous finissons | finiss- | tu finissais |
| nous prenons | pren- | elle prenait |
| nous faisons | fais- | vous faisiez |
| nous avons | av- | ils avaient |
Nous prenions le bus pour aller au collège.
We used to take the bus to secondary school.
The subject determines the ending, even though you used nous to find the stem. To say what your sister used to do, move from nous prenons to elle prenait. In a negative sentence, put ne and the negative word around the conjugated form: elle ne prenait pas le bus. The tense itself remains one word; there is no auxiliary or past participle.
What are the imparfait endings?
The six imparfait endings are -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. They stay the same for regular and irregular stems. Written differences matter even when several forms sound alike: je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait and ils parlaient normally share the same final vowel sound. Listen for the subject as well as the verb; in writing, check the ending against that subject.
| Subject | Form | English in a habit |
|---|---|---|
| je | parlais | I used to speak |
| tu | parlais | you used to speak |
| il / elle / on | parlait | he / she / we used to speak |
| nous | parlions | we used to speak |
| vous | parliez | you used to speak |
| ils / elles | parlaient | they used to speak |
À la maison, nous parlions français, mais mon père parlait aussi italien.
At home, we used to speak French, but my father also spoke Italian.
English has several ways to translate the same tense. Depending on context, je travaillais can mean “I worked”, “I used to work” or “I was working”. Choose the French tense from the viewpoint you need, rather than matching it to one English expression. “Would” can also describe an English past habit, but that does not make the French verb conditional.
When do you use the imparfait?
Use the imparfait when you look inside a past situation or describe a recurring past routine. A description supplies the setting; an ongoing action tells us what was in progress at a chosen moment; a habit tells us what normally happened. These uses share a viewpoint: the sentence does not frame the whole situation with its beginning and end.
| Use | French | What the speaker shows |
|---|---|---|
| Description | La rue était calme. | The state of the street |
| Habit | Le dimanche, on déjeunait chez ma grand-mère. | A repeated family routine |
| Ongoing action | À huit heures, je préparais le dîner. | An action viewed in progress |
Quand j’étais petite, je lisais dans le jardin après l’école.
When I was little, I used to read in the garden after school.
The imparfait is especially useful for age, weather, feelings and surroundings in a story: j’avais dix ans, il pleuvait, j’étais contente. These verbs do not require the imparfait in every context; their role here is to describe the scene. A past habit also needs a past context. For a habit that is still current, use the present: le dimanche, je lis.
Imparfait or passé composé?
Choose the imparfait for a situation viewed as background or in progress, and the passé composé for an event viewed as a whole. Length alone does not decide: a long stay can be a completed event, and a brief feeling can be background. Ask what your sentence contributes to the account, rather than counting how many minutes the action lasted.
| Imparfait | Passé composé | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Je lisais quand tu as appelé. | J’ai lu ce livre hier. | In progress versus a completed reading |
| Elle habitait à Lyon. | Elle a habité à Lyon pendant dix ans. | A past living situation versus a bounded stay |
| Il faisait froid. | Il a fait froid toute la semaine. | Scene-setting versus a summary of a whole period |
Je préparais le dîner quand la lumière s’est éteinte.
I was making dinner when the light went out.
Here the preparation is already under way when the light goes out. The passé composé introduces the event that changes the scene. You can also combine two imparfaits for simultaneous background: je cuisinais pendant qu’il lisait. Neither quand nor pendant que mechanically selects a tense. The library’s comparison, duration and story pages develop these choices with fuller contexts.
Which verbs are irregular in the imparfait?
être is the exception to the usual stem rule: use ét- rather than trying to remove -ons from sommes. The endings remain regular. Many verbs that are irregular in the present produce a predictable imparfait once you know their nous form: avoir → nous avons → j’avais; aller → nous allons → j’allais.
| Infinitive | Stem | Je / nous |
|---|---|---|
| être | ét- | j’étais / nous étions |
| avoir | av- | j’avais / nous avions |
| aller | all- | j’allais / nous allions |
| faire | fais- | je faisais / nous faisions |
| pouvoir | pouv- | je pouvais / nous pouvions |
Nous étions souvent en retard parce que nous avions beaucoup de travail.
We were often late because we had a lot of work.
For an impersonal verb, learn the form you actually use: il fallait means “it was necessary” and il pleuvait means “it was raining”. Do not create a full set of everyday personal forms for these uses. With a reflexive verb, keep the matching pronoun before the conjugated form: je me levais, nous nous levions. The reflexive pronoun does not change the imparfait endings.
How do you spell mangeais, commencions and étudiions?
Preserve the verb’s sound when the ending changes, and keep the written i of -ions and -iez. With manger, retain the extra e before endings beginning in a, but remove it before i. With commencer, use ç before a, but ordinary c before i. These are spelling adjustments within the regular pattern.
| Verb | Je | Nous | Vous |
|---|---|---|---|
| manger | mangeais | mangions | mangiez |
| commencer | commençais | commencions | commenciez |
| étudier | étudiais | étudiions | étudiiez |
| voir | voyais | voyions | voyiez |
Nous étudiions ensemble et nous mangions à la cantine.
We used to study together and eat in the canteen.
The double i in étudiions is correct: one belongs to the stem étudi- and the other begins the ending -ions. Similarly, nous voyions retains the y of voy- before -ions. Write the stem and ending separately once if the form looks unfamiliar, then join them. The dedicated spelling and nous/vous drills give you focused practice with these patterns.
Can the imparfait describe something other than the past?
Yes: the imparfait also appears in hypotheses and softened requests. In si j’avais le temps, it can describe an imagined present situation rather than a past one. In je voulais vous demander, it can gently introduce a request being made now. These uses depend on the construction and context; the form is still called imparfait.
| Construction | French | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Past habit | Je voulais toujours gagner. | I always wanted to win. |
| Present hypothesis | Si j’avais le temps, je lirais davantage. | If I had time, I would read more. |
| Softened request | Je voulais vous demander un renseignement. | I wanted to ask you for some information. |
Si nous habitions plus près, nous viendrions plus souvent.
If we lived closer, we would come more often.
Keep je voulais separate from je voudrais. The first uses the imparfait stem voul-; the second uses the conditional stem voudr-. They can both introduce courteous requests, but they are different forms. Once the main past uses feel secure, continue to the conditional comparison and polite-request pages for these extensions.
What are the common mistakes with the imparfait?
The common mistakes are choosing the infinitive as the stem, overlooking spelling adjustments and treating every past sentence as imparfait. Check the intended viewpoint first, then the nous stem, then the subject ending. Finally, reread the whole sentence: a correct conjugation still needs a context that expresses the meaning you want.
- Je finiais mes devoirs.Je finissais mes devoirs.
Start from nous finissons: the stem is finiss-.
- Nous mangeions ensemble.Nous mangions ensemble.
Before i, ordinary g already has the required soft sound.
- Nous étions étudiants et nous étudions ensemble à l’époque.Nous étions étudiants et nous étudiions ensemble à l’époque.
For the past routine, étudi- plus -ions gives two written i’s.
- Si j’aurais le temps, je lirais.Si j’avais le temps, je lirais.
This present hypothesis uses si + imparfait, followed by a conditional result.