Conjugation table
Être in the imparfait: all six forms, with practice
Learn j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez and ils étaient. Check adjective agreement and practise the six forms in short sentences.
- A2
- 1 tenses
- Auxiliary: avoir
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Être uses the special stem ét- plus the usual imparfait endings: j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient. Keep the accent, and use the subject to choose the ending.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
- Infinitive
- être
- Past participle
- été
- Present participle
- étant
- Auxiliary
- avoir
ImparfaitA past identity or state, viewed from within the past situation.
| j’ | étais |
| tu | étais |
| il / elle / on | était |
| nous | étions |
| vous | étiez |
| ils / elles | étaient |
Nous étions très calmes.
We were very calm.
The present form nous sommes supplies no stem for this tense. Start directly with ét-. Before étais, je becomes j’: j’étais. In a negative sentence, keep the full subject and elide ne: je n’étais pas prêt.
| Subject | French | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| One man | Il était content. | The verb is singular; the adjective is masculine. |
| One woman | Elle était contente. | The same verb; the adjective becomes feminine. |
| Several men or a mixed group | Ils étaient contents. | The verb and adjective are plural. |
| Several women | Elles étaient contentes. | The adjective is feminine plural. |
Quand j’étais étudiante, j’étais souvent fatiguée.
When I was a student, I was often tired.
The writer is a woman, so she uses étudiante and fatiguée. A man writes étudiant and fatigué. Both use j’étais: gender changes the adjective or noun here, while the verb ending follows the grammatical person.
| Meaning | French |
|---|---|
| I was ready. | J’étais prêt. |
| I was hungry. | J’avais faim. |
| I was ten years old. | J’avais dix ans. |
La réunion était intéressante.The meeting was interesting.
Focus: A description from inside the past situation.
La réunion a été intéressante.The meeting was interesting.
Focus: A summary of the completed meeting.
Both versions describe an interesting meeting. The difference is the viewpoint: background description or a completed experience. For the exercise, use the imparfait throughout. Choose the missing verb; the subject and adjective are already supplied.