Imperfect Tense For Intermediate learners

What Is the Imperfect Tense (L'imparfait) in French?

The imperfect tense (l'imparfait) is a French past tense used to describe ongoing, habitual, repeated, or background actions in the past. Unlike passé composé, the imparfait does not focus on when the action starts or ends.

Imparfait describes how things were, not what happened once.

Here are some examples:

Example

Il faisait froid.

It was cold.

Nous étudions tous les jours.

We studied every day.

Elle était fatiguée.

She was tired.

When to Use Imparfait

The imparfait is used for:

Ongoing or Continuous Actions in the Past

Use the imparfait to describe actions that were happening at a certain time in the past, often without a clear start or end.

Example

Je lisais quand tu as appelé.

I was reading when you called.

Elle regardait la télévision hier soir.

She was watching TV yesterday evening.

Habitual or Repeated Actions in the Past

The imparfait expresses actions that used to happen regularly or repeatedly.

Example

Quand j'étais petit(e), je jouais au football tous les samedis.

When I was little, I used to play football every Saturday.

Nous allions souvent au cinéma.

We often went to the cinema.

Background Descriptions or Situations

The imparfait is used to set the scene, describe people, weather, feelings, or locations in the past.

Example

Il faisait froid et il neigeait.

It was cold and snowing.

Elle était très timide à l'école.

She was very shy at school.

Physical or Emotional States in the Past

Use the imparfait to describe feelings, moods, or physical states in the past. Common verbs are être, avoir, penser, croire, se sentir, aimer, vouloir.

Example

J'avais faim après le cours.

I was hungry after class.

Elle se sentait triste ce matin-là.

She felt sad that morning.

Expressing Simultaneous Actions

The imparfait is used when two actions are happening at the same time in the past.

Example

Je lisais pendant que mon frère écoutait de la musique.

I was reading while my brother was listening to music.

There are some time expressions often used with imparfait:

quand j'étais petit(e) → when I was little

tous les jours / chaque jour → every day

souvent → often

d'habitude → usually

pendant que → while

How to Form Imparfait

The imparfait is formed with:
stem (from the first person plural of the present) + imparfait endings

Here are the steps:

Take the nous form of the verb in present tense (nous parlons → parl-)

Remove -ons to get the stem

Add the imparfait endings

Imparfait Endings

These endings are the same for all verbs, regular or irregular.

Subject pronoun	Ending	Example (parler)
je (I)	-ais	je parlais
tu (you)	-ais	tu parlais
il / elle / on (he/she/one)	-ait	il parlait
nous (we)	-ions	nous parlions
vous (you formal/plural)	-iez	vous parliez
ils / elles (they)	-aient	ils parlaient

Irregularities

Only être is irregular in the imparfait.
être → stem = ét

Subject	Verb form
je	étais
tu	étais
il / elle / on	était
nous	étions
vous	étiez
ils / elles	étaient

In the imparfait, verbs like avoir, aller, faire, aller, venir, prendre, etc. — all of which are irregular in the present tense — are actually regular. The only verb that is truly irregular in the imparfait is être. Everything else follows the same rule:

stem = nous form of the present tense minus -ons + endings (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient)