The imperfect tense: How to form and use it in French?

The imperfect tense in French is a past tense that is mainly used to make descriptions and talk about regular habits, or to set the scene in the past. In English, it has many equivalents. For example, j’avais is usually translated as “I used to have” or “I was having,” but it can also have several other translations, such as “I had” or even “I would have.” Contrary to the French passé composé, for example j’ai eu (meaning I've had, I had), it doesn’t have a definite beginning or end. The imperfect is a very useful tense and super simple to form; all the verbs have the same endings. And guess what...it only has one irregular verb! Read on to find out which one and how to form and use the imperfect!

To form the imperfect, you’ll add a set of imperfect conjugation endings to the stem of the nous form of the verb in the French present tense. Here is a step by step guide on how to form the imperfect. This method works for all verbs, whether they end with -er, -ir, or -re!

• Step 1: Choose your verb

  habiter

  Translation: to live

• Step 2: Find the stem by taking the present tense nous form and removing the ending -ons

  nous habitons → habit-

• Step 3: Add the imperfect endings

  Pronoun	Ending	Pronunciation	Example
  je / j'	-ais	/ay/	habitais
  tu	-ais	/ay/	habitais
  il / elle / on	-ait	/ay/	habitait
  nous	-ions	/yo(n)/	habitions
  vous	-iez	/yay/	habitiez
  ils / elles	-aient	/ay/	habitaient

Some grammar books or blogs offer a different way to form the imperfect. 👀 Take a look to find out what method of forming the imperfect you prefer!

Use the imperfect tense to make descriptions in the past, for actions that lasted in time, for repeated or regular past actions, for ongoing actions in the past, to make requests, in indirect speech, and for events that were about to happen. L'imparfait can be translated into many tenses in English. Indeed, je faisais can stand for "I did," "I was doing," "I used to do," or "I would do." Let's have a look!

• When making descriptions in the past:

  Let's say you want to talk about your holiday: how your accommodation was, how hot (or cold 😉) the sea was, what unusual outfits people were wearing, what you were doing everyday, what the landscape was like…and perhaps you would like to make comments about the buffet. In this situation, you need to use the imperfect.

  L’hôtel était grand et de ma chambre, je voyais la mer. Tous les jours, j’allais m’y baigner. Mais mon fiancé préférait la piscine.

  Translation: The hotel was big and from my room I could see the sea. Everyday I went swimming there. But my fiancé preferred the pool.

• When the action that you are describing has no specific beginning or end, but there is a sense that the action lasts in time:

  Avant le TGV, le trajet Paris-Nancy prenait trois heures. 🚂

  Translation: Before the high-speed train, the trip from Paris to Nancy would take three hours.

• When talking about actions that happened regularly:

  Tous les jeudis, on avait un cours de sport avec M. Poirier.

  Translation: Every Thursday, we used to have a P.E. lesson with Mr. Headstand.

  The expression tous les jeudis shows the repetition. There are many other time phrases that you can use with the imperfect tense in French.

• When two or more actions are happening simultaneously in the past, or for an ongoing action in the past:

  Il travaillait sur son ordinateur portable pendant que ses enfants faisaient de la peinture et que son compagnon parlait au téléphone.

  Translation: He was working on his laptop while his children were painting and his partner was speaking on the phone.

• To make a polite request, using the imperfect as an alternative to the present conditional:

  imperfect

  Je voulais te demander si tu pouvais garder mon chat la semaine prochaine.

  Translation: I wanted to ask you if you could look after my cat next week.

  present conditional

  Je voudrais te demander si tu pourrais garder mon chat la semaine prochaine.

  Translation: I would like to ask you if you could look after my cat next week.

• For indirect speech when the introductory verb of the indirect speech is in the passé composé or past tense.

  passé composéimperfect

  “Je vais à la boulangerie !” → Il a dit qu'il allait à la boulangerie.

  Translation: I’m going to the bakery! → He said he was going to the bakery.

• To mention an event that was about to happen.

  imperfect

  Une minute de plus et je loupais mon bus !

  Translation: One more minute and I would miss my bus.

• For interrupted ongoing actions, in combination with the perfect tense:

  The imperfect tense is used to set the scene (you are making a description), and the perfect tense is used for a sudden & single action.

  imperfectperfect

  On se promenait dans les bois, quand tout à coup, une biche a traversé le chemin.

  Translation: We were walking in the woods when, all of a sudden, a doe crossed the path.

Finally, there are ways in which you can use si (meaning if) along with the imperfect in French.

To recap the French imperfect tense, keep the following tips in mind:

• Form the imperfect by taking the nous form of the verb in the present tense, keep the stem, and add the endings -ais/-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient.

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• Only the verb être is irregular (j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient).

• Use the imperfect when:

  • you are describing things that used to happen in the past;

  • you want to set the scene in the past;

  • you are describing something that was happening over a period of time with no definite beginning or end;

  • you want to mention two things happening simultaneously or when one action interrupts the other.

• Remember it is different to the passé composé as this tense is for an action that happens at a definite moment in the past.

Ready to practice? Try out these exercises on the French imperfect!