The imparfait

Mode

Indicatif

Level

A2

Shape

Simple

Negation

ne … pas

Verbs in Phonique

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The imparfait is the most regular tense in French. One set of endings, one stem rule, and exactly one irregular verb in the whole language. After the présent, it is the easiest tense to form - and the hardest to choose, because knowing when to use it rather than the passé composé is the real work.

How it’s formed

Take the nous form of the present tense, drop the -ons, and add the imparfait endings:

-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient

Nous parlons → parl- → je parlais. Nous finissons → finiss- → je finissais. Nous vendons → vend- → je vendais.

That rule holds for irregular verbs too, which is what makes this tense so cooperative. Faire is wildly irregular in the present, but nous faisons gives fais- and the imparfait falls straight out of it:

When to use it

The imparfait describes rather than reports. Four jobs:

1. Background and setting. Il pleuvait et la rue était vide. - It was raining and the street was empty.
2. Habits and repeated actions. Je prenais le train tous les jours. - I took the train every day.
3. An action in progress, often interrupted by something else. Je mangeais quand il a téléphoné. - I was eating when he called.
4. States of mind and body. J’avais peur. - I was afraid. Elle voulait partir. - She wanted to leave.

That last one explains something learners notice: avoir, être, vouloir, pouvoir, savoir and penser turn up in the imparfait far more often than other verbs. They describe states, and states are what the imparfait is for.

In the negative

Nothing special happens - the imparfait is a simple tense, one word, so ne … pas wraps the verb itself: je ne parlais pas. The negative column in each table above shows it throughout.

The only thing to watch is elision. J’étais becomes je n’étais pas: the ne elides to n' before the vowel, and the pronoun stops eliding because it is no longer next to one.

Common mistakes

Common questions

Is the imparfait the same as "used to"?

Often, but not always. “I used to work here” is je travaillais ici, but so is “I was working here” and sometimes plain “I worked here”. The imparfait marks how you are viewing the action - ongoing, repeated or background - not a fixed English phrase.

Why is être the only irregular verb?

Because the imparfait stem comes from the nous form of the present, and almost every verb has a regular one. Nous sommes gives no usable stem, so être falls back on ét-. Every other verb in French, however irregular elsewhere, forms its imparfait predictably.

How do I choose between imparfait and passé composé?

Ask whether you are describing the situation or reporting an event. Situations, descriptions and habits take the imparfait; single completed events take the passé composé. Most past narration uses both at once - the imparfait sets the scene and the passé composé moves it on.

Does the imparfait have anything to do with the conditional?

They share endings, which is a useful shortcut. The conditionnel uses the futur stem with the imparfait endings, so learning -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient once buys you both tenses.