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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
In French, as in English, people use different
tenses to talk about the past.
 The most common past tense is the PASSÉ
COMPOSÉ, which you have been using.  Another
frequently used past tense is the IMPERFECT, or
LIMPARFAIT.
In the French sentences below, the verbs are in
the IMPERFECT. Où est-ce que tu habitais
avant? Where did you live before? Jhabitais à
Bordeaux. I lived (used to live) in
Bordeaux. Quest-ce que vous faisiez à six
heures? What were you doing at six? Nous
finissions nos devoirs. We were finishing our
homework.
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
The imperfect is a simple tense. It consists of
one word. It is formed as follows
IMPERFECT STEM IMPERFECT ENDINGS
For all verbs (except être) the imperfect stem is
derived as follows
IMPERFECT STEM nous-form of PRESENT minus -ons
The IMPERFECT ENDINGS are the same for all verbs.
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
TYPE OF VERB
REGULAR
-er
lave
parler
INFINITIVE
IMPERFECT ENDINGS
PRESENT
IMPERFECT STEM
-ais
-ais
-ait
IMPERFECT
-ions
-iez
-aient
NEGATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
TYPE OF VERB
REGULAR
-ir
lave
finir
INFINITIVE
IMPERFECT ENDINGS
PRESENT
IMPERFECT STEM
-ais
-ais
-ait
IMPERFECT
-ions
-iez
-aient
NEGATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
TYPE OF VERB
REGULAR
-re
lave
vendre
INFINITIVE
IMPERFECT ENDINGS
PRESENT
IMPERFECT STEM
-ais
-ais
-ait
IMPERFECT
-ions
-iez
-aient
NEGATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
TYPE OF VERB
IRREGULAR
lave
faire
INFINITIVE
IMPERFECT ENDINGS
PRESENT
IMPERFECT STEM
-ais
-ais
-ait
IMPERFECT
-ions
-iez
-aient
NEGATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
Note how the above pattern applies to other verbs
acheter nous achetons jachetais manger nous
mangeons je mangeais sortir nous sortons je
sortais dormir nous dormons je
dormais lire nous lisons je lisais écrire nous
écrivons jécrivais prendre nous prenons je
prenais voir nous voyons je voyais boire nous
buvons je buvais
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Limparfait formation pp. 338-339
Note the imperfect forms of the following
expressions
il y a il y avait il neige il
neigeait il pleut il pleuvait
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Limparfait du verbe être p. 340
j
étais I was
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Limparfait du verbe être p. 340
The imperfect of être is used to tell where
people were or how they were feeling. It is NOT
used to describe what they WERE DOING. Compare
IMPERFECT of être
Jétais chez moi. I was at home. Alice était
malade. Alice was sick.
IMPERFECT of verb of action
Jétudiais. I was studying. Elle regardait la
télé. She was watching TV.
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Lusage de limparfait événements habituels p.
341
In the sentences below, people are talking about
the past. On the left, they describe what they
used to do regularly. On the right, they
describe what they did on a particular occasion.
Compare the verbs in each pair of sentences.
Habituellement (Usually) Un jour Je
regardais les matchs de foot. Jai regardé un
film. Nous allions au cinéma. Nous sommes allés
à un concert. Paul sortait avec
Nathalie. Il est sorti avec Nicole.
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Lusage de limparfait événements habituels p.
341
Although both the IMPERFECT and the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
are used to talk about the past, each has a
different function.
The IMPERFECT is used to describe habitual
actions and conditions that existed in the
past. It describes what people USED TO DO, what
USED TO BE.
Quand jétais jeune, When I was young, nous
habitions à la campagne. we lived (used to live)
in the country.
Jallais souvent à la pêche. I often used to go
(would go) fishing.
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Lusage de limparfait événements habituels p.
341
Although both the IMPERFECT and the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
are used to talk about the past, each has a
different function.
The PASSÉ COMPOSÉ is used to describe specific
past events. It describes what people DID, what
TOOK PLACE, what HAPPENED.
Ma mère a acheté une voiture. My mother bought a
car. Hier, nous sommes allés en ville. Yesterday
we went downtown.
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Lusage de limparfait actions progressives p.
344
Compare the uses of the IMPERFECT and the PASSÉ
COMPOSÉ in the following sentences. À sept
heures, je regardais un film. At seven, I was
watching a movie. Après le film, je suis
sorti. After the movie, I went out. Nous
attendions Marc au café. We were waiting for Marc
at the café. Finalement, il est arrivé. Finally,
he arrived.
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Lusage de limparfait actions progressives p.
344
The IMPERFECT is used to describe actions that
were in progress at a certain point in time.It
describes what WAS GOING ON, what people WERE
DOING.
À sept heures, je faisais mes devoirs. At seven,
I was doing my homework.
The imperfect is used to express the English
construction was/were ing.
The PASSÉ COMPOSÉ is used to describe specific
actions that occurred at a specific time.It
describes what TOOK PLACE, what people DID.
À sept heures, quelquun a téléphoné. At seven,
someone phoned.