The French imperfect (imparfait) is a relatively simple verb tense with many possible uses. A descriptive past tense, the imperfect expresses an ongoing state, a habitual action, or an uncompleted action. It can be used to describe repeated actions, physical and emotional responses, actions of an unspecified duration, and wishes or suggestions. It can also be used with the passé compose to provide background information, with “si clauses” to express conditions, and with the expressions “être en train de” and “venir de” when speaking about the past.

 

Conjugating the Imperfect

Conjugating the imperfect form of a verb is relatively simple, provided you know the simple present tense “nous” form. Drop the –ons ending from the nous form to create the imperfect stem. Then add the appropriate ending, which will be the same for virtually all regular and irregular –ER, -IR, and –RE verbs. (Spelling change verbs, which end in –cer and –ger, will have minor changes in the imperfect.)

 

 

Pronoun	Ending	Parler to speak	Choisir   to choose	Descendre to descend
—	—	parl-	choisiss-	descend-
je	-ais	parlais	choisissais	descendais
tu	-ais	parlais	choisissais	descendais
il, elle, on	-ait	parlait	choisissait	descendait
nous	-ions	parlions	choisissions	descendions
vous	-iez	parliez	choisissiez	descendiez
ils, elles	-aient	parlaient	choisissaient	descendaient

 

 

The Imperfect of Être 

There is only one irregular verb in the imperfect: être. The nous form of the present tense is the irregular “sommes.” Therefore, être has no –ons ending that can be dropped to create a regular imperfect stem. Être uses the irregular stem ét- instead, followed by the same imperfect endings listed in the table above.