Forming the imperfect tense

To form the imperfect tense, take the nous form of the , remove the -ons and add the following endings:

	imperfect endings	Example: jouer – to play	Example: finir – to finish	Example: vendre – to sell
nousform of present tense		jouons	finissons	vendons
remove-ons		jou	finiss	vend
je	ais	jouais	finissais	vendais
tu	ais	jouais	finissais	vendais
il/elle/on	ait	jouait	finissait	vendait
nous	ions	jouions	finissions	vendions
vous	iez	jouiez	finissiez	vendiez
ils/elles	aient	jouaient	finissaient	vendaient

	nousform of present tense
imperfect endings
Example: jouer – to play	jouons
Example: finir – to finish	finissons
Example: vendre – to sell	vendons

	remove-ons
imperfect endings
Example: jouer – to play	jou
Example: finir – to finish	finiss
Example: vendre – to sell	vend

	je
imperfect endings	ais
Example: jouer – to play	jouais
Example: finir – to finish	finissais
Example: vendre – to sell	vendais

	tu
imperfect endings	ais
Example: jouer – to play	jouais
Example: finir – to finish	finissais
Example: vendre – to sell	vendais

	il/elle/on
imperfect endings	ait
Example: jouer – to play	jouait
Example: finir – to finish	finissait
Example: vendre – to sell	vendait

	nous
imperfect endings	ions
Example: jouer – to play	jouions
Example: finir – to finish	finissions
Example: vendre – to sell	vendions

	vous
imperfect endings	iez
Example: jouer – to play	jouiez
Example: finir – to finish	finissiez
Example: vendre – to sell	vendiez

	ils/elles
imperfect endings	aient
Example: jouer – to play	jouaient
Example: finir – to finish	finissaient
Example: vendre – to sell	vendaient

Être is the only verb in the imperfect tense. The stem is irregular but the endings are the same as for regular verbs in the imperfect tense

j’étais	I was
tu étais	you (singular, informal) were
il/elle/on était	he/she/one was
nous étions	we were
vous étiez	you (formal or plural)
ils/elles étaient	they were

j’étais

I was

tu étais

you (singular, informal) were

il/elle/on était

he/she/one was

nous étions

we were

vous étiez

you (formal or plural)

ils/elles étaient

they were

Use the table above to help you work out the French for the following:

Question

I was playing (je, jouer)

Question

They were eating (ils, manger)

Question

He was speaking (il, parler)

Question

You were waiting (tu, attendre)

A lot of verbs with different endings have the same pronunciation.

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je jouais, il jouait, ils jouaient - I was playing / I used to play, he was playing / he used to play, they were playing / they used to play

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je finissais, il finissait, ils finissaient - I was finishing / I used to finish, he was finishing / he used to finish, they were finishing, they used to finish

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je vendais, il vendait, ils vendaient - I was selling / I used to sell, he was selling / he used to sell, they were selling / they used to sell

The French imperfect tenseForming the imperfect tense