The imperfect tense in French

• The imperfect tense is a past tense that is used to describe something that used to happen.

• It is also used to describe or give opinions about something or someone in the past, or to say what was happening when something else took place.

• The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être (to be).

• Higher Tier only – the plural forms (nous, vous, ils and elles) are important to know in the imperfect tense.

Watch the video to learn how the imperfect tense is formed in French.

For Foundation Tier the singular forms je, tu, il, elle and on should be learned.

For Higher Tier, the forms for nous, vous, ils and elles should also be learned.

The imperfect tense is a past tense used to describe something that used to happen or to describe or give opinions about something or someone in the past. In English it is often translated as ‘was/were (do)ing’.

For example:

Je gagnais tout le temps. – I was winning all the time./I used to win all the time.

Tom écoutait de la musique. – Tom was listening to music./Tom used to listen to music.

The imperfect can also be used to say what was happening when something else took place.

For example:

Elle jouait aux jeux vidéo quand sa sœur est entrée. - She was playing video games when her sister entered.

Very commonly used expressions in the imperfect tense are il y avait (there was, there were) and c’était (it was).

For example:

Quand j’étais petit, il y avait des arbres dans notre jardin. – When I was little, there were trees in our garden.

On n’a pas pu aller au parc parce que c’était fermé. - We couldn’t go to the park because it was closed.

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

Other useful verbs that are regular in the imperfect tense are avoir (to have), faire (to do/make) and aller (to go).

For example:

J’avais un chien. – I used to have a dog.

Elle faisait ses devoirs quand il est revenu. – She was doing her homework when he came back.

On allait au supermarché tous les jours. – We used to go to the supermarket every day.

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être (to be):

j’étais – I was/used to be

tu étais – you were/used to be

il était – he was/used to be

elle était – she was/used to be

on était – one was/used to be, we were/used to be

Here are the imperfect tense forms of some additional verbs that are useful to know:

partir – to leave

Another useful verb that follows the same pattern as partir is dormir (to sleep).

venir – to come

Another useful verb that follows the same pattern as venir is devenir (to become).

ouvrir – to open

Another useful verb that follows the same pattern as ouvrir is découvrir (to discover).

prendre – to take

Another useful verb that follows the same pattern as prendre is comprendre (to understand).

traduire – to translate

Other useful verbs that follow the same pattern as traduire are construire (to build) and réduire (to reduce).

Practise what you've learned about using the imperfect tense with this quiz.

To form the imperfect tense for nous, vous, ils and elles, take the nous form of the present tense, remove the -ons and add the following endings:

Other useful verbs to know that are regular in the imperfect tense are avoir (to have), faire (to do/make) and aller (to go).

For example:

Ils avaient un chien quand ils étaient petits. – They had/they used to have a dog when they were younger.

Vous faisiez du vélo pendant l’été ? – Did you used to go cycling during the summer?

Nous allions à la boulangerie pour acheter du pain. – We used to go to the bakery to buy bread.

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être (to be):

nous étions – we were/used to be

vous étiez – you were/used to be

ils étaient – they were/used to be

elles étaient – they were/used to be

Here are the imperfect tense forms of some additional verbs that are useful to know:

écrire – to write

Other useful verbs that follow a similar pattern to écrire, are décrire (to describe) and s’inscrire (to register).

connaître – to get to know, be familiar with

Other useful verbs that follow a similar pattern to connaître, are disparaître (to disappear) and reconnaître (to recognise).

Practise what you've learned about using the imperfect tense with this Higher Tier quiz.

Now you’ve learned about using the imperfect tense, why not explore the prepositions 'pour' and 'sans' with the infinitive?