After exploring the future and the conditional, today I went back to the past—specifically, l’imparfait. This tense is like a time machine that lets you describe what life was like, how things used to be, or what was happening in the background. If le passé composé is for completed actions (like “I ate”), l’imparfait is for things that were happening or used to happen (like “I was eating” or “I used to eat”). And honestly, who doesn’t love reminiscing?
What Is L’Imparfait?
Unlike le passé composé, which is all about pinpointing specific events in the past, l’imparfait paints a broader picture. It’s used for:
- Describing ongoing or habitual actions:
Example: Quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot tous les jours.
(When I was little, I used to play soccer every day.) - Describing the setting or background in the past:
Example: Il faisait beau, et les oiseaux chantaient.
(It was nice weather, and the birds were singing.) - Talking about repeated actions:
Example: Tous les dimanches, nous allions chez ma grand-mère.
(Every Sunday, we used to go to my grandmother’s house.)
Forming L’Imparfait
The good news is that forming l’imparfait is pretty straightforward. You take the nous form of the verb in the present tense, drop the -ons, and add these endings:
- Je -ais
- Tu -ais
- Il/Elle/On -ait
- Nous -ions
- Vous -iez
- Ils/Elles -aient
Here’s how it works with the verb parler (to speak):
- Nous parlons → drop -ons →
- Je parlais (I was speaking)
- Tu parlais (You were speaking)
- Il/Elle parlait (He/She was speaking)
- Nous parlions (We were speaking)
- Vous parliez (You were speaking)
- Ils/Elles parlaient (They were speaking)
Irregular Imparfait: A Special Guest – Être
As with most French grammar, there’s always one little exception, and in this case, it’s the verb être (to be). Instead of following the usual rules, être has its own special stem: ét-.
- J’étais (I was)
- Tu étais (You were)
- Il/Elle était (He/She was)
- Nous étions (We were)
- Vous étiez (You were)
- Ils/Elles étaient (They were)
I guess être just had to be the star of the show, didn’t it? I can almost imagine it saying, “Why follow the rules when you are the verb for ‘to be’? Let the others conform.”
Vocabulary for the Day:
- Tous les jours (every day)
- Souvent (often)
- Parfois (sometimes)
- Quand j’étais petit(e) (when I was little)
- Avant (before)
- Autrefois (in the past)
When to Use L’Imparfait vs. Le Passé Composé
One of the trickiest things is knowing when to use l’imparfait and when to use le passé composé. Here’s a simple rule that helps:
- Use passé composé for specific events:
Example: Hier, j’ai mangé une pizza.
(Yesterday, I ate a pizza.) - Use imparfait for descriptions, habits, or ongoing actions:
Example: Quand j’étais jeune, je mangeais toujours des pizzas.
(When I was young, I used to always eat pizzas.)
Think of passé composé as the “snapshot” of the past, while l’imparfait is like a slow-motion video.
Practice in Action: A Trip Down Memory Lane
To practice l’imparfait, I decided to reminisce about my childhood. I wrote down a few memories in French:
“Quand j’étais petit(e), je jouais souvent au parc avec mes amis.”
(When I was little, I often played at the park with my friends.)
“Autrefois, je détestais les légumes, mais maintenant j’aime les carottes.”
(In the past, I hated vegetables, but now I like carrots.)
It’s fun to reflect on how things have changed. I even laughed to myself thinking about how I used to hate veggies as a kid but would now gladly eat a salad. Funny how things turn out!
A Little Humor: The Nostalgia of School
I couldn’t help but joke about one of my school memories:
“Quand j’étais à l’école, je pensais que je parlerais couramment le français en deux semaines… Ah, j’étais naïf!”
(When I was in school, I thought I would be fluent in French in two weeks… Ah, I was naïve!)
Clearly, young me didn’t realize French has more irregular verbs than I have shoes!
Common Mistakes:
- Mixing up tenses: It’s easy to accidentally slip into le passé composé when you’re supposed to use l’imparfait. Just remember: use l’imparfait for setting the scene or describing regular past actions.
- Forgetting the stem for être: Since it doesn’t follow the regular pattern, it’s easy to forget that être uses ét-.
- Not dropping the -ons correctly: When forming l’imparfait, make sure to start from the nous form, drop the -ons, and then add the correct ending.
Today’s lesson made me feel like I was becoming a storyteller in French. L’imparfait is the key to describing the world as it was, and it adds a whole new layer of expression. Now, I can talk about how things used to be, what I used to do, and how life has changed—whether that’s my childhood soccer games or my long-held dreams of being fluent in French (still working on that one!).
Tomorrow, I’ll explore reflexive verbs and talking about daily routines. À demain!