the imparfait in french

06 oct. 2017 12:20 - language-swap

Niveau débutant

The “imparfait” is the French tense for descriptions or usual actions in the past.
It's conjugation is pretty easy. Indeed, the terminations are common to each group.
It is formed by the radical of the verb and the following terminations: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
Except for the verbs of the second group that add -ss between the radical and the termination.
Let's check this out:

1st group 2nd group 3rd group
JE Chantais Finissais Rendais
TU Chantais Finissais Rendais
IL/ELLE/ON Chantait Finissait Rendait
NOUS Chantions Finissions Rendions
VOUS Chantiez Finissiez Rendiez
ILS/ELLES Chantaient Finissaient Rendaient

/!\ Warning: There are a few things to remember:

• être loses its ê to become an é: étais, étais, était, étions, étiez, étaient
• the verbs finishing by -ger get an -e between the radical and the termination:
je mangeais, tu mangeais, il/elle mangeait, nous mangions, vous mangiez, ils/elles mangeaient
• the verb finishing by -cer see their -c transformed to -ç:
je plaçais, tu plaçais, il/elle plaçait, nous placions, vous placiez, ils/elles plaçaient
• the present and the “imparfait” of the verbs finishing by -ier, -yer, -gner, -illier are not to be confused. Indeed, the terminations at the first and second person plural have the same pronunciation so we put an additional -i between the radical and the terminations:
je criais, tu criais, il/elle criait, nous criions, vous criiez, ils/elles criaient