The imperfect tense in French

Read more about how to use The imperfect tense in French.
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The imperfect tense

The imperfect tense is used to describe: ‱Past descriptions:

En 1970, les gens n’avaient pas Internet, ils ne pouvaient pas regarder les vidĂ©os de chats. In 1970, people didn't have any Internet, they couldn't watch any videos of cats.

‱Habitual actions in the past:
Quand j’étais petit, j’allais tous les jours Ă  l’école en vĂ©lo. When I was small, I used to cycle to school every day.
To form the imperfect, drop the -ons ending from the present tense nous form of the verb and add these endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
lire → nous lisons (prĂ©sent)→ je lisais, tu lisais, etc (imparfait).
pouvoir → nous pouvons → je pouvais, tu pouvais, etc.

aimer en
J'aimais
Tu aimais
Il aimait/elle aimait
Nous aimions
Vous aimiez
Ils aimaient/elles aimaient
finir en
Je finissais
Tu finissais
Il finissait/elle finissait
Nous finissions
Vous finissiez
Ils finissaient/elles finissaient
faire en
Je faisais
Tu faisais
Il faisait/elle faisait
Nous faisions
Vous faisiez
Ils faisaient/elles faisaient
vouloir en
Je voulais
Tu voulais
Il voulait/elle voulait
Nous voulions
Vous vouliez
Ils voulaient/elles voulaient
avoir en
J'avais
Tu avais
Il avait/elle avait
Nous avions
Vous aviez
Ils avaient/elles avaient
Exception alert: Just one irregular verb - ĂȘtre:
ĂȘtre en
J'Ă©tais
Tu Ă©tais
Il Ă©tait/elle Ă©tait
Nous Ă©tions
Vous Ă©tiez
Ils Ă©taient/elles Ă©taient

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