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A2 · Verb Tenses · Published
Imparfait
The imparfait (the tense English textbooks call the imperfect) describes the past as it was unfolding: descriptions, habits, and situations that were simply going on. You build it from one stem — the present nous form minus -ons — plus six endings that never change, and only être refuses to follow the rule.
If the passé composé is a snapshot of one finished event, the imparfait is the film rolling behind it. This page teaches you the film tense itself: how to form it, the two spelling details worth knowing, and the situations where French reaches for it.
In short
- Formation: take the present
nousform, drop-ons, add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. - Use it for: descriptions, repeated habits, and actions or states that were in progress.
- Only one verb has an irregular stem:
être→ét-(j’étais).
imparfaitpassé composésignal word· hover a highlighted word for its label
The film tense
Remember the camera from the Passé Composé vs Imparfait guide: the passé composé takes a snapshot — click, one finished event — while the imparfait keeps the camera rolling over the scene. Choosing between the two tenses is its own topic; everything below assumes the camera is rolling and you just need the right form.
Formation: start from the nous form
Every imparfait in the language is built the same way. Say the present-tense nous form, cut off -ons, and you have the stem: nous travaillons → travaill-, nous finissons → finiss-, nous prenons → pren-. Then attach the endings.
| Person | Ending | habiter (nous habitons) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | -ais | j’habitais |
| tu | -ais | tu habitais |
| il / elle / on | -ait | il habitait |
| nous | -ions | nous habitions |
| vous | -iez | vous habitiez |
| ils / elles | -aient | elles habitaient |
Back then, I worked in a small bookshop.
— nous travaillons → stem travaill- + -ais.
She used to finish work at five.
— The -iss- comes straight from the nous form: nous finissons.
The one true irregular: être
être is the only verb in French with an irregular imparfait stem. Its nous form, nous sommes, has no -ons to drop — so it borrows the stem ét- instead: j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient. The endings stay perfectly regular.
When I was little, we lived in Lille.
— être uses the stem ét-; habiter follows the normal nous-stem rule.
Spelling: -cer and -ger verbs
Stems ending in c or g need a small adjustment to keep their soft sound. Before endings that start with a (je, tu, il, ils), c becomes ç and g adds an e. Before -ions and -iez, the i already keeps the sound soft, so the stem goes back to normal.
| Verb | Before a (je, tu, il, ils) | Before i (nous, vous) |
|---|---|---|
| commencer | je commençais | nous commencions |
| manger | je mangeais | nous mangions |
The market started at eight every Saturday.
— ç keeps the soft sound before -ait.
We traveled a lot when we were students.
— No extra e before -ions — the i already softens the g.
Use it for descriptions
Weather, places, looks, feelings, age: whenever you paint what the past was like rather than report what happened, the imparfait carries the description.
It was cold that morning.
— Pure scene-setting — nothing happens yet.
My grandparents had a huge garden.
— A lasting state, not an event.
Use it for habits and repetition
Anything that happened again and again — what English renders as "used to do" or "would do" — takes the imparfait. Phrases like chaque été, tous les jours, and d’habitude are reliable signals.
Every summer, we went to my grandmother’s.
— A repeated habit — English would say "we would go" or "we used to go".
Use it for background actions
An action already in progress when something else happened stays in the imparfait — the film keeps rolling while the event strikes.
The children were sleeping when we got home.
— The sleeping was in progress; the arrival is the event.
Imparfait + depuis
When an action had already been going on for some time at a past moment, French uses the imparfait with depuis. English hides this pattern behind "had been doing" — resist the urge to build a compound tense.
She had been waiting for twenty minutes when the bus arrived.
— Still in progress at that past moment → imparfait + depuis.
Suggestions and softening
Two friendly side jobs of the imparfait. Si on + imparfait makes a suggestion — no past meaning at all. And the imparfait can soften a request: je voulais sounds gentler than je veux.
How about going to the beach on Saturday?
— Si + on + imparfait = a suggestion, not a past event.
I wanted to ask you something.
— The imparfait softens the request — more polite than je veux.
Common mistakes
✗Avant, elle finait le travail plus tôt.
✓Avant, elle finissait le travail plus tôt.
The stem comes from the nous form — nous finissons → finiss- — so -ir verbs keep their -iss- in the imparfait.
✗L’hôtel êtait complet ce soir-là.
✓L’hôtel était complet ce soir-là.
The imparfait stem of être is ét- with an acute accent; the circumflex belongs to the infinitive être, not to the stem.
✗Je mangais souvent au restaurant à midi.
✓Je mangeais souvent au restaurant à midi.
-ger verbs keep an extra e before endings that start with a (mangeais, mangeait) to preserve the soft g sound.
✗Elle a attendu depuis une heure quand le train est arrivé.
✓Elle attendait depuis une heure quand le train est arrivé.
An action still in progress at a past moment takes imparfait + depuis — English "had been waiting" hides the trap.
Check yourself
1 / 4Quand tu étais jeune, tu ___ trop vite. (parler)
2 / 4Nous ___ très fatigués hier soir. (être)
3 / 4À l’époque, je ___ tous les matins. (nager)
4 / 4Et si on ___ au cinéma ce soir ? (aller)
Frequently asked questions
What are the imparfait endings?
The endings are -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient — the same six for every verb. They attach to the stem of the present nous form: nous parlons → je parlais.
Which verbs are irregular in the imparfait?
Only être, whose stem is ét- (j’étais, nous étions). Verbs in -cer and -ger adjust their spelling (je commençais, je mangeais), but they still follow the regular nous-stem pattern.
Does the imparfait translate English "used to" and "would"?
Yes. Both "I used to play" and "we would go every summer" describe past habits, and French expresses them with the imparfait: je jouais, nous allions chaque été.
When do I use the imparfait instead of the passé composé?
Use the imparfait for background — descriptions, habits, actions in progress — and the passé composé for completed events that move the story forward. The full decision guide is on the Passé Composé vs Imparfait page.
Memory tip
To form any imparfait, say the present nous form out loud, cut the -ons, and let the endings do the rest — if you know nous finissons, you already know je finissais. The only verb that refuses to play is être: its stem is ét-.
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