A2
The imperfect
How the French imperfect is formed from the nous stem, what it is used for, and why être is its only irregular verb.
Take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, add the endings. That rule has exactly one exception in the entire language.
| je parlais | I was speaking |
| tu parlais | |
| il / elle parlait | |
| nous parlions | |
| vous parliez | |
| ils / elles parlaient |
Quand j’étais petit, j’habitais à Nice.
when I-was small, I-lived in Nice
When I was little, I lived in Nice.
The stem comes from nous, which fixes the irregulars
Faire is irregular in the present, but nous faisons gives je faisais without trouble. Prendre gives nous prenons and so je prenais. Every irregular verb becomes regular here.
Nous faisions du vélo tous les jours.
we did of-the bicycle all the days
We used to cycle every day.
être is the only exception
Its stem is ét-: j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient. One verb, and then the tense is finished.
Four of the six sound alike again
Parlais, parlais, parlait and parlaient are all pronounced the same, as in the present. Only -ions and -iez are audible.
What it is for
Description, habit, and things that were going on rather than things that happened: the weather, someone’s age, what was in the room, what you used to do.
Il faisait froid et il n’y avait personne.
it made cold and it not-there had nobody
It was cold and there was nobody there.
Hier, je mangeais une pomme et je suis parti.
Hier, j’ai mangé une pomme et je suis parti.
A single completed action takes the passé composé. The imperfect here would mean you were in the middle of the apple when something interrupted — see the two past tenses.