The Imperfect Tense

Imperfect = Incomplete

The imperfect tense is a past tense which is used to describe:

• What something was like
• What used to happen
• What happened frequently or
• What someone was doing in the past

Sometimes called the 'Used to / Was tense', it is the tense of:

• Past description- il était moins gras à l'époque
• Interrupted action in the past- Je me manquillas quand il a téléphoné
• Repetition in the past- Tous les soirs je devais couper du bois
• Past habit- Je faisais de la gymnastique/ c'était l'époque où j'adorais sortir

We use the imperfect when we can see neither the beginning nor the end of the action, or the series of actions.

The imperfect tense is formed using the 'Nous' form of the PRESENT tense and adding the following endings appropriately:

The only exception is 'Être'-

 

To revise the use of the imperfect tense with irregular verbs click here

Back to Main Verbs Section

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please select.. Home FrenchTrip Itinerary Academic A-Level course As-Level course Year 12-Sow Year 11-Sow Year 10-Sow Year 9-Sow Year 8-Sow AS/A2 exam Gcse:Detailed KS3:Detailed Guidelines Assistant Activities Grammar Tenses Irregular Verbs Games Site Map Contact us