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Intermediate

The Imperfect

imparfait

Ongoing or habitual past

The imparfait gives background, habits and states.

📊 Imperfect endings
Pronoun Ending parler
je -ais parlais
tu -ais parlais
il -ait parlait
nous -ions parlions
vous -iez parliez
ils -aient parlaient
💬 Examples
Je mangeais.
I was eating / I used to eat.
📝 Ongoing / habitual past
Il faisait beau.
The weather was nice.
📝 Describing a state
Built on the nous-stem

Take the nous present form, drop -ons, add the endings.

💬 Examples
nous finissons → je finissais
to finish → I was finishing
📝 Stem from the nous form
nous faisons → je faisais
to do → I was doing
📝 Even irregular verbs follow this
Imparfait vs passé composé

imparfait = background/ongoing; passé composé = a completed event.

💬 Examples
Je dormais quand il a téléphoné.
I was sleeping when he called.
📝 Background + interrupting event
Quand j'étais petit, je jouais.
When I was little, I used to play.
📝 Habitual past