French Imperfect

One major difference between English and French is that French has a special verb tense to describe things that used to happen in the past. This is called the imperfect tense or “l’imparfait“. Basically, the imperfect is used when you’re talking about something that occurred over an unspecified period of time. This tense is different from the passé composé (also called the past tense), which describes actions that occurred at a specific moment in time.

French Impefect Vs. Passé Composé

To make things clear please look at the two sentences below. The first one uses the passé composé and the second one uses the imperfect. Can you see the difference?

J’ai parlé en Français hier.
I spoke in French to yesterday.

Je parlais en Français quand j’étais jeune.
I used to speak French when I was young.

Verb Endings

Regular Verbs

-ER (Parler – To Speak)	-IR (Finir – To Finish)	-RE (Attendre – To Wait)
je parlais	je finissais	j’attendais
tu parlais	tu finissais	tu attendais
il parlait	il finissait	il attendait
nous parlions	nous finissions	nous attendions
vous parliez	vous finissiez	vous attendiez
ils parlaient	ils finissaient	ils attendaient

Irregular Verbs

être – To be	avoir – To Have	aller – To Go	Savoir – To Know
j’étais	j’avais	j’allais	je savais
tu étais	tu avais	tu allais	tu savais
il était	il avait	il allait	il savait
nous étions	nous avions	nous allions	nous savions
vous étiez	vous aviez	vous alliez	vous saviez
ils étaient	ils avaient	ils allaient	ils savaient

French Imparfait Examples

Below I’ll give five example sentences. The first is written in the passé composé and the second is written in the imperfect. You can practice saying the sentences are watching the video. After this you should have a clear understanding of the difference between the two.

Example 1

Tu est arrivé en retard hier.
You arrived late yesterday.

Tu arrivais en retard quand tu étais étudiant.
You used to arrive late when you were a student.

Example 2

Il a mangé à sept heures.
He ate at seven o’clock.

Il mangait vers huit heures.
He used to eat around eight o’clock.

Example 3

Il a trop bu hier soir.
He drank to much last night.

Il buvait tous les jours avant.
He used to drink every day.

Example 4

J’ai trop travaillé cette semaine.
I worked too much this week.

Je travaillais trop quand j’étais en France.
I used to work too much when I was in France.

Example 5

J’ai étudié le Français hier.
I studied French yesterday.

J’étudais le Français à l’école.
I used to study French at school.

More French Lessons:

1. French Past Tense
2. French Future Tense
3. French Irregular Verbs Passé Composé

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