Imperfect in French
Sign up for free to get all information about private lessons and our available group courses (A1, A2, B2, B2, C1, C2)
Sign up for freeLesson outline
HideWhen to use Imparfait ?
The l'imparfait (English: Imperfect tense) is utilized more in French than in English. It's mainly used to speak about activities and actions which have started in the past but not necessarily have to be terminated by now. Moreover you can use it to describe past actions which are habitual or customary.
Some common signal words that are used with the imparfait are:
- toujours (always)
- fréquemment (frequently)
- d'habitude (usually)
- habituellement (usually)
- souvent (often)
- quelquefois (sometimes)
Forms of the Imparfait
The forms of the imparfait are the same for all verbs and do consist of:
- the stem of the 1st person/plural in the present tense.
- the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions ,-iez and -aient.
Have a question?
Take online language lessons with a professional teacher
- Native & verified teachers
- Free trial lesson
- Learning materials included
Lucia L. 
Eleonora B.
Roddy S. 
Silvia B.
Hélène M. 
Magdalini T. 
Ester S.
Jessica A.
Alina K. 
Noémie F.
How to conjugate the Imparfait
| Infinitive | Imparfait | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| faire (to do) | je faisais tu faisais il/elle faisait nous faisions vous faisiez ils/elles faisaient | I was doing you were doing he/she was doing we were doing you were doing they were doing |
| voir (to see) | je voyais tu voyais il/elle voyait nous voyions vous voyiez ils/elles voyaient | I saw you saw he/she saw we were seeing you were seeing they were seeing |
Note: All verb ending in -cer use -ç (the c with cedille) in the singular and in the 3rd person in the plural form (je commençais, tu commençais, il/elle commençait,..).
