The Imperfect Tense: Grammar Explanation
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The Imperfect tense is an
easy tense to learn.
To form the Imperfect we take
the NOUS form of the PRESENT TENSE, and take off the –ONS
to get the Imperfect stem.
To this stem we add the
endings as follows:
je .......................
ais
tu .......................
ais
il
....................... ait
nous .......................
ions
vous ....................... iez
ils
....................... aient
EXCEPTION: There are very few exceptions to this rule.
The main one in ETRE, whose stem is ét. In addition, verbs like manger
and ranger, which have an extra "e" in the nous form of the present
tense, retain this in the imperfect to make the "g" sound soft (Mon frère mangeait). Similarly verbs like commencer, which have a
"ç" in the nous form, retain this to make the "c" sound
soft (Je commençais).
All very easy – as long as
you have a good working knowledge of the present tense!!
USES OF THE
IMPERFECT TENSE
The Imperfect tense is used
in the following cases:
v
Description in
the past: La
maison était énorme et avait trois fenêtres.
v
Describing
the weather at a time in the past: Il faisait très beau.
v
Giving
an opinion in the past, c'était + adjective:
C'était magnifique.
v
Talking
about something that used to happen regularly in the past:
Nous allions en
v
Talking about how
things used to be over a period of time in the past: Mon
père avait une voiture rouge et ma mère travaillait à l'hôpital.
v
Making
excuses: Ce n'était pas de ma faute. Je voulais aider!
v
Saying
what was happening, when something else happened; (one action (in the perfect tense) cuts across another on-going one
(in the imperfect) Je lisais le journal quand mon père est entré dans le
salon. Ma mère travaillait dans le
jardin, quand le téléphone a sonné.
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First Exercise
