How to form the imparfait: stem of « nous » in the present + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Nous av-ons → j'avais, nous pren-ons → je prenais, nous fais-ons → je faisais. Only être is irregular: j'étais. Manger → je mangeais, commencer → je commençais.
| imparfait = the background, what was going on | passé composé = the event, what happened |
|---|---|
| description, state: Il faisait beau. (The weather was nice.) J'étais fatigué. (I was tired.) | one-off action: Il a commencé à pleuvoir. (It started to rain.) |
| habit (= used to / would): Le dimanche, nous allions au lac. (On Sundays we used to go to the lake.) | single or counted action: Nous sommes allés trois fois au lac. (We went to the lake three times.) |
| action in progress, interrupted (= was …-ing): Je dormais… (I was sleeping…) | …quand le téléphone a sonné. (…when the phone rang.) |
| typical words: d'habitude, souvent, tous les jours, toujours, pendant que | typical words: soudain, tout à coup, un jour, hier, trois fois, pendant deux heures |
A picture to help you: in a film, the imparfait is the set and the music; the passé composé is what the actors do.
Some verbs change meaning:
| imparfait | passé composé |
|---|---|
| je savais (I knew, already) | j'ai su (I found out) |
| je connaissais Paul (I knew Paul) | j'ai connu Paul en 2010 (I met Paul in 2010) |
| je pouvais (I was able to, I had the chance) | j'ai pu (I managed to) |
| je devais partir (I was supposed to leave) | j'ai dû partir (I had to leave) |
Other uses of the imparfait: a suggestion (Si on allait au cinéma ? = How about going to the cinema?), after si (see "Si-sentences"), and politeness: Je voulais vous demander… (I wanted to ask you…)
Translate the words from your reading, review them as flashcards and practise with gap-fill sentences.
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