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French Conjugation

L'Imparfait: Stem Formations & Regular Paradigms

Deriving the imperfect tense stem from the present‑tense nous form and applying the regular endings to describe past habits and background situations.

Level A2 Category Conjugation

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Lesson Summary

Deriving the imperfect tense stem from the present‑tense nous form and applying the regular endings to describe past habits and background situations.

Conjugation

The Imperfect Tense: Form and Use

The imparfait (imperfect) is a descriptive past tense. It expresses habitual actions, ongoing states, weather, feelings, and background circumstances. It contrasts with the passé composé, which presents completed events. The distinction between the two will be studied separately; this lesson focuses on the formation of the imparfait.

Formation of the Imparfait Stem

The stem of the imparfait is obtained from the present‑tense nous form of the verb.

1. Take the nous form of the present indicative.
2. Remove the -ons ending.
3. Add the imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

For the formation of the present‑tense nous forms, see the conjugation lessons for each verb group (regular -ER verbs plural, irregular verbs, etc.).

Imparfait Endings – Regular Verbs

Subject	Ending	Parler (stem: parl-)	Finir (stem: finiss-)	Vendre (stem: vend-)
je	-ais	je parlais	je finissais	je vendais
tu	-ais	tu parlais	tu finissais	tu vendais
il / elle / on	-ait	il parlait	il finissait	il vendait
nous	-ions	nous parlions	nous finissions	nous vendions
vous	-iez	vous parliez	vous finissiez	vous vendiez
ils / elles	-aient	ils parlaient	ils finissaient	ils vendaient

The Only Irregular Stem: Être

The verb être is the sole verb whose imparfait stem does not derive from the present‑tense nous form. Its stem is ét-, to which the regular endings are added.

- j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient

All other verbs, including those irregular in the present tense, follow the standard stem derivation from the nous form.

Examples

Quand j'étais petit, je parlais beaucoup.
The irregular stem ét- for être and the regular stem parl- from nous parlons.
Nous finissions nos devoirs vers 18h.
The stem finiss- comes from nous finissons; the ending -ions is added.

Related searches

These are the main phrases this lesson covers:

L'Imparfait: Stem Formations & Regular ParadigmsDeriving the imperfect tense stem from the present‑tense nous form and applying the regular endings to describe past habits and background situations.Form the imparfait of regular verbs (and the irregular verb être) and use it to express repeated or ongoing past actions.ConjugationA2conjugationLearn French ConjugationFrench ConjugationThe Imperfect Tense: Form and UseThe imparfait (imperfect) is a descriptive past tense. It expresses habitual actions, ongoing states, weather, feelings, and background circumstances. It contrasts with the passé composé, which presents completed events. The distinction between the two will be studied separately; this lesson focuses on the formation of the imparfait.