Once you can talk about single, finished events with the passé composé, you'll quickly hit a wall: how do you say what you used to do, or describe what was going on in the background? That's the job of the imparfait, French's other essential past tense. The good news is that it's far more regular than the passé composé — one set of endings, almost no exceptions. In this guide you'll learn how to form the imparfait, exactly when to use it, and how to stop confusing it with the passé composé — the single biggest source of past-tense mistakes for English speakers.
What the imparfait is for
The imparfait describes the past in a way English usually handles with "was doing," "used to," or "would" (in the habitual sense). It's the tense of description, habit, and things in progress. Three jobs cover almost every use:
Ongoing actions: what was happening when something else occurred. Je lisais quand le téléphone a sonné. (I was reading when the phone rang.)
Habits and repetition: what used to happen regularly. Nous allions à la plage chaque été. (We used to go to the beach every summer.)
Description and background: setting a scene — weather, age, feelings, appearance. Il faisait froid et j'étais fatigué. (It was cold and I was tired.)
If you can rephrase an English sentence with "used to" or "was ___-ing," it's almost certainly the imparfait in French.
How to form the imparfait
Here's why learners love this tense: there's one set of endings for every verb, and the stem comes from a form you already know. Take the nous form of the present tense, drop the -ons, and add the imparfait endings.
For example, parler → nous parlons → stem parl-:
French | English |
|---|---|
je parlais | I was speaking / used to speak |
tu parlais | you were speaking |
il / elle parlait | he / she was speaking |
nous parlions | we were speaking |
vous parliez | you were speaking |
ils / elles parlaient | they were speaking |
The endings — -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient — never change, for any verb. Note that -ais, -ait, and -aient all sound identical when spoken; only the written form differs.
The one irregular stem: être
Because the endings are universal, the only verb with an irregular imparfait stem is être (its nous form, sommes, doesn't give a usable stem). It uses the stem ét-:
French | English |
|---|---|
j'étais | I was |
tu étais | you were |
il / elle était | he / she was |
nous étions | we were |
vous étiez | you were |
ils / elles étaient | they were |
A couple of verbs need a small spelling tweak to keep pronunciation consistent: manger becomes je mangeais (keeping the soft "g"), and commencer becomes je commençais (with the cedilla). The endings themselves stay exactly the same.
Imparfait in real sentences
French | English |
|---|---|
Quand j'étais petit, j'habitais à Nice. | When I was little, I lived in Nice. |
Il pleuvait, alors nous sommes restés à la maison. | It was raining, so we stayed home. |
Elle portait une robe bleue. | She was wearing a blue dress. |
Tous les matins, je prenais un café au comptoir. | Every morning, I would have a coffee at the counter. |
Nous regardions un film quand tu as appelé. | We were watching a film when you called. |
Notice how often the imparfait sets the scene while the passé composé (sommes restés, as appelé) marks the single event that interrupts it.
Imparfait vs passé composé — the key distinction
This is the part worth slowing down for. Both are past tenses, but they do different jobs:
Passé composé | Imparfait |
|---|---|
A completed, one-time action | An ongoing or repeated action |
"I did it" (and it finished) | "I was doing it" / "I used to do it" |
Moves the story forward | Sets the background |
J'ai mangé à midi. (I ate at noon.) | Je mangeais toujours à midi. (I always used to eat at noon.) |
A useful mental image: the imparfait is the film running in the background, and the passé composé is the snapshot — the single moment when something happens. Je dormais (I was sleeping — background) quand l'orage a commencé (when the storm started — the event).
Common mistakes English speakers make
Using the imparfait for a finished, one-time action. "I ate breakfast this morning" (a single completed event) is j'ai mangé, not je mangeais. Save the imparfait for habits and descriptions.
Forgetting the -i- in the nous and vous forms. It's nous parlions and vous parliez — the i is easy to drop but it's what distinguishes the imparfait from the present nous parlons.
Trying to find irregular imparfait verbs. There's essentially only one (être). If you're memorising long irregular lists, you're overcomplicating it.
Translating "would" too literally. English "would" for past habit is the imparfait (je jouais = "I would play"), but "would" as a conditional ("I would play if...") is a different tense entirely.
Quick practice
Put the verb in the imparfait:
Quand j'étais jeune, je _____ (jouer) au foot.
Il _____ (faire) beau ce jour-là.
Nous _____ (habiter) à Lyon à l'époque.
Tu _____ (être) toujours en retard.
Elles _____ (parler) tout le temps en classe.
Answers: 1. jouais · 2. faisait · 3. habitions · 4. étais · 5. parlaient
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you form the imparfait in French? Take the nous form of the present tense, drop the -ons, and add the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. For example, finir → nous finissons → je finissais. These endings are the same for every verb.
What's the difference between the imparfait and the passé composé? The passé composé is for completed, one-time actions ("I ate at noon"). The imparfait is for ongoing actions, habits, and descriptions ("I was eating," "I used to eat," "it was raining"). Often a sentence uses both: the imparfait for the background and the passé composé for the event that interrupts it.
Is the imparfait an irregular tense? No — it's the most regular tense in French. The endings never change, and the only verb with an irregular stem is être (stem ét-). A few verbs like manger and commencer need a minor spelling change to preserve pronunciation, but the endings stay the same.
When do you use the imparfait with "would" in English? When "would" means a past habit ("Every summer we would go to the coast"), use the imparfait. When "would" is conditional ("I would go if I could"), that's the conditional tense, not the imparfait.
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