French imparfait for English speakers
Vocalyra teaching team · Last updated:
The French imparfait describes what was happening, what used to happen, and how a situation was in the past. English uses several constructions for these meanings, so one-to-one translation is unreliable.
Start with the present nous form
Take the present-tense nous form, remove -ons and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. For parler, nous parlons gives parl-: je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlaient. For finir, nous finissons gives finiss-: je finissais. The main stem exception is être, which uses ét-: j’étais, nous étions. The plural -ions and -iez spellings matter even when the spoken difference is subtle.
Describe a background rather than a finished event
Quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot le samedi describes a repeated childhood habit. Il pleuvait et les rues étaient vides sets a scene. English might use used to, was -ing, or a simple past description, depending on the sentence. The imparfait does not automatically mean an action was unfinished forever; it presents the situation from the inside, without highlighting its endpoint. That viewpoint is why it appears so often in storytelling.
Know when another past tense takes over
Je lisais quand le téléphone a sonné means I was reading when the telephone rang. Lisais supplies the background, while a sonné presents the event that interrupts it. For a single bounded action such as I arrived at eight, use je suis arrivé à huit heures rather than an imparfait merely because it occurred in the past. English learners often choose based only on the English verb form; ask whether the French sentence highlights a habitual setting or a completed occurrence.
Use time clues, but do not let them decide alone
Souvent, tous les étés and à cette époque frequently accompany the imparfait. Soudain and une fois often introduce an event in the passé composé. Yet the speaker’s viewpoint remains decisive. Compare Tous les jours, il travaillait ici with Hier, il a travaillé ici. Make two short sentences about your childhood and a specific moment yesterday, then explain why the tense changes. This contrast is more useful than memorizing a list of adverbs.
- À dix ans, j’habitais à Lyon. = At ten, I lived in Lyon.
- Nous regardions un film quand elle est arrivée. = We were watching a film when she arrived.
- Il faisait froid et le vent soufflait. = It was cold and windy.
- J’étais fatigué, alors je suis rentré. = I was tired, so I went home.
Practice and self-check
Quick self-check
Form: nous finissons → je ___ (imparfait).
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finissais
Form: être → nous ___ (imparfait).
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Ă©tions
Choose: Quand j’étais petit, je (jouais / ai joué) chaque jour.
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jouais
Choose the interruption: Je lisais quand elle (a téléphoné / téléphonait).
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a téléphoné
Translate: It was raining when I left.
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Il pleuvait quand je suis parti(e).