If you learn the imparfait of only two verbs in French, learn être and avoir. Together they account for an enormous share of every past-tense paragraph: être sets the scene, describes states, gives ages, and identifies; avoir expresses possession, age, physical sensations, and serves as the auxiliary in the plus-que-parfait. You will use j'étais and j'avais dozens of times an hour when speaking about the past.
This page lays out the full paradigms, explains why être is the only verb with an irregular imparfait stem, and shows the most common contexts in which each verb appears. It also previews how avoir in the imparfait builds the plus-que-parfait — the past-of-the-past tense that shows up everywhere in narrative.
être in the imparfait — the only true irregular
Almost every imparfait stem in French is built mechanically: take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, what's left is the stem. Être is the single exception. Its present nous form is nous sommes, which would give an impossible stem somm-. Instead, être uses the historical stem ét-, descended from Latin stare "to stand" (imperfect stabam) via Old French estoie — the same root that gives us été (the past participle) and étant (the present participle):
| Person | Written form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'étais | /ʒetɛ/ |
| tu | tu étais | /ty etɛ/ |
| il / elle / on | il était | /il etɛ/ |
| nous | nous étions | /nu etjɔ̃/ |
| vous | vous étiez | /vu etje/ |
| ils / elles | ils étaient | /il(z) etɛ/ |
Notice that the endings (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient) are perfectly regular — only the stem ét- differs from what the nous-rule would predict. So once you commit ét- to memory, être behaves like every other verb.
The four singular and 3pl forms (j'étais, tu étais, il était, ils étaient) are all pronounced /etɛ/. As with every imparfait, the singular subject pronoun is mandatory because the verb form alone cannot disambiguate person.
avoir in the imparfait — perfectly regular
In contrast to être, avoir follows the nous-stem rule without complication. The 1pl present is nous avons, drop -ons to get av-:
| Person | Written form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais | /ʒavɛ/ |
| tu | tu avais | /ty avɛ/ |
| il / elle / on | il avait | /il avɛ/ |
| nous | nous avions | /nu avjɔ̃/ |
| vous | vous aviez | /vu avje/ |
| ils / elles | ils avaient | /il(z) avɛ/ |
Same homophony as être: j'avais, tu avais, il avait, ils avaient are all /avɛ/.
A small phonological detail: in the singular, the elision j'avais (rather than je avais) is mandatory, just as in the present (j'ai). The je becomes a glide written as j'. This is one of the few verbs where you must remember the elision in every imparfait sentence.
Five contexts where you constantly need these forms
1. Descriptions and atmosphere (être)
Setting a scene in the past is the imparfait's first job, and être does most of the work. Almost any descriptive sentence about the past — the weather, the mood, the appearance of a person, the layout of a room — uses être:
C'était un dimanche d'automne, et le ciel était gris depuis le matin.
It was an autumn Sunday, and the sky had been grey all morning.
Quand je suis arrivée, la maison était silencieuse et la porte était entrouverte.
When I got there, the house was silent and the door was ajar.
Mes grands-parents étaient agriculteurs en Bourgogne. Leur ferme était à deux pas du village.
My grandparents were farmers in Burgundy. Their farm was a stone's throw from the village.
2. Possession (avoir)
For "having" something in the past — an object, a feeling, a relationship — avoir in the imparfait is the default. Use it whenever the possession is being described as ongoing or as part of the background:
Mon père avait une vieille Citroën jaune dont il était très fier.
My father had an old yellow Citroën that he was very proud of.
On avait une grande maison près de la mer, mais on l'a vendue il y a dix ans.
We used to have a big house by the sea, but we sold it ten years ago.
Elle avait les yeux bleus de son grand-père et le sourire de sa mère.
She had her grandfather's blue eyes and her mother's smile.
3. Age (avoir + ans)
French expresses age with avoir, not être (unlike English). In the past, this becomes avoir in the imparfait — one of the most natural-sounding constructions in the language:
Quand j'avais dix ans, je voulais être astronaute.
When I was ten, I wanted to be an astronaut.
Mon arrière-grand-père avait quatre-vingt-douze ans quand il est décédé.
My great-grandfather was ninety-two when he passed away.
Tu avais quel âge la première fois que tu es allé à Paris ?
How old were you the first time you went to Paris?
4. Physical and emotional states (both)
Both verbs share the work of describing how someone felt physically or emotionally. Être takes adjectives directly (j'étais fatigué, elle était triste); avoir takes nouns in idioms about sensations (j'avais faim, elle avait peur):
| State | French (with être or avoir) |
|---|---|
| tired | j'étais fatigué(e) |
| sad | j'étais triste |
| happy | j'étais content(e), heureux/heureuse |
| angry | j'étais fâché(e), en colère |
| hungry | j'avais faim |
| thirsty | j'avais soif |
| cold | j'avais froid |
| hot | j'avais chaud |
| scared | j'avais peur |
| sleepy | j'avais sommeil |
| in pain | j'avais mal |
J'étais épuisée après cette journée. J'avais soif, j'avais faim et je n'avais qu'une envie : me coucher.
I was exhausted after that day. I was thirsty, I was hungry and all I wanted was to go to bed.
Quand on était petits, on avait toujours peur du grand chien des voisins.
When we were little, we were always scared of the neighbours' big dog.
5. Identity and profession (être)
To say what someone was — their job, nationality, role, identity — French uses être without an article (il était professeur, never il était un professeur):
Mon grand-père était médecin de campagne dans les années cinquante.
My grandfather was a country doctor in the fifties.
Son père était irlandais et sa mère était bretonne.
His father was Irish and his mother was Breton.
On était les seuls francophones du village et tout le monde nous regardait avec curiosité.
We were the only French speakers in the village and everyone looked at us with curiosity.
avoir as auxiliary: building the plus-que-parfait
This is the second life of avoir in the imparfait. Combined with a past participle, it produces the plus-que-parfait — the "past of the past" tense, used to describe events that had already happened by the time of another past event.
Formula: avoir (imparfait) + past participle.
| Person | Plus-que-parfait of manger |
|---|---|
| je | j'avais mangé |
| tu | tu avais mangé |
| il / elle / on | il avait mangé |
| nous | nous avions mangé |
| vous | vous aviez mangé |
| ils / elles | ils avaient mangé |
Quand je suis arrivé, ils avaient déjà mangé.
When I got there, they had already eaten.
Elle avait préparé le dîner avant que les invités n'arrivent.
She had prepared dinner before the guests arrived.
Je n'avais jamais visité Lyon avant ce week-end-là.
I had never visited Lyon before that weekend.
For verbs that take être in the passé composé, être in the imparfait does the same job:
Quand le train est arrivé, mon frère était déjà parti depuis une heure.
When the train arrived, my brother had already left an hour earlier.
Elle s'était levée tôt pour préparer le petit-déjeuner.
She had got up early to make breakfast.
In other words, mastering the imparfait of être and avoir gives you not one tense but two: the imparfait itself plus the entire plus-que-parfait paradigm. That alone justifies the time you spend on these two verbs.
A few high-frequency idioms
These two verbs anchor several fixed expressions that appear constantly in past description. Internalize them as units:
- Il y avait — there was / there were. The imparfait of il y a. Used to describe the existence or presence of something or someone in a past scene.
- Il était une fois — once upon a time. The opening formula of fairy tales in French.
- C'était — it was / that was. The most-used scene-setter in spoken French.
- J'avais l'impression que / je me sentais — I had the impression that / I felt. Used to describe past mental states.
- Avoir l'air
- adjective — to seem / to look. Il avait l'air fatigué = he looked tired.
Il y avait beaucoup de monde au marché ce samedi-là.
There were a lot of people at the market that Saturday.
Il était une fois, dans un royaume lointain, un roi qui avait trois filles.
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there was a king who had three daughters.
C'était l'une des plus belles soirées de ma vie.
It was one of the most beautiful evenings of my life.
Tu avais l'air vraiment inquiet hier soir, ça allait ?
You looked really worried last night — were you okay?
Pronunciation traps
Three things to watch out for when speaking these forms aloud.
1. Liaison with vowels. Nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient trigger mandatory liaison: /nu‿zetjɔ̃/, /vu‿zetje/, /il‿zetɛ/. Same with avoir: /nu‿zavjɔ̃/, /vu‿zavje/, /il‿zavɛ/. Forgetting the z-liaison sounds robotic.
2. Elision before vowel-initial subject pronouns. Always j'étais, never je étais; always j'avais, never je avais. This is mandatory in writing and pronunciation.
3. The /ɛ/ vowel. All of étais, était, étaient and avais, avait, avaient end in /ɛ/ — a more open vowel than English speakers usually expect. Closer to "bed" than to "bay."
Comparison with English
English has a single past tense for to be (was, were) and to have (had). These cover both the imperfective and perfective uses ("I was tired all day" and "I was suddenly tired"; "I had a cat" and "I had a great time"). French uses the imparfait/passé composé contrast to make the aspectual distinction explicit:
- J'étais fatigué — I was tired (durative state, imparfait)
- J'ai été fatigué — I got tired / I was tired (briefly, perfective with passé composé) — much rarer in spoken French
For avoir:
- J'avais une voiture — I had a car (durative possession)
- J'ai eu une voiture — I got / had a car (perfective: at one point, I came into having one)
This means English speakers typically over-use j'ai été and j'ai eu. The imparfait is far more common — almost always the right choice when describing how things were during a past period.
The age construction is another transfer point: English speakers say "I had ten years" calque-style instead of j'avais dix ans. The verb is right but the meaning isn't transparent. Learn the idiom: in French, you "have" your age.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using être for age.
❌ Quand j'étais dix ans, j'aimais beaucoup dessiner.
Incorrect — French uses avoir for age, not être. The correct form is j'avais dix ans.
✅ Quand j'avais dix ans, j'aimais beaucoup dessiner.
When I was ten, I really loved drawing.
Mistake 2: Using être for hunger, thirst, fear, cold, heat.
❌ J'étais très faim après l'entraînement.
Incorrect — French uses avoir + faim/soif/peur/froid/chaud as a fixed idiom. Adjective use of these nouns isn't grammatical.
✅ J'avais très faim après l'entraînement.
I was really hungry after practice.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the elision in j'étais and j'avais.
❌ Je étais fatigué hier soir.
Incorrect — je elides obligatorily before a vowel. Write j'étais.
✅ J'étais fatigué hier soir.
I was tired last night.
Mistake 4: Using somm- as the stem of être.
❌ Nous sommions en vacances tout le mois d'août.
Incorrect — être's imparfait stem is ét-, not somm-. The correct form is nous étions.
✅ Nous étions en vacances tout le mois d'août.
We were on holiday for the whole month of August.
Mistake 5: Using passé composé where imparfait is needed for description.
❌ Quand je suis arrivé, la fête a été géniale et il y a eu beaucoup de monde.
Incorrect — describing the state of the party at the moment of arrival requires imparfait, not passé composé.
✅ Quand je suis arrivé, la fête était géniale et il y avait beaucoup de monde.
When I arrived, the party was great and there were lots of people.
Mistake 6: Building plus-que-parfait with the wrong auxiliary.
❌ Elle avait partie avant que nous arrivions.
Incorrect — partir takes être as its auxiliary, so the plus-que-parfait is elle était partie.
✅ Elle était partie avant que nous arrivions.
She had left before we arrived.
Key takeaways
Être is the only verb in French with an irregular imparfait stem (ét-); the endings are completely regular. Avoir is perfectly regular, derived from nous avons → av- + the standard endings. Together these two verbs do most of the past-tense description work in French: setting scenes, expressing states, giving ages, and describing possession.
Their second life is as auxiliaries: avoir and être in the imparfait, plus a past participle, give you the entire plus-que-parfait. So mastering these two paradigms unlocks two tenses at once.
The single biggest transfer error from English is using être where French wants avoir — for age, hunger, thirst, fear, cold, heat. Internalize the avoir-idioms as fixed units (avoir dix ans, avoir faim, avoir soif, avoir peur, avoir froid, avoir chaud, avoir sommeil, avoir mal) and you'll sound natural immediately.
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