The imparfait is one of French's two main past tenses, and learning it well is non-negotiable for getting beyond beginner-level fluency. Where the passé composé tells you what happened (a discrete event with a beginning and an end), the imparfait tells you what was going on, what used to be the case, what conditions surrounded the event. Hier, j'ai vu un film (yesterday, I saw a movie — passé composé, a single event) sits next to Hier, je regardais la télé quand le téléphone a sonné (yesterday, I was watching TV when the phone rang — imparfait for the ongoing background, passé composé for the interrupting event).
The good news: the imparfait is the most regular tense in French. The bad news: knowing how to form it is only half the battle — choosing it correctly over the passé composé is the long-running challenge that English speakers wrestle with for years. This page lays out the five core uses, the formation rule with its single exception, the pronunciation traps, and the place of the imparfait in the larger system of French past tenses.
The five core uses
The imparfait expresses past actions or states viewed from the inside — actions that are unfolding, repeating, lingering, or describing rather than discrete events viewed from the outside.
1. Habitual past — what used to happen
When you describe something that used to happen repeatedly or as a habit in the past, you use the imparfait. English signals this with used to, would, or sometimes a plain past (every Saturday we walked to the park); French uses the imparfait for all three.
Quand j'étais petit, je jouais au foot tous les samedis avec mes cousins.
When I was little, I used to play soccer every Saturday with my cousins.
On allait à la mer chaque été chez ma grand-mère en Bretagne.
We would go to the sea every summer at my grandmother's place in Brittany.
Mon père prenait toujours le train de sept heures pour aller au travail.
My father always took the seven o'clock train to work.
The presence of expressions like toujours, souvent, chaque jour, le lundi, tous les ans is a strong cue for the imparfait — they signal repeated or habitual action.
2. Description — setting the scene
For describing a state, condition, or scene in the past — what something was like, what someone looked like, what the weather was doing — the imparfait is the default.
Il faisait beau et le soleil brillait sur les toits de Paris.
The weather was nice and the sun was shining on the rooftops of Paris.
La maison était grande, avec un jardin plein de pommiers.
The house was big, with a garden full of apple trees.
Marie avait les cheveux longs à l'époque, et elle portait toujours du noir.
Marie had long hair back then, and she always wore black.
This is the descriptive default. Whenever you would say "it was X" or "X was Y" in a past-tense narrative, French reaches for the imparfait — even for what English would express with a plain simple past.
3. Ongoing or background action — what was happening
When something was in progress — unfolding, ongoing, in the middle of happening — the imparfait expresses it. This is often paired with a passé composé event that interrupts the ongoing action.
Je dormais profondément quand le téléphone a sonné à trois heures du matin.
I was sleeping deeply when the phone rang at three in the morning.
On regardait un film tranquillement quand l'alarme s'est déclenchée.
We were quietly watching a movie when the alarm went off.
Elle traversait la rue quand elle a vu son ancien professeur.
She was crossing the street when she saw her old teacher.
The pattern imparfait + quand + passé composé is one of the workhorses of French narrative. The imparfait paints the canvas; the passé composé throws the punch.
4. Politeness — softening a request or wish
In the present tense, je veux sounds direct, even brusque. In the imparfait, je voulais becomes a soft, polite request — the way English uses "I was wondering if..." instead of "I want...".
Je voulais te demander quelque chose, tu as une minute ?
I wanted to ask you something — do you have a minute?
On venait voir si vous aviez besoin d'aide.
We came by to see if you needed help.
Je cherchais le rayon des fromages, vous pouvez m'aider ?
I was looking for the cheese aisle — could you help me?
This is sometimes called the imparfait de politesse ("polite imparfait"). Logically, the action you are describing is happening right now — you do want to ask, you are looking for the cheese — but framing it in the past softens it, distances it, makes it less imposing. The same trick exists in English ("I was wondering...") and Spanish (quería preguntarte...).
5. Hypothetical — the si + imparfait construction
When forming a hypothetical conditional sentence (if X, then Y — where X is contrary to fact or unlikely), French uses the imparfait in the si-clause and the conditional in the main clause.
Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais avec toi au cinéma.
If I had time, I'd come with you to the movies.
Si on partait maintenant, on arriverait avant la nuit.
If we left now, we'd get there before nightfall.
Qu'est-ce que tu ferais si tu gagnais à la loterie ?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
The structure is rigid: si + imparfait, conditional. Native speakers do not use the conditional in the si-clause in standard French (si je gagnerais is a known error stigmatized in school). For full coverage, see Si-clauses with the imparfait.
Formation: an almost-universal rule
Here is the rule that covers nearly every French verb in the imparfait:
Take the nous form of the present indicative. Drop -ons. Add the imparfait endings.
| Person | Ending |
|---|---|
| je | -ais |
| tu | -ais |
| il / elle / on | -ait |
| nous | -ions |
| vous | -iez |
| ils / elles | -aient |
Worked example for parler (to speak):
- Present 1pl: nous parlons.
- Drop -ons: parl-.
- Add endings: je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlaient.
This is the same stem for all six persons — only the endings differ. There is no vowel alternation, no stem-switching the way aller or venir do in the present. Once you have the imparfait stem, the whole paradigm follows mechanically.
| Verb | 1pl present | Imparfait stem | 1sg imparfait |
|---|---|---|---|
| parler (-er) | nous parlons | parl- | je parlais |
| finir (-ir/-iss) | nous finissons | finiss- | je finissais |
| vendre (-re) | nous vendons | vend- | je vendais |
| faire | nous faisons | fais- | je faisais |
| aller | nous allons | all- | j'allais |
| avoir | nous avons | av- | j'avais |
| prendre | nous prenons | pren- | je prenais |
| boire | nous buvons | buv- | je buvais |
Notice that even highly irregular verbs like boire and prendre follow the rule cleanly: their 1pl present forms (nous buvons, nous prenons) give you imparfait stems (buv-, pren-) that work for the entire paradigm.
The single exception: être
There is one verb whose imparfait stem cannot be derived from the nous form of the present. That verb is être. Its imparfait stem is ét-, not the form you would expect from nous sommes.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | étais | /ʒetɛ/ |
| tu | étais | /tyetɛ/ |
| il / elle / on | était | /iletɛ/ |
| nous | étions | /nu(z)etjɔ̃/ |
| vous | étiez | /vu(z)etje/ |
| ils / elles | étaient | /il(z)etɛ/ |
The endings are entirely regular — it is just the stem (ét-) that has to be memorized as an exception.
Quand j'étais petit, j'avais peur du noir.
When I was little, I was afraid of the dark.
Nous étions à Rome la semaine dernière, c'était magnifique.
We were in Rome last week — it was magnificent.
For full coverage of être and avoir in the imparfait — both staples of every past-tense narrative — see the Être and Avoir in the Imparfait page.
Pronunciation: a sea of homophones
Four of the six imparfait endings sound identical:
- -ais (1sg, 2sg) /ɛ/ or /e/ depending on speaker
- -ait (3sg) /ɛ/ or /e/
- -aient (3pl) /ɛ/ or /e/
That means je parlais, tu parlais, il parlait, ils parlaient all sound exactly the same: /paʁlɛ/. The four-way singular/plural homophony forces French to keep its mandatory subject pronouns (je, tu, il, ils) — without them, you cannot tell who is doing the action.
The 1pl and 2pl forms are audibly distinct:
- -ions /jɔ̃/ — nous parlions /nu paʁljɔ̃/
- -iez /je/ — vous parliez /vu paʁlje/
Both contain a glide /j/ that distinguishes them from the singular forms and from the present tense (nous parlons /paʁlɔ̃/ vs imparfait nous parlions /paʁljɔ̃/ — the difference is exactly that /j/).
This is one of the trickiest minimal pairs in French. Nous parlons (we speak) and nous parlions (we were speaking / used to speak) sound nearly identical — only the /j/ tells them apart, and in fast speech that /j/ can be very brief.
Nous parlons français en classe.
We speak French in class. (present)
À l'école, nous parlions français en classe tous les matins.
At school, we used to speak French in class every morning. (imparfait)
A note on -ions / -iez with -ier verbs
For verbs whose stem already ends in -i (like étudier /etydje/), the imparfait 1pl and 2pl produce a doubled i in writing: nous étudiions, vous étudiiez. Both i's are pronounced (sequentially) — these are not typos.
Quand nous étudiions à Paris, nous habitions dans le quartier latin.
When we were studying in Paris, we lived in the Latin Quarter.
The same applies to crier (nous criions), prier (vous priiez), oublier (nous oubliions), and other -ier verbs. The doubled i is unfamiliar but correct.
Imparfait vs passé composé: the great divide
Each French past tense expresses a different conception of the action:
| Imparfait | Passé composé |
|---|---|
| habit, repetition (used to, would) | single event |
| description, state, scene | action with a beginning and end |
| ongoing background action | completed event |
| continuous, internal view | perfective, external view |
A useful test: ask whether the action has a clear beginning and end (passé composé), or whether it was just "going on" (imparfait). In a single sentence, both can coexist:
Il faisait beau quand on est arrivés à la plage.
The weather was nice when we arrived at the beach. (faisait = ongoing state; sont arrivés = discrete event)
Je lisais un roman lorsque tu m'as appelé.
I was reading a novel when you called me.
Sample dialogue
— Tu te souviens de l'été 2010 ? — Oui, on était à La Rochelle, il faisait une chaleur incroyable, et on allait à la plage tous les matins.
— Do you remember summer 2010? — Yes, we were in La Rochelle, the heat was incredible, and we'd go to the beach every morning.
— Qu'est-ce que tu faisais quand l'orage a éclaté ? — Je préparais le dîner et j'écoutais la radio, je n'ai rien remarqué tout de suite.
— What were you doing when the storm broke? — I was making dinner and listening to the radio — I didn't notice right away.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using the passé composé for habitual or repeated past actions.
❌ Quand j'étais petit, j'ai joué au foot tous les samedis.
Wrong tense — repeated action over an extended period uses the imparfait, not the passé composé.
✅ Quand j'étais petit, je jouais au foot tous les samedis.
When I was little, I used to play soccer every Saturday.
Mistake 2: Using the passé composé for description.
❌ Hier, il a fait beau et le soleil a brillé.
Wrong tense for description — weather and atmospheric states take the imparfait.
✅ Hier, il faisait beau et le soleil brillait.
Yesterday the weather was nice and the sun was shining.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the irregular stem of être (ét-).
❌ Je sommais petit.
Wrong — être is the only verb whose imparfait stem (ét-) is not derived from the 1pl present.
✅ J'étais petit.
I was little.
Mistake 4: Forgetting the doubled i in -ier verbs (1pl/2pl).
❌ Nous étudions à Paris quand on s'est rencontrés.
The form 'étudions' is the present. The imparfait of -ier verbs takes -iions in the 1pl: étudiions.
✅ Nous étudiions à Paris quand on s'est rencontrés.
We were studying in Paris when we met.
Mistake 5: Using the conditional in a si-clause.
❌ Si je gagnerais à la loterie, j'achèterais une maison.
Wrong — French is rigid: si + imparfait, then conditional. Conditional in the si-clause is heavily stigmatized.
✅ Si je gagnais à la loterie, j'achèterais une maison.
If I won the lottery, I'd buy a house.
Mistake 6: Confusing 1pl present and 1pl imparfait.
❌ Hier, nous parlons de ça pendant des heures.
Wrong tense — for past description or duration, use the imparfait: parlions.
✅ Hier, nous parlions de ça pendant des heures.
Yesterday, we were talking about that for hours.
Mistake 7: Using je veux in a context where je voulais would be polite.
❌ Bonjour, je veux acheter un billet pour Lyon.
Sounds direct, possibly impolite. The polite imparfait softens the request.
✅ Bonjour, je voulais acheter un billet pour Lyon.
Hello, I'd like to buy a ticket to Lyon. (literally: I wanted to buy)
Key takeaways
Three points to internalize:
One formation rule, one exception. Take the 1pl present, drop -ons, add -ais/-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient. The only exception is être (stem ét-). Every other French verb conforms — even the irregulars.
Five distinct uses, one underlying logic. Habit, description, background, politeness, and hypothetical all share one feature: the action is viewed from the inside rather than as a discrete event. Whenever you would say "I was V-ing," "I used to V," "I would V" (habitually), "I was V-ing when X happened," or "If I V-ed," reach for the imparfait.
The imparfait/passé composé split is the heart of French past narrative. The imparfait paints the scene; the passé composé drives the events forward. Mastering this split — rather than just the formation — is the multi-year project that separates intermediate from advanced French.
For the full mechanics of formation and use, study the dedicated pages: Formation, Habitual Use, Description, Interrupted Action, Politeness, and Si-clauses.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- L'Imparfait: Formation et TerminaisonsA2 — How to build the imparfait for any French verb — take the 1pl present (nous parlons), drop -ons, add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. One sole irregular (être), three predictable spelling adjustments, and a four-way pronunciation homophony you need to know.
- L'Imparfait pour les Actions HabituellesA2 — How to express past habits in French with the imparfait — the tense that covers English 'used to', habitual 'would', and the simple past with frequency adverbs. Time markers, the would/would trap, and how to tell habit from event.
- L'Imparfait pour la DescriptionA2 — How French uses the imparfait to paint past scenes — weather, surroundings, people's appearance, mental and physical states. The descriptive backdrop on which passé-composé events unfold, plus the critical state-vs-change-of-state distinction.
- L'Imparfait pour Action InterrompueA2 — The canonical imparfait/passé-composé contrast — ongoing action (imparfait) interrupted by a punctual event (passé composé). Patterns with quand and pendant que, parallel imparfaits, and the most central decision in French past-tense narration.
- L'Imparfait de PolitesseB1 — How French uses the imparfait in present-tense contexts to soften requests, openings, and approaches — the close cousin of English 'I was wondering...' and 'I was hoping...'. Common verbs, the conditionnel alternative, and the register subtlety most learners miss.
- L'Imparfait in Si-Clauses: Hypotheticals, Suggestions, and WishesB1 — How the imparfait pairs with the conditional to express counterfactual hypotheses, and how 'si + imparfait' alone proposes plans, regrets, and wishes.
- Le Passé Composé: OverviewA1 — The passé composé is French's main spoken past tense — used for completed past events, formed with avoir or être plus a past participle. It does the work that English splits between simple past (I ate) and present perfect (I have eaten).
- Imparfait of être and avoir: The Two WorkhorsesA2 — Master the imparfait of être (j'étais) and avoir (j'avais) — the most-used verbs in French past description and the foundation of the plus-que-parfait. The only irregular imparfait stem in the language and one of its most regular.