French Verbs – Imperfect Tense – Regular Verbs

This lesson covers the imperfect tense in French for regular verbs, ending -er, -ir and -re.

When is the imperfect tense used in French?

The imperfect tense is used to describe a repeated or habitual action in the past or an action that took place continually over an undetermined period of time (so there is no explicit beginning or end). For example: ‘I was sleeping, ‘ or ‘I used to swim,’ would be instances where the imperfect tense would be the correct tense to use in French.

What are the endings for the French imperfect tense?

The following endings are added to the verb stem to create the imperfect tense in French:

PersonEnding
je -ais
tu -ais
il -ait
elle -ait
nous -ions
vous -iez
ils -aient
elles -aient

How is the imperfect tense formed for regular -er verbs?

FrenchEnglish
jouerto play
je jouaisI was playing
tu jouaisyou were playing
il jouaithe was playing
elle jouaitshe was playing
nous jouionswe were playing
vous jouiezyou were playing
ils jouaientthey were playing
elles jouaientthey were playing

How is the imperfect tense formed for regular -re verbs?

FrenchEnglish
vendreto sell
je vendaisI was selling
tu vendaisyou were selling
il vendaithe was selling
elle vendaitshe was selling
nous vendionswe were selling
vous vendiezyou were selling
ils vendaientthey were selling
elles vendaientthey were selling

How is the imperfect formed for regular -ir verbs?

These are formed in the same way as the -er and -re verbs, except that -iss is inserted between the stem and the ending, as follows:

FrenchEnglish
finirto finish
je finissaisI was finishing
tu finissaisyou were finishing
il finissaithe was finishing
elle finissaitshe was finishing
nous finissionswe were finishing
vous finissiezyou were finishing
ils finissaientthey were finishing
elles finissaientthey were finishing

Quick Quiz – Written Recall

Can you fill in the blanks to complete the verbs we learned?

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