French Verbs – Imperfect Tense – Irregular Verbs

In this lesson we explore the imperfect tense of irregular French verbs.

How do irregular verbs form the imperfect tense in French?

There is some good news to start. Irregular verbs are formed using the same endings as those that are used for the imperfect tense of regular verbs.

In order to form the imperfect tense of irregular verbs, you take the nous form of the present tense, remove the -ons to form a new stem, and then apply the appropriate endings.

More good news – this applies to every verb, with the exception only of être.

Example: The Imperfect Tense of Aller

Let’s take aller, ‘to go,’ which we know to otherwise be a highly irregular verb.

Nous form of aller in present tenseStem for the imperfect tense
nous allonsall-

FrenchEnglish
j’allaisI was going
tu allaisyou were going
il allaithe was going
elle allaitshe was going
nous allionswe were going
vous alliezyou were going
ils allaientthey were going
elles allaientthey were going

Example: The Imperfect Tense of Boire

Nous form of boire in present tenseStem for the imperfect tense
nous buvonsbuv-

FrenchEnglish
je buvaisI was drinking
tu buvaisyou were drinking
il buvaithe was drinking
elle buvaitshe was drinking
nous buvionswe were drinking
vous buviezyou were drinking
ils buvaientthey were drinking
elles buvaientthey were drinking

Example: The Imperfect Tense of Connaître

Nous form of connaître in present tenseStem for the imperfect tense
nous connaissonsconnaiss-

FrenchEnglish
je connaissaisI knew
tu connaissaisyou knew
il connaissaithe knew
elle connaissaitshe knew
nous connaissionswe knew
vous connaissiezyou knew
ils connaissaientthey knew
elles connaissaientthey knew

Example: The Imperfect Tense of Croire

Nous form of croire in present tenseStem for the imperfect tense
nous croyonscroy-

FrenchEnglish
je croyaisI believed
tu croyaisyou believed
il croyaithe believed
elle croyaitshe believed
nous croyionswe believed
vous croyiezyou believed
ils croyaientthey believed
elles croyaientthey believed

Quick Quiz – Written Recall

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

Test Yourself

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