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:

Person	Ending
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?

French	English
jouer	to play
je jouais	I was playing
tu jouais	you were playing
il jouait	he was playing
elle jouait	she was playing
nous jouions	we were playing
vous jouiez	you were playing
ils jouaient	they were playing
elles jouaient	they were playing

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

French	English
vendre	to sell
je vendais	I was selling
tu vendais	you were selling
il vendait	he was selling
elle vendait	she was selling
nous vendions	we were selling
vous vendiez	you were selling
ils vendaient	they were selling
elles vendaient	they 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:

French	English
finir	to finish
je finissais	I was finishing
tu finissais	you were finishing
il finissait	he was finishing
elle finissait	she was finishing
nous finissions	we were finishing
vous finissiez	you were finishing
ils finissaient	they were finishing
elles finissaient	they were finishing