The Imperfect Tense

- saying what someone was doing

Use:• to say was doing or used to do

Form• you need 3 things:

1. a subject2. the stem3. the correct ending

To form the stem:

1. decide on the infinitive you need2. find the present tense of this verb3. take the nous part4. remove the –ons ending

For example:

aller allons all

Now add the correct endings:

•ais

•ais

•ait

•ions

•iez

•aient

je

tu

il / elle/

on

nous

vous

ils/

elles

The only exception is…

être

être nous sommes

BUT stem = ét

For example: j’étais – I was vous étiez – you were ils étaient – they were

Some examples

• I was doing – je faisais• he was dancing – il dansait• they were eating – ils mangeaient• we were finishing – nous finissions• you were selling – vous vendiez

A sneaky tip…• For many –er and -re verbs you can

simply remove the infinitive ending and then add the imperfect endings.

• BUT for –ir verbs you must add an -iss

For example: vendre regarderfinir

je vendaisje regardaisje finissais