In this French grammar lesson we will learn about how to form the imparfait.
In this lesson you will learn about:
- how to form the imparfait in French,
- how the imparfait is used in sentences in French,
- how you can immediately test your knowledge on how to form the imparfait,
- how Anki files can be downloaded on the topic of how to form the imparfait.
Please refer to the French A2 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar if you are curious about how to form the imparfait fits in French A2 grammar.
By the end of the lesson you will know all about how to form the imparfait.
Table of Contents
How to Form the Imparfait
| new ending | |
| je | –ais |
| tu | –ais |
| il/elle/on | –ait |
| nous | –ions |
| vous | –iez |
| ils/elles | –aient |
The 3 Step Method To Forming the Imparfait
In order to form the imparfait one must:
- Take the nous form of a verb in the Present Tense
- Drop the -ons ending
- Add the new ending
The verb parler means to “speak”.
We will take this verb and conjugate it in the “je” form using the three step method.
- parlons
The nous form of the verb parler is parlons.
- parl
Once you cut of the ons ending all that is left is parl.
- parlais
When we add the new ending ais the final conjugated form will be parlais.
So when you wish to say “I was talking” in French you get:
Je parlais
So, to form the imparfait, all you have to do is take the nous form a verb, drop the ending, and replace it with the new ending.
parler-> je parlais
choisir -> je choisissais
vendre -> je vendais
Example Sentences with the Imparfait
The final section of this lesson on how to form the imparfait is about seeing the imparfait in action.
This is valuable because you can improve your understanding on how to form the imparfait through examples.
parler
Je parlais à quelqu’un au téléphone.
I was talking to someone on the phone.
vendre
Tu vendais des maisons.
You were selling houses.
choisir
Il choisissait tous les mots avec attention.
He chose every word with care.
danser
Nous dansions toute la nuit.
We were dancing the whole night.
manger
Vous mangiez.
You were eating.
travailler
Les garçons travaillaient dur.
The boys were working hard.
Test Your Knowledge on How to Form the Imparfait
It’s not enough just to read the article on this subject.
You should test your knowledge to see if you really understood everything, and to be able to repeat the material.
It is also for this reason that it is recommended to download the Anki Decks and do them.
At the end of every lesson you can do a small test.
You will see the sentences of the previous chapter. It is up to you to give the correct answer.
You will either need to fill in the blanks, choose the correct multiple choice option, or both.
Once you are done the correct answer will be shown.
You can redo the quiz as many times as you want. There’s no limit to it!
Anki File for How to Form the Imparfait
It is important to do the Anki excercises for this lesson, so that you can remember what you just studied.
By downloading the Anki File for French A2 you can practice every French A2 lesson that is on Language Atlas.
At this moment the Anki File for this lesson doesn’t exist yet. However, in due time this will be available on Language Atlas.
If you don’t know why you should use Anki, or don’t know how to use Anki or merge Anki files please click here.
Anki can be downloaded from here.
