Using the imparfait correctly in this context requires a bit of consideration, but think of it as just a bit of work to set the stage for your narrative. I was building a house when my phone fell off the roof. Je construisais une maison lorsque mon téléphone est tombé du toit. J’ai construit une maison l’année dernière. If you were to draw the following two sentences on a timeline, you would have difficulty pinpointing where the sentence using imperfect starts and ends, as the speaker is not specifying the exact duration. In English, we often use “used to” to denote that an action was ongoing for an indeterminate amount of time or habitual. ![]() Ongoing actions interrupted by another action I was in the middle of watering the plants.Ħ. This includes expressions describing a state of being “in the process” of doing something and using the common phrases “ être en train de” and “ venir de.” La ville était plus petite quand j’étais jeune. Attributes or general descriptions of the past While she was eating dinner, I was calling my mother.ĥ. Pendant qu’elle dînait, j’ appelais ma mère. But before you feel overwhelmed by #4, take a look at this example in which two actions are taking place at the same time but aren’t really affecting each other: Okay, here’s where it starts to get a little complicated. Two simultaneous events taking place at a non-specific point in the past It was the first of January and I was making my New Year’s resolutions.Ĥ. Whenever you talk about a specific time in the past in which your narrative takes place, or describe how old you were when something happened, use the imparfait.Ĭ’ était le 1er janvier et je prenais mes résolutions du nouvel an. When I lived in Germany, I was always very cold. ![]() Quand je vivais en Allemagne, j’ avais toujours très froid. J’ étais très heureux à l’école primaire. When you describe how you felt (emotionally or physically) in the past or the occurrence of a mental event like forgetting or remembering, you usually want to reach for the imparfait. Feelings, emotions, mental actions, or physical sensations I would walk by the park every day on my way home.Ģ. Je passais par le parc tous les jours en rentrant chez moi. Often, the imparfait is translated with “used to” in English to describe something habitual in the past which continues for a duration of time. After getting familiar with these six general situations where the imparfait is appropriate, memorizing the conjugations will be relatively simple! However, with the following tips and examples on how to use the imparfait to describe the past, you’ll start to see the difference more clearly. Because English doesn’t distinguish between situations requiring the imperfect and perfect tenses as clearly, it’s often difficult to know when to use the French imperfect as opposed to the passé composé when talking about events in the past. Mastering the French imparfait takes a bit of memorization, like other verb tenses, but more importantly it takes a lot of exposure to different examples to get the hang of it. I used to enjoy parfaits now I prefer just plain yogurt. J’ aimais les parfaits, maintenant je préfère le yaourt nature. The imperfect tense is generally used for descriptions of past events or actions without a specific endpoint in time. ![]() The two most common tenses to talk about the past in French are the imparfait (“imperfect”) and passé composé (literally “composite past,” but more generally the “past perfect” tense).
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