The Imperfect Tense

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How does it work what is it for?

The Pass Compos is the Perfect
Tense. It describes actions that are
perfect, i.e. complete.

Can you think of actions that are
imperfect, i.e. INcomplete?
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Incomplete actions I was
watching TV when the cat exploded.
Descriptions in the past The
weather was good / The path led to the
forest.
Habitual actions in the past I
played matches on Wednesdays / He
used to like Chelsea.

Perfect / Imperfect??
I watched TV
He washed his car
He washed his car
on Sundays
The hotel looked
over the sea

Perfect / Imperfect??
I watched TV
He washed his car
He washed his car
on Sundays
The hotel looked
over the sea
Pass Compos
Perfect / Imperfect??
I watched TV
He washed his car
He washed his car
on Sundays
The hotel looked
over the sea

Pass Compos
Pass Compos
Perfect / Imperfect??
I watched TV
He washed his car
He washed his car
on Sundays
The hotel looked
over the sea

Pass Compos
Pass Compos
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Perfect / Imperfect??
I watched TV
He washed his car
He washed his car
on Sundays
The hotel looked
over the sea
Pass Compos
Pass Compos
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How to form the Imperfect:
The Imperfect works rather like the
Present Tense: it has a stem and adds
endings to fit.
The stem is found by removing ons
from the nous ending.
Endings are then added.
How to form the Imperfect:
Stem:
Nous regardons
regard-
Nous finissons
finiss-
Nous faisons
fais-

Endings:
Je faisAIS
Tu faisAIS
Il/Elle /On faisAIT
Nous faisIONS
Vous faisIEZ
Ils/Elles faisAIENT
An exception!
There is one verb that is irregular in the
Imperfect Tense. It uses the same
endings as all the others, but does not
form its stem in the same way.
Can you think which verb could not
form a regular Imperfect stem and
why?
The exception!
tre, of course!
Think about it:
how can you remove ons from:
nous sommes ???

So tre uses a special stem: t-
The 4 most common
Imperfects that you will use:
il y avait = there was, there were
il faisait = used with weather phrases:
il faisait chaud etc.
tait = was
taient = were
A final thought
The Imperfect is far less commonly
used than the Pass Compos.
However, it is an important tense to
understand and know when to use.