How do you form the imperfect in French?

Take the nous form of the present, drop the -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Nous finissons gives je finissais; nous buvons gives je buvais. Être is the only verb with a different stem: ét-, giving j'étais.

When do you use the imparfait instead of the passé composé?

For habits, descriptions, states, and actions in progress. Je lisais quand il est entré: the reading was in progress, the entering was an event. If the sentence has a beginning and an end, the passé composé is usually right.

Does the imparfait always mean used to?

No. Used to fits habits (j'allais à l'école à pied), but the same tense also translates as was doing (je dormais) or as a plain past (il faisait froid). What's constant is the absence of a boundary, not the English translation.

Which French verbs are irregular in the imperfect?

Only être. Every other verb, however irregular elsewhere, takes its imperfect stem from the nous form of the present: nous faisons gives je faisais, nous voyons gives je voyais. That makes the imparfait the most regular tense in French.

Why does French use the imparfait after si?

Because the tense marks something as unbounded, which also makes it good at marking something as unreal. Si j'avais le temps isn't about the past at all; it sets up a hypothesis, and the conditional in the other clause completes it.

French grammar · Intermediate

The French Imperfect (Imparfait): Forms, Uses, and When to Choose It

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

The imparfait is the French past tense for situations rather than events: what used to happen, what was going on, what things were like. You build it from the nous form of the present plus the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, and être is the only verb that breaks the pattern.

Quand j'étais petit, nous habitions au bord de la mer.

When I was little, we lived by the sea.

What it is

The imparfait describes the past from the inside. It doesn't tell you that something happened and finished; it tells you what was in progress, what was habitual, or what the background looked like. That's why it translates as used to, was doing, or a plain past depending on the sentence.

Il pleuvait, les rues étaient vides, et j'attendais depuis une heure. — It was raining, the streets were empty, and I'd been waiting for an hour.

How to spot it

Ask whether the sentence is drawing a scene or reporting an event. Scenes, habits, states, descriptions, and ongoing actions take the imparfait; single completed events take the passé composé.

Je prenais le bus tous les jours. — I used to take the bus every day. (habit)
Elle portait un manteau rouge. — She was wearing a red coat. (description)
Nous dormions quand le téléphone a sonné. — We were asleep when the phone rang. (background)
J'avais quinze ans à l'époque. — I was fifteen at the time. (state)

Words like toujours, souvent, chaque jour, le samedi, and à l'époque almost always pull a verb into the imparfait.

Imperfect Quick Reference

The imperfect endings, identical for every verb in French

Subject	Ending	parler (parl-)	finir (finiss-)	être (ét-)
je / j'	-ais	parlais	finissais	étais
tu	-ais	parlais	finissais	étais
il / elle / on	-ait	parlait	finissait	était
nous	-ions	parlions	finissions	étions
vous	-iez	parliez	finissiez	étiez
ils / elles	-aient	parlaient	finissaient	étaient

Common Imperfect Examples in French

The imparfait in the four jobs it does most:

Habits and Repetition

On allait à la piscine le mercredi.: We used to go to the pool on Wednesdays.
Elle lisait avant de dormir.: She used to read before going to sleep.
Mes grands-parents cultivaient un potager.: My grandparents used to grow vegetables.
Je ne buvais jamais de café.: I never used to drink coffee.

This is the sense English marks with used to or would: we would go to the pool on Wednesdays.

Description and Atmosphere

La maison était grande et sombre.: The house was large and dark.
Il faisait froid et le vent soufflait.: It was cold and the wind was blowing.
Tout le monde semblait fatigué.: Everyone seemed tired.
Les rues sentaient le pain chaud.: The streets smelled of warm bread.

Weather, time, age, and appearance in the past are almost always imparfait, because they describe rather than report.

Something Interrupted

Je sortais quand tu as appelé.: I was going out when you called.
Elle traversait la rue quand la voiture a freiné.: She was crossing the road when the car braked.
Nous mangions tranquillement.: We were eating peacefully.
Il travaillait encore à minuit.: He was still working at midnight.

The ongoing action takes the imparfait and the interruption takes the passé composé. Both halves are needed for the effect.

Feelings and Mental States

Je pensais que tu venais.: I thought you were coming.
Elle voulait devenir médecin.: She wanted to become a doctor.
Nous ne savions pas quoi dire.: We didn't know what to say.
Ils croyaient bien faire.: They thought they were doing the right thing.

Verbs of thinking, wanting, knowing, and believing default to the imparfait in the past, because they describe a state.

How the Imparfait Is Built and Used

Formation is the easiest in French. The interesting part is the choice between this tense and the passé composé.

Take the Stem From the Nous Form

Conjugate the present for nous, remove -ons, and add the imperfect endings. Nous parlons gives parl-, nous finissons gives finiss-, nous buvons gives buv-. This works for every irregular verb in the language.

Nous prenions le train chaque été.

We used to take the train every summer.

nous form minus -ons.

One Set of Endings, No Exceptions

-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient applies to every French verb without exception, including être. Four of the six are pronounced the same way, so the tense is much easier to say than to spell.

Je chantais, tu chantais, il chantait, ils chantaient.

I used to sing, you used to sing, he used to sing, they used to sing.

The same six endings, always.

Être Is the Only Irregular Stem

Nous sommes would give somm-, but the imperfect of être is built on ét-: j'étais, tu étais, il était. It's the single exception in the whole tense, which makes it worth learning first.

C'était une belle journée.

It was a beautiful day.

être → ét- → j'étais.

The Imparfait Has No Endpoint

This is the key to using it. Je lisais says nothing about whether the reading finished; j'ai lu says it did. Choosing the imparfait is choosing not to close the action off.

Je lisais ce livre l'été dernier.

I was reading that book last summer.

Open action, no boundary.

It Sets the Scene for Other Past Tenses

In storytelling the imparfait provides the setting and the passé composé provides the plot. A narrative that used only one of the two would either have no events or no atmosphere.

Il faisait nuit quand nous sommes arrivés.

It was dark when we arrived.

Background imparfait, event passé composé.

Common Mistakes with Imperfect

Incorrect: Hier, je mangeais au restaurant avec Paul. — Yesterday I ate at a restaurant with Paul.

Correct: Hier, j'ai mangé au restaurant avec Paul. — Yesterday I ate at a restaurant with Paul.

Hier points to a single bounded occasion, which calls for the passé composé. The imparfait would suggest that eating out yesterday was an ongoing background situation.

Incorrect: Nous étions allés à la plage chaque été. — We used to go to the beach every summer.

Correct: Nous allions à la plage chaque été. — We used to go to the beach every summer.

Chaque été marks a habit, so the plain imparfait is what's wanted. The pluperfect étions allés would place the action before some other past moment.

Incorrect: Je faisions mes devoirs. — I was doing my homework.

Correct: Je faisais mes devoirs. — I was doing my homework.

The -ions ending belongs to nous. Because the imperfect stem is taken from the nous form of the present, it's easy to carry the nous ending along with it.

Incorrect: Si j'aurais su, je serais venu. — If I'd known, I'd have come.

Correct: Si j'avais su, je serais venu. — If I'd known, I'd have come.

Si never takes a conditional. The pattern is si plus a past tense in one clause and the conditional in the other, so si j'avais su pairs with je serais venu.

The Imparfait in Full

Three tables: the regular groups, the irregular verbs whose stem you have to take from nous, and être with the spelling-change verbs.

The three regular groups

Parler, finir, and vendre. Note that the -ir group keeps its -iss-, because the stem comes from nous finissons.

Pronoun	parler	finir	vendre
je / j'	parlais	finissais	vendais
tu	parlais	finissais	vendais
il / elle / on	parlait	finissait	vendait
nous	parlions	finissions	vendions
vous	parliez	finissiez	vendiez
ils / elles	parlaient	finissaient	vendaient

Nous parlions and vous parliez are also the present subjunctive forms. The overlap is complete for regular verbs.

Irregular verbs, whose stem comes from nous

None of these is irregular in the imperfect. Faire, boire, prendre, and voir all behave perfectly once you take their stem from the nous form of the present.

Pronoun	faire (fais-)	boire (buv-)	prendre (pren-)	voir (voy-)
je / j'	faisais	buvais	prenais	voyais
tu	faisais	buvais	prenais	voyais
il / elle / on	faisait	buvait	prenait	voyait
nous	faisions	buvions	prenions	voyions
vous	faisiez	buviez	preniez	voyiez
ils / elles	faisaient	buvaient	prenaient	voyaient

Nous voyions has two i's: one from the stem voy-, one from the ending -ions.

Être, and the verbs that adjust their spelling

Être uses ét-. Commencer needs a cedilla and manger an extra e wherever the ending starts with a, which here means four forms out of six.

Pronoun	être	avoir	commencer	manger
je / j'	étais	avais	commençais	mangeais
tu	étais	avais	commençais	mangeais
il / elle / on	était	avait	commençait	mangeait
nous	étions	avions	commencions	mangions
vous	étiez	aviez	commenciez	mangiez
ils / elles	étaient	avaient	commençaient	mangeaient

Nous commencions and nous mangions lose the cedilla and the e, because the ending starts with i.

The Imparfait Outside the Past

Three uses have nothing to do with time. In each of them the tense's lack of boundaries is being used to soften or to suppose.

Suggestions with si

Si plus the imparfait, with no second clause, makes a suggestion. It's the everyday way of proposing something in French, and it corresponds to English how about or what if.

Si on allait au cinéma ?: How about going to the cinema?
Si tu prenais un jour de congé ?: What if you took a day off?
Et si nous commandions une pizza ?: How about we order a pizza?

The question mark is essential: without it, si plus imparfait becomes the first half of a conditional sentence.

Polite requests

Je voulais and je venais soften a request by putting it slightly in the past, exactly as English uses I was wondering or I just wanted to ask. Nothing about the request is actually in the past.

Je voulais vous demander quelque chose.: I wanted to ask you something.
Je venais voir si tout allait bien.: I came to see if everything was all right.
Je cherchais un cadeau pour ma mère.: I'm looking for a present for my mother.

This is very common in shops and offices. Je cherchais is softer than je cherche.

Hypotheses after si

In a full conditional sentence, si takes the imparfait and the other clause takes the conditional. The imparfait here marks unreality rather than past time.

Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais.: If I had time, I'd come.
Si nous étions plus jeunes, nous partirions.: If we were younger, we'd leave.
Si tu voulais, on pourrait essayer.: If you wanted, we could try.

The conditional never follows si directly. Si j'aurais is one of the most recognisable errors in French.

Imperfect FAQs

How do you form the imperfect in French?: Take the nous form of the present, drop the -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Nous finissons gives je finissais; nous buvons gives je buvais. Être is the only verb with a different stem: ét-, giving j'étais.
When do you use the imparfait instead of the passé composé?: For habits, descriptions, states, and actions in progress. Je lisais quand il est entré: the reading was in progress, the entering was an event. If the sentence has a beginning and an end, the passé composé is usually right.
Does the imparfait always mean used to?: No. Used to fits habits (j'allais à l'école à pied), but the same tense also translates as was doing (je dormais) or as a plain past (il faisait froid). What's constant is the absence of a boundary, not the English translation.
Which French verbs are irregular in the imperfect?: Only être. Every other verb, however irregular elsewhere, takes its imperfect stem from the nous form of the present: nous faisons gives je faisais, nous voyons gives je voyais. That makes the imparfait the most regular tense in French.
Why does French use the imparfait after si?: Because the tense marks something as unbounded, which also makes it good at marking something as unreal. Si j'avais le temps isn't about the past at all; it sets up a hypothesis, and the conditional in the other clause completes it.