L’imparfait The imperfect tense

1. L’imparfaitThe imperfect tense Talking about events in the past - 2

2. Talking about events in the past • French is made easy by the fact that, whereas in English we have five ways of changing verbs to talk about the past, in French there are only two. • These two forms are called: • LE PASSE COMPOSE (PERFECT TENSE) • L’IMPARFAIT (IMPERFECT TENSE)

3. Talking about events in the past • The passé composé (Perfect Tense) communicates: • I played • I have played • I did play • The imparfait (Imperfect Tense) communicates: • I was playing • I used to play • I played (but I don’t anymore)

4. Ils L’imparfait - formation Je Nous • The imperfect is easy to form but requires a good knowledge of verbs and how to conjugate them. • To achieve real fluency and competence in French, you must learn all the parts of the verb: Tu Elle On Vous Il Elles

5. Formation of the imperfect tense • In order to form the imparfait, you need to follow three simple steps: 1. Look up the infinitive form of the verb. You will find this form in the… …DICTIONARY 2. Find the ‘nous’ form of the verb 3. Add an imperfect ending There is only one important exception!

6. to play to dance to finish to choose to sell to wait to have to do to be jouer danser finir choisir vendre attendre avoir faire être Step 1 – Infinitives Find the infinitive forms of the following verbs

7. We play We dance We finish We choose We sell We wait We have We do We are Nous jouons Nous dansons Nous finissons Nous choisissons Nous vendons Nous attendons Nous avons Nous faisons Nous sommes Step 2 – Find the ‘nous’ form of the verbs

8. Step 3 – adding the correct ending • Take the –ons off the nous ending • e.g. Nous jouons • Take the ‘nous’ away • e.g. Nous jou • You now have your imperfect ‘stem’ and are ready to add the correct endings

9. Je jou Tu jou Il/Elle/On jou Nous jou Vous jou Ils jou Elles jou -ons -ons -ons -ons -ons -ons -ons Step 3 – Adding the correct ending ais ais ait ions iez aient aient

10. Je (parler) Tu (aller) Il (partir) Elle (sortir) Nous (faire) Vous (prendre) (careful!) Ils (boire) (careful!) Elles (manger) (careful!) Je parlais Tu allais Il partait Elle sortait Nous faisions Vous preniez Ils buvaient Elles mangeaient PracticeFor the following verbs, can you follow the steps and write them in the correct imperfect form? Remember: These phrases mean was …ing and used to …

11. The big exception!! • You will notice that one ‘nous’ form does not end ‘-ons’ • Nous sommes • You need to use a different stem: J’étais Tu étais Il/Elle/On était Nous étions Vous étiez Ils/Elles étaient • You will notice the endings are the same as for other verbs

12. Practice • You are now ready to write some sentences in French • Check your answers by answering the following questions: • Have you got the correct ‘nous’ form? • Have you replaced the ‘nous’ with the correct subject? • Have you replaced ‘-ons’ with the correct ending?

13. I was playing You were speaking He used to win She used to drink We were having You were doing They(men) were swimming They(women) were going out When she was young she played tennis Je jouais Tu parlais Il gagnait Elle buvait Nous avions Vous faisiez Ils nageaient Elles sortaient Quand elle était jeune, elle jouait au tennis Translate the following sentences into French…

14. Maintenant à vous! • You should now be able to make up some sentences of your own • Write 5 sentences to say what you used to do when you were younger. • You can start your sentences… • Quand j’ étais jeune…