Stem of the nous form + ending
The imparfait (imperfect) is a past tense for descriptions and habits, roughly English was doing and used to do. You build it almost always the same way: a stem plus one fixed ending.
The endings -ais, -ait and -aient sound the same: [ɛ]. Only the spelling tells je parlais, il parlait and ils parlaient apart.
The six endings with three verb groups
The endings are the same for every verb, whether the infinitive ends in -er, -ir or -re. With finir, the -iss- of the nous form stays in the stem: nous finissons → finiss-.
parler, finir, vendre in the imparfait
| Person | parler (parl-) | finir (finiss-) | vendre (vend-) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | 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 de tout à la cuisine.
We used to talk about everything in the kitchen.
Tu finissais toujours tes devoirs.
You always used to finish your homework.
Ils vendaient des légumes au marché.
They used to sell vegetables at the market.
Irregular verbs follow the rule too
When the present tense is irregular, the irregularity is already in the nous form. Once you know nous, you know the stem. Only être has its own stem, ét-: j'étais.
From the nous form to the je form
| Infinitive | nous (present) | je (imparfait) |
|---|---|---|
| faire (to do) | nous faisons | je faisais |
| prendre (to take) | nous prenons | je prenais |
| boire (to drink) | nous buvons | je buvais |
| aller (to go) | nous allons | j'allais |
| avoir (to have) | nous avons | j'avais |
Enfant, je buvais du lait chaque matin.
As a child, I drank milk every morning.
Le dimanche, nous faisions une longue promenade.
On Sundays, we used to take a long walk.
Spelling of -ger and -cer verbs
Verbs in -ger and -cer keep their soft sound before the a of the ending: ge and ç. Before the i of nous and vous, you don't need the e or the ç.
| Infinitive | je | nous |
|---|---|---|
| manger (to eat) | je mangeais | nous mangions |
| commencer (to begin) | je commençais | nous commencions |
Nous mangions toujours à midi.
We always ate at noon.
Je commençais le travail à huit heures.
I started work at eight o'clock.
