How do you form the imperfect tense in French?

  1. Take a regular verb, e.g. jouer-to play.

  2. Conjugate it in the 1st person plural, I.e. nous. E.g. jouer= jouons

  3. Take off the -ons, to leave the stem. E.g. jou

  4. Add on the imperfect endings to the stem. Je-ais, Tu-ais, Il/Elle-ait, Nous-ions, Vous-iez, Ils/Elles-aient. 

E.g. Je jouais, Tu jouais, Il/Elle jouait, Nous jouions, Vous jouiez, Ils/Elles jouaient 

Answered by William W. French tutor

1544 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do I construct a negative sentence in the present tense?


Qu'est ce que nous pouvons faire pour reduire la gaspillage?


Faut-il légaliser le cannabis? Quels sont les avantages et les inconvénients?


When should I choose to use the tenses of the "imparfait" or the "passé simple"?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences