{"id":125,"date":"2009-09-06T09:24:52","date_gmt":"2009-09-06T13:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=124"},"modified":"2009-09-06T09:24:52","modified_gmt":"2009-09-06T13:24:52","slug":"lets-talk-about-french-verbs-once-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/lets-talk-about-french-verbs-once-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Talk About French Verbs Once Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we’ll begin talking about the past…the French past tense that is.\u00a0 What does imparfait<\/em> mean?\u00a0 Well, let’s find out!<\/p>\n

First of all, Le Robert Micro<\/em> (my favorite French-French dictionary) defines the adjective imparfait<\/em> as qui n’est pas achev\u00e9, pas complet<\/em>; or in other words, something that is incomplete<\/span>.\u00a0 The definition it gives for the noun imparfait<\/em> is “temps du verbe ayant essentiellement pour fonction d’\u00e9noncer une action en voie d’accomplissement dans le pass\u00e9 et con\u00e7ue comme non achev\u00e9e<\/em>“<\/em>.\u00a0 To sum this up, it is the verb tense that describes an action in the past that is not considered to have been completed.\u00a0 It is often referred to as a descriptive tense.<\/p>\n

So, how is it formed?<\/p>\n

It is regular for all verbs.\u00a0 You take the stem from the 1st person plural<\/span> (nous<\/em>) of the present<\/span> indicative and add<\/span> -ais, -ais, ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So, for the verb chanter<\/em>, for example, the conjugation would be like this:
\nNous chant-ons <\/em>\u2192<\/em> je chantais, tu chantais, il\/elle\/on chantait, nous chantions, vous chantiez, ils\/elles chantaient.<\/em><\/p>\n

And for the verb finir<\/em>, for example, the conjugation would be like this:
\nNous finiss-ons <\/em>\u2192<\/em> je finissais, tu finissais, il\/elle\/on finissait, nous finissions, vous finissiez, ils\/elles finissaient.<\/em><\/p>\n

And for the verb vouloir<\/em>, for example, the conjugation would be like this:
\nNous voul-ons \u2192<\/em>je voulais, tu voulais, il\/elle\/on voulait, nous voulions, vous vouliez, ils\/elles voulaient.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Mais, attention\u00a0!<\/em> There is an exception to this rule as the verb <\/em>\u00eatre<\/em> is conjugated like this: J’\u00e9tais, tu \u00e9tais, il\/elle\/on \u00e9tait, nous \u00e9tions, vous \u00e9tiez, ils\/elles \u00e9taient.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, how do we use the imperfect?<\/p>\n

Just like the present in French, the imperfect indicates an action that is in the course of being accomplished.\u00a0 However, there are no specific limits.\u00a0 We do not know when the action began or when it will end, it’s just a circumstance of another event.\u00a0 It is used in descriptions like comments, explanations, etc.<\/p>\n

Ex\u00a0: Il pleuvait <\/span>quand je suis sorti.<\/em> (It was raining when I went out.)<\/p>\n

Alice portait <\/span>une robe rouge.<\/em> (Alice wore a red dress.)<\/p>\n

Monsieur Delcourt n’a pas pu participer \u00e0 cette r\u00e9union parce qu’il \u00e9tait <\/span>en voyage.<\/em> (Mr. Delcourt was not able to participate in this meeting because he was on a trip.)<\/p>\n

You can use the imperfect for things like talking about the time in the past (Il \u00e9tait<\/span> 6 heures de l’apr\u00e8s-midi, le vendredi quand on a frapp\u00e9 \u00e0 ma porte<\/em>).<\/p>\n

You can also describe places or settings.\u00a0 (J’\u00e9tais<\/span> dans la rue.\u00a0 La police nous bloquait.<\/span><\/em>)<\/p>\n

You can also describe what the people were like in a story or explanation using the imperfect tense.\u00a0 (Nous nous sentions<\/span> tr\u00e8s forts<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

So, in other words, you use the imperfect tense to describe physical and emotional descriptions like time, weather, age and feelings and also for actions or states with no specific duration.\u00a0 Often these background descriptions and actions are used in conjunction with the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9<\/em>.\u00a0 And, be careful as the actual series of events (one after another) will be written in the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can also use the imperfect to express habitual actions or events in the past (usually you will see some kind of time indication in this case).\u00a0 For example:
\nPendant les vacances mon p\u00e8re nous faisait <\/span>tous les jours des cr\u00eapes.<\/em> (While on vacation, my father made us crepes every day.)<\/p>\n

When you see the imperfect used with the conjunction si<\/em><\/strong>, this is not used to express the past.\u00a0 It expresses a hypothesis or unreal situation; in other words, conditions, wishes or suggestions.\u00a0 For example:
\nSi nous avions<\/span> une voiture, nous pourrions aller visiter les monuments en province.<\/em> (If we had a car, we could go visit the monuments outside Paris.)<\/p>\n

Ah, si j’avais<\/span> encore dix-huit ans!<\/em> (Oh, if I were eighteen again!)<\/p>\n

Finally, the imperfect is used as a way to express politeness with the verb vouloir<\/em>.\u00a0 Example:
\nExcusez-moi de vous d\u00e9ranger; je voulais<\/span> vous demander un renseignement. <\/em> (Excuse me for bothering you; I wanted to ask you for some information.)<\/p>\n

You can see that it is a bit difficult to give one translation for imperfect structures in English.\u00a0 Sometimes, we use the past continuous and sometimes the simple past to translate the meaning it conveys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we’ll begin talking about the past…the French past tense that is.\u00a0 What does imparfait mean?\u00a0 Well, let’s find out! First of all, Le Robert Micro (my favorite French-French dictionary) defines the adjective imparfait as qui n’est pas achev\u00e9, pas complet; or in other words, something that is incomplete.\u00a0 The definition it gives for the…<\/p>\n

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