{"id":2226,"date":"2010-11-06T01:06:12","date_gmt":"2010-11-06T01:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=2226"},"modified":"2017-10-18T11:47:52","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T09:47:52","slug":"imparfait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/imparfait\/","title":{"rendered":"L’imparfait… rhymes with DMCV!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dieu merci, c\u2019est vendredi!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/em>\u201cThank God it\u2019s Friday\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with l\u2019imparfait<\/strong>,<\/em> and see what we can do about DMCV.<\/p>\n

II. L\u2019imparfait<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

L\u2019imparfait <\/em><\/strong><\/em>is used for an ongoing state of being (e.g., being young: \u201cWhen I was young\u2026\u201d) or a repeated or incomplete action. It\u2019s used for actions that did not end at a specific point, or conditions which lasted a long time.<\/p>\n

When to use<\/strong> l\u2019imparfait<\/em>:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Habitual actions or states of being:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Exemple<\/em><\/strong>: Quand j\u2019\u00e9tais c\u00e9libataire, je n\u2019avais jamais ces probl\u00e8mes! <\/em><\/em>(\u201cWhen I was single, I never had these problems!\u201d since being single is an ongoing state of being, or sometimes a habit).<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Physical and emotional descriptions (time, age, weather, emotions)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Exemple<\/em><\/strong>: Il faisait tr\u00e8s beau ce week-end <\/em><\/em>(\u201cIt [the weather] was beautiful this weekend\u201d) since weather doesn\u2019t have a finite end point and is an ongoing condition.<\/p>\n

      Exemple bis<\/em><\/strong>: J\u2019avais 15 ans quand j\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00e9tudier le fran\u00e7ais <\/em><\/em>(\u201cI was 15 when I started studying French\u201d)<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Actions or states of being of unspecified duration:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Exemple<\/em><\/strong>: Il regardait le tableau<\/em><\/em> (\u201cHe looked at the painting\u201d)<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Background information preceding le pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9<\/em>:<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Exemple<\/em><\/strong>: J\u2019avais 15 ans quand j\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00e9tudier le fran\u00e7ais <\/em><\/em>(\u201cI was 15 when I started studying French\u201d). The first verb \u201cj\u2019avais<\/em>\u201d<\/em> is imparfait<\/em>, <\/em>but the precise action (\u201cj\u2019ai commenc\u00e9\u2026\u201d,<\/em> <\/em>I started, which is an identifiable moment of action) is pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Expressions with \u201csi\u201d<\/em>:<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Exemple<\/em><\/strong>: Si j\u2019avais de l\u2019argent, je sortirais <\/em>(<\/em>\u201cIf I had money, I\u2019d go out\u201d)\u2014the \u201cif\u2026\u201d means imparfait<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

            Exemple bis<\/em><\/strong>: Et si on mangeait les champignons?<\/em><\/em> (\u201cWhat if we ate the mushrooms?\u201d)\u2014again, the \u201cif\u201d (\u201csi\u201d<\/em>) <\/em>indicates imparfait<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

            It might be hard to know when to use it, but l\u2019imparfait<\/em> i<\/em>s more straightforward to use than le pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9.<\/em><\/em> For one thing, you don\u2019t need to worry about gender agreement (unlike pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9). <\/em><\/em>The best way to learn the difference is just to use them a lot!<\/p>\n

            So phew, termin\u00e9e la grammaire<\/em>! Alors\u2026<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Dieu merci, c\u2019est vendredi!\u00a0\u201cThank God it\u2019s Friday\u201d Let\u2019s start with l\u2019imparfait, and see what we can do about DMCV. II. L\u2019imparfait L\u2019imparfait is used for an ongoing state of being (e.g., being young: \u201cWhen I was young\u2026\u201d) or a repeated or incomplete action. It\u2019s used for actions that did not end at a specific point…<\/p>\n

            Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6,108,13],"tags":[8959,479,12139,12138],"class_list":["post-2226","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","category-music","category-vocabulary","tag-dmcv","tag-imparfait","tag-passe","tag-passe-compose"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t