This document provides instruction on using the imperfect tense in French. The imperfect tense is used to describe things that used to happen regularly or what something was like in the past. It provides examples of using the imperfect tense in English, such as "I used to play netball every Friday." The document then explains how to conjugate verbs into the imperfect tense form in French, including choosing the pronoun and adding the correct ending. It provides a quiz for the learner to practice conjugating verbs like "chanter" (to sing) and "jouer" (to play) into the imperfect tense.

1. The Imperfect
Tense
Objective:
To learn how to describe things which used
to happen regularly or to describe what
something was like.

2. “Miss, how do you say ‘used to’ in
French?”
The imperfect tense is used when you are
talking about what something was like or
something you used to do regularly.
Try not to confuse this with the perfect tense
which is a different past tense.

3. Examples in English
o I used to play netball every Friday.
o We used to watch TV every morning.
o She used to live in France.
o When I was in Paris, the weather was nice every
day.
o There were lots of people in the town centre.

4. How to do it:
1. Choose your verb
 avoir – to have
1. Use the ‘nous’ form of the present tense
 nous avons
3. Drop the ‘nous’ and the ‘-ons’
 nous avons
4. Choose your pronoun and add the correct
imperfect ending
(see next slide)

5. How to do it:
Pronoun Ending
Example using the verb
‘avoir’ – to have
Je ais J’avais
Tu ais Tu avais
Il/elle/on ait Il/elle/on avait
Nous ions Nous avions
Vous iez Vous aviez
Ils/elles aient Ils/elles avaient

6. Quiz
Try to translate these phrases using the rules I have taught you, then check
your answers. You are given the verb in brackets. The underlined words are
the ones you should change
1. I used to sing (chanter)
2. He used to play rugby (jouer)
3. I used to go shopping with my sister (faire du shopping)
4. They used to listen to music every morning (écouter de la
musique)
5. You (singular) used to go swimming with your mum (faire de
la natation)
6. The weather was nice every day (il - faire beau)

7. Answers
I used to sing. – Je chantais.
He used to play rugby. – Il jouait au rugby.
I used to go shopping with my sister.
-Je faisais du shopping avec ma soeur.
They used to listen to music every morning.
-Ils écoutaient de la musique tous les matins.
You (singular) used to go swimming with your mum.
-Tu faisais de la natation avec ta mère.
The weather was nice every day.
– Il faisait beau tous les jours.

8. Glossary
Verb
A doing word. E.G. run, jump, eat, make, think
Infinitive
The basic form of the verb when it has not been conjugated. This is the word you will
find in the dictionary when you look up a verb.
E.G. Jouer – to play, faire – to do, avoir – to have
Present Tense
We use this when we are talking about something which is happening now or which
happens generally. E.G. I am listening to the teacher.
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word which replaces a noun.
E.G. John goes to town  He goes to town (he is an example of a pronoun)