The Imperfect Past Tense How to describe how things were in the past.

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1 The Imperfect Past Tense How to describe how things were in the past

2 What is the imperfect? The imperfect is the verb tense to describe events that were happening when something interrupted them You can talk about how things “used to” be You can describe the time You can talk about the weather You can set the background of a story You can describe something or someone

3 Song to remember imperfect (sing it to Jingle Bells) Imparfait, used to be Was/were verb –ing Habitual action in the past or interrupted by another thing Date and time Looks and clothes Weather and emotion Circumstances of the main event Description but never motion

4 Formation of the imperfect Know the present tense of the verb in the NOUS form, drop the –ons and add new endings Nous parlonsstem is parl Nous finissonsstem is finiss Nous vendonsstem is vend Nous prenonsstem is pren Nous faisonsstem is fais The ONE EXCEPTION is être which becomes ét-

5 Formation Continued All verbs will have the same endings. Je parlaisNous parlions Tu parlaisVous parliez Il/Elle/On parlaitIls/Elles parlaient

6 Clue words for imperfect Être, avoir, sembler, pouvoir Aimer, vouloir, craindre, désirer, souhaiter Penser, croire Toujours Tous les jours Chaque jour Le lundi D’habitude, habituellement En général, généralement Pendant que De temps en temps Autre fois Things you do with your heart and your head

7 The Imparfait Song Imparfait, used to be, was/were verb-ing Habitual action in the past or interrupted by another thing – OH Date and time, looks and clothes, weather and emotion Circumstances of the main event Description but never motion

8 Irregular Verbs to Review Allernous allonsall- Avoirnous avonsav- Boirenous buvonsbuv- Conduirenous conduisonsconduis- Connaitrenous connaissonsconnaiss- Courirnous couronscour- Croirenous croyonscroy- Devoirnous devonsdev- Direnous disonsdis- Dormirnous dormonsdorm- Écrirenous écrivonsécriv- Envoyernous envoyonsenvoy-

9 Irregular Verbs (continued) Faire nous faisonsfais- Lirenous lisonslis- Mettrenous mettonsmett- Ouvrirnous ouvronsouvr- Partirnous partonspart- Pouvoirnous pouvonspouv- Prendrenous prenonspren- Recevoirnous recevonsrecev- Rirenous rionsri- Savoirnous savonssav- Sortirnous sortonssort- Tenirnous tenonsten- Traduirenous traduisonstraduis-

10 Venirnous venonsven- Voirnous voyonsvoy- Vouloirnous voulonsvoul- Falloir------il fallait Pleuvoir------il pleuvait Être------ét-