Imperfect Conjugations

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Conjugaisons de l’imparfait

The French imperfect is very easy to conjugate. With a single exception, every single French verb is conjugated as follows:

1. Start with the verb’s nous form of the present tense
2. Drop –ons
3. Add the imperfect ending.

 The only verb that doesn’t—can’t—follow this pattern is être, because its nous form is sommes, so there’s no –ons to drop. Instead, it uses ét– as its imperfect stem.

Par exemple…

Here are the imperfect conjugations for the regular -er verb donner (to give), the regular -ir verb choisir (to choose), the stem-changing verb lever (to lift), and the irregular verbs aller (to go) and être (to be).

Pronoun	Ending	donner > donn-	choisir > choisiss-	lever > lev-	aller > all-	être > ét-
je / j’	-ais	donnais	choisissais	levais	allais	étais
tu	-ais	donnais	choisissais	levais	allais	étais
il	-ait	donnait	choisissait	levait	allait	était
nous	-ions	donnions	choisissions	levions	allions	étions
vous	-iez	donniez	choisissiez	leviez	alliez	étiez
ils	-aient	donnaient	choisissaient	levaient	allaient	étaient

 French imperfect endings are identical to conditional endings.

 French Imperfect Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on the French imperfect with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises

• Les dimanches avec Papi
• Mes souvenirs d’Halloween
• Mes vacances à la ferme
• Mon prof préféré
• Nos vacances au ski
• La télé de mon enfance

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

 Related lessons

• Imperfect conjugations – PwLF super list
• Using the imperfect
• Passé composé vs imparfait
• Present tense
• Imperfect subjunctive
• Introduction to verbs

 French imperfect lesson plan

• French present and imperfect (Worksheet, 4th-12th grade)
   

 En español

• Imperfecto
   

 In italiano

• Imperfetto
   

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