Imperfect Conjugations

French imperfect conjugations
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

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

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

French lesson plans French imperfect lesson plan

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

French imperfect

Questions about French?

 Visit the Progress with Lawless French Q+A forum to get help from native French speakers and fellow learners.

More Lawless French

 Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter.

Support Lawless French

  This free website is created with love and a great deal of work.

If you love it, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation.

Your support is entirely optional but tremendously appreciated.

Leave a Reply