French grammar - The past continuous - L'imparfait |
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L'imparfait (the imperfect or past continuous) is a past tense that describes states and actions that were ongoing or repeated in the past. It is also used to talk about habits. -- This contrasts with the passé composé which describes completed one-off or discrete events in the past. We conjugate the l'imparfait by adding the endings -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez and -aient to the root of the present tense nous form of the verb. For example the verb habiter ('to live') - the nous form is habitons and the root is habit-. We then conjugate starting from that root: • je + habit- + ais ⇒ j'habitais • tu + habit- + ais ⇒ tu habitais • il & on + habit- + ait ⇒ il & on habitait • nous + habit- + ions ⇒ nous habitions • vous + habit- + iez ⇒ vous habitiez • ils + habit- + aient ⇒ ils habitaient This tense is often used to step up for an interrupted action - an ongoing action in the past (expressed in l'imparfait) is interrupted by second one-off action (expressed in le passé composé). -- For example 'While I was eating, he called' - where the 'eating' would be in l'imparfait and the 'called' would be in le passé composé. |
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L'année dernière, j'habitais à Paris.
Last year, I was living in Paris. *OR* Last year, I lived in Paris.
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Et toi, où habitais-tu l'année dernière ?
And you (familiar), where did you live last year?
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Moi, j'habitais à Aix_en_Provence.
Me, I lived in Aix en Provence.
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Ta petite amie, est-ce qu'elle habitait avec toi ?
Your girlfriend, did she live with you (familiar)?
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Oui, nous habitions ensemble dans un petit appartement au centre-ville.
Yes, we lived together in a small apartment downtown.
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Pourquoi habitiez-vous à Aix_en_Provence ?
Why did you (plural) live in Aix en Provence?
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Nous y habitions pour l'université.
We lived there for university.
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Et tes amis, ils y habitaient aussi ?
And your (familiar) friends, did they live there too?
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À qui parliez-vous quand je vous ai appelé ?
Who were you (formal) talking to when I called you?
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Je parlais à Jacques quand tu as appelé.
I was talking to Jacques when you (familiar) called.
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Nous parlions d'aller aux Pays_Bas.
We were talking about going to the Netherlands.
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Nous regardions la télé quand quelqu'un a frappé à la porte.
We were watching TV when someone knocked on the door.
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Que regardiez-vous ?
What were you (formal) looking at?
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Que faisais-tu hier matin ?
What were you (familiar) doing yesterday morning?
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Ils faisaient le ménage toute la journée d'hier.
They were cleaning all day yesterday.
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Qui chantait sous la douche hier soir ?
Who was singing in the shower last night?
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Elle ne lisait pas quand je suis arrivée.
She was not reading when I arrived.
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Pendant qu'elle cuisinait, j'ai reçu un coup de téléphone.
While she was cooking, I received a phone call.
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Tu avais raison et j'avais tort concernant la météo.
You (familiar) were right about the time.
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En Espagne, j'avais besoin d'aide avec la langue.
In Spain, I needed help with the language.
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Il y avait un problème avec la voiture.
There was a problem with the car.
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Vous n'aviez pas le droit de faire ça.
You (formal) had no right to do that.
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