French Grammar Rules Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Imparfait

French Grammar Rules Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Imparfait Suzy S. The French language uses several different verb forms to talk about events that occurred in the past. French tutor Carol Beth L. shares her guide to one of those forms, the imparfait So, perhaps youve learned how to use the passé composé to talk about events in the past tense. The passé composé is a good way to discuss single events that happened once or at a specific point in time. Jai passé deux ans en France. I spent two years in France. Elle a fait ses devoirs hier. She did her homework yesterday. Tu as mangé une banane. You ate a banana. But what do you do about the following situations? Events or happenings that are happening when something else takes place. Ex: While she was doing her homework, her friend called on the telephone. Ex: While I was finishing my masters degree in France, Michael Jackson died. Ex: While you were eating a banana, you burst out laughing. Descriptions of events or situations that were repeated or that happened over a long period of time. Ex: When he was a middle-schooler, he swam every day. Ex: They visited Japan every year when he was young. Situations or states of being in the past. Ex: The door of the house was purple. Ex: Eloise was an intelligent girl. These situations contain verbs for which the passé composé  doesnt quite fit. Instead, French grammar uses a verb form called the imparfait. For regular verbs, there is a quite regular pattern to form the imparfait. Remove the -er, -ir, and -re endings, and add the endings in bold: aimer finir rendre j aimais   je finissais je rendais tu aimais   tu finissais   tu rendais il / elle / on aimait   il / elle / on finissait   il rendait nous aimions   nous finissions   nous rendions vous aimiez   vous finissiez   vous rendiez ils / elles aimaient   ils / elles finissaient   ils rendaient The endings used for the -er and -re forms are also pretty consistent across most irregular verbs, as long as you know the root that is used. For example, for être, the root for the imparfait is et-. So the imperfect for être would be: j étais tu étais il / elle / on était nous étions vous étiez ils / elles étaient. Here are a few more useful irregular roots: aller: all   to go faire: fais to do / to make avoir: av to have connaître: connaiss to be familiar with savoir: sav to know (fact or knowledge) Lets see how this would fit into the French equivalents of the sentences from the English examples I shared earlier: Pendant quelle faisait ses devoirs, son ami a appellé. Pendant que je finissais mon masters en France, Michael Jackson est mort. Pendant que tu mangeais une banane, tu a eu un éclat de rire. Pendant quil etait collegien, il nageait tous les jours. Ils visitaient le japon tous les années pendant quil était jeune. La porte de la maison était pourpre. Eloise était une fille intelligente. Can you tell how to conjugate the imperfect verbs in context below? Pendant que nous _______________ (préparer) à manger, notre père est entré. While we were preparing something to eat, our father came in.  Mon ancien voisin _______________ (quitter) son apartement tous les jours à huit heures pile. My former neighbor left his apartment every day at eight oclock sharp. J ______________ (être) une fille têtue. I was a stubborn girl. Au lycée, ils se ________________ (connaître) déjà. In high school they knew each other already. Au collège, vous ________________ (rendre) vos livres tous les mois. In college, you returned your books each month. How do you think you did? Check your answers below: préparions quittait étais connaissaient rendiez Keep practicing and checking yourself.  Learning French requires repetition, and the more you use your French grammar, the more solid it will become! For additional help studying French, sign up for lessons with a private tutor. Tutors are available to work with you in-person or online via Skype depending on your location. Find your French tutor today! Carol Beth L. teaches French lessons in San Francisco, CA. She has her Masters in French language education from the Sorbonne University in Paris and has been teaching since 2009. Learn more about Carol Beth here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by  jypsygen