l’imparfait the imperfect tense describes… what people used to be/ what people were… when i...

L’IMPARFAIT

The imperfect tense describes…

• what people used to be/ what people were…

When I was young…He was wearing a brown coat…She was happy…

The imperfect tense describes…

• what people used to do / what they were doing / what was going on…

Last night, I wasn’t at my house…He was dining with a friend…They used to play cards…

The imperfect tense describes…

• what happened often in the pastEvery day of my childhood, I ate oatmeal…

He often watched “Wonder Pets” at 8:30am …

We always vacationed in Cape Cod in August…

The imperfect tense describes…

• the time and weather of a past event

It was 3 p.m. It was snowing…

L’imparfait is often used along side… le passé composé

• Remember! The p.c. is used to describe a specific action completed at a specific time!

Think of it like a timeline

Monsieur Duck.

9:00am now

Yesterday, at 9:00 am, I tripped and

fell.

Pauline saw an accident. (1:02p)

She called the police. (1:04p)

An ambulance arrived (1:11p)

The Passé Composé Timeline

Hm… hard to find on a timeline eh?

9 am yesterday

9 pm yesterday

Yesterday I was happy. The sun was shining. I was wearing a blue dress.

Passé Composé Passé Composé (finished actions)KEY WORD ALERTS!

Expression Translation

une/deux …fois one/two …times

un jour one day

un week-end one weekend

un été one summer

plusieurs fois several times

soudainement suddenly

lundi, mardi… on Monday, on Tuesday…

tout d’un coup all of a sudden

ImparfaitImparfait (habitual/continuous actions; descriptions in past)

KEY WORD ALERTS!Expression Translationautrefois in the pastchaque année, jour, mois, etc each year, day, month, etcle lundi on Mondays, every Mondayle weekend on the weekends, every weekendd’habitude/habituellement usuallyen général/géneralement in general/generallyquelquefois sometimes, at timessouvent oftentoujours/tout le temps alwaystous les mois, semaines, ans, etc every month, week, year, etc

The following verbs are usually used in the imperfect tense:

être – to beavoir – to havepouvoir – to be able tovouloir – to wantdevoir – to have to/mustcroire – to believesavoir – to know (facts)connaître – to know (people)penser – to thinkaimer – to likeespérer – to hope

Passé Composé vs. Imparfait

When I was(1) little, I used to watch(2) Fraggle Rock every afternoon.

My brother, Tom, used to watch(3) Heman. Unfortunately, the shows

were on(4) at the same time.

One Tuesday afternoon, at 3:03, I arrived(5) home from school to

watch my favorite show and saw(6) Tom, who was already seated(7)

in front of the TV watching Heman!

I immediately began(8) to cry, and my mom ran(9) into the

living room. I was(10) so sad and Tom was smiling(11)

mischievously behind my mother’s back.

My mom said(12), “Tom can watch the first 15 minutes

of Heman and then mini Miss Murlin can watch the last 15

minutes of Fraggle Rock.”

I wiped(13) my tears and stuck(14) my tongue out at Tom. I

was(15) quite happy now.

“Down in Fraggle Rock. Doot-doot!”

HOW DO WE FORM THE IMPERFECT TENSE?!?!

#1- Take the “nous” form present tense…

• POLLUONS• RESPECTONS• TOMBONS

• JETONS• FAISONS• GLISSONS

#2 …SMACK OFF THAT

“ons” ENDING!!!•GLISS

•FAIS•RESPECT

•TOMB

ONSONSONSONS

#3- ADD the following endings!

(JE) - ais(TU) - ais

(IL/ELLE) - ait(NOUS) - ions (VOUS) - iez

(ILS/ELLES) – aient

Are we studying science in French

class?!

Put it all together and what do you have??

• Je gliss• Tu gliss

• Il/Elle gliss• Nous gliss• Vous gliss

• Ils/Elles gliss

aisaisaitionsiezaient

That’s swell Miss Murlin…but what does this tense

even mean?!Je glissais= I used to slip; was slippingTu glissais= You used to slip; were slippingIl/Elle glissait= He/She used to slip; were

slipping Nous glissions = We used to slip; were slippingVous glissiez = You used to slip; were slippingIls/Elles glissaient = They used to slip; were

slipping

ARE WE DONE YET??!!

…heck no!

IRREGULARS!• ÊTRE ét

YES! There is only ONE

IRREGULAR!!!

Let’s try some…

Je/se baigner =Nous/lire =

Vous/mettre =Elles/choisir =

Tu/être =

Je me baignaisNous lisionsVous mettiezElles choisissaientTu étais

What do they mean?

LA FIN!