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