41. Imperfect Tense

This past tense corresponds to "was, were or used to."  This tense is used for repeated, continuous, or ongoing actions; as well as for verbs that describe background and circumstances, such as weather, time, and physical, mental, and emotional states. (Use the passé composé for actions that happened once and are done.)  Verbs that express mental and emotional states that are descriptive in nature are generally used in the imperfect more than the passé composé.  These verbs are: aimer, avoir, croire, détester, espérer, être, penser, and préférer.

To form the stem, use the nous form of the present tense and drop the -ons.  Then add these endings:

-ais	/ɛ/	-ions	/jɔ̃/
-ais	/ɛ/	-iez	/je/
-ait	/ɛ/	-aient	/ɛ/

The only exception is être for which you must use the stem ét-, but still the same endings.  Verb stems that end in -c must use a cedilla (ç) under the c to make it soft. Verb stems ending in -g keep the e before all forms except nous and vous.

être
étais	/etɛ/	étions	/etjɔ̃/
étais	/etɛ/	étiez	/etje/
était	/etɛ/	étaient	/etɛ/

commencer				manger
commençais	/kɔmɑ̃sɛ/	commencions	/kɔmɑ̃sjɔ̃/	mangeais	/mɑ̃ʒɛ/	mangions	/mɑ̃ʒjɔ̃/
commençais	/kɔmɑ̃sɛ/	commenciez	/kɔmɑ̃sje/	mangeais	/mɑ̃ʒɛ/	mangiez	/mɑ̃ʒje/
commençait	/kɔmɑ̃sɛ/	commençaient	/kɔmɑ̃sɛ/	mangeait	/mɑ̃ʒɛ/	mangeaient	/mɑ̃ʒɛ/

Avoir, Devoir, Pouvoir, Savoir, and Vouloir These verbs change meanings, according to whether they are used in the imperfect or the passé composé.

	Imperfect		Passé Composé
avoir	j'avais	I had	j'ai eu	I got, received
devoir	je devais	I was supposed to	j'ai dû	I must have, I had to (and did)
pouvoir	je pouvais	I was capable	j'ai pu je n'ai pas pu	I was able to (and did), succeeded I couldn't, failed
savoir	je savais	I knew	j'ai su	I found out, discovered
vouloir	je voulais	I wanted to	j'ai voulu je n'ai pas voulu	I tried, decided, insisted I refused