CBSE.French : Imparfait

Imparfait is the imperfect past tense in French. It is used to describe states of being and habitual actions in the past.

STEM or ROOT

ENDING

The imparfait stem/root are formed in the following manner:

The imparfait endings are same for all verbs

	Take the 1st person plural form i.e. the NOUS form of the verb in the present tense, e.g. parlons, finissons, partons, voyons.
	Take off the − ons ending to form the stem of the imparfait, e.g. parl−, finiss−, part−, voy−.

EXAMPLES | EXCEPTIONS

1.	Verb ÊTRE	:	The root/stem of this verb is ét−.

2.	Verbs ending in −GER	:	Verbs like manger, ranger, etc. have double stems. The nous & vous forms follow the general rule of stem-formation. The je, tu, il / ils, elle / elles forms take up an extra e after the g, e.g. mange−, range−.

3.	Verbs ending in −CER	:	Verbs like commencer, placer, etc. also have double stems. The nous & vous forms follow the general rule of stem-formation. In je, tu, il / ils, elle / elles forms, c is replaced by ç, e.g. commenç−, plaç−.

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