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The Imperfect Past Tense

The Imperfect Past Tense. How to describe how things were in the past. What is the imperfect?. The imperfect is the verb tense to describe events that were happening when something interrupted them You can talk about how things “used to” be You can describe the time

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The Imperfect Past Tense

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  1. The Imperfect Past Tense How to describe how things were in the past

  2. What is the imperfect? • The imperfect is the verb tense to describe events that were happening when something interrupted them • You can talk about how things “used to” be • You can describe the time • You can talk about the weather • You can set the background of a story • You can describe something or someone

  3. Song to remember imperfect(sing it to Jingle Bells) • Imparfait, used to be • Was/were verb –ing • Habitual action in the past or interrupted by another thing • Date and time • Looks and clothes • Weather and emotion • Circumstances of the main event • Description but never motion

  4. Formation of the imperfect • Know the present tense of the verb in the NOUS form, drop the –ons and add new endings • Nous parlons stem is parl • Nous finissons stem is finiss • Nous vendons stem is vend • Nous prenons stem is pren • Nous faisons stem is fais • The ONE EXCEPTION is être which becomes ét-

  5. Formation Continued • All verbs will have the same endings. • Je parlais Nous parlions • TuparlaisVousparliez • Il/Elle/On parlaitIls/Ellesparlaient

  6. Clue words for imperfect • Être, avoir, sembler, pouvoir • Aimer, vouloir, craindre, désirer, souhaiter • Penser, croire • Toujours • Tous les jours • Chaque jour • Le lundi • D’habitude, habituellement • En général, généralement • Pendant que • De temps en temps • Autrefois • Things you do with your heart and your head

  7. The Imparfait Song • Imparfait, used to be, was/were verb-ing • Habitual action in the past or interrupted by another thing – OH • Date and time, looks and clothes, weather and emotion • Circumstances of the main event • Description but never motion

  8. Irregular Verbs to Review • Aller nous allons all- • Avoir nous avons av- • Boire nous buvons buv- • Conduire nous conduisons conduis- • Connaitre nous connaissons connaiss- • Courir nous courons cour- • Croire nous croyons croy- • Devoir nous devons dev- • Dire nous disons dis- • Dormir nous dormons dorm- • Écrire nous écrivons écriv- • Envoyer nous envoyons envoy-

  9. Irregular Verbs (continued) • Faire nous faisons fais- • Lire nous lisons lis- • Mettre nous mettons mett- • Ouvrir nous ouvrons ouvr- • Partir nous partons part- • Pouvoir nous pouvons pouv- • Prendre nous prenons pren- • Recevoir nous recevons recev- • Rire nous rions ri- • Savoir nous savons sav- • Sortir nous sortons sort- • Tenir nous tenons ten- • Traduire nous traduisons traduis-

  10. Venir nous venons ven- • Voir nous voyons voy- • Vouloir nous voulons voul- • Falloir ------ il fallait • Pleuvoir ------ ilpleuvait • Être ------ ét-

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