Imperfect: irregular verbs

Imparfait with être, avoir, faire: what it really means

Use the imparfait to give background in the past:

• states: personality, feelings, situation
• habitual actions: “used to”, “would” (repeated)
• ongoing actions: “was/were + -ing” (in progress)

Think: what was going on / what things were like, not “what happened once”.

How to form the imparfait (fast method)

1. Take the nous form in the present tense.
2. Remove -ons → you get the stem.
3. Add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

Apply the method to être, avoir, faire

These three are very frequent, so it helps to see the “stem” clearly.

Key exception: être does not use “som-” in the imparfait. It uses ét- → j’étais, tu étais, il était…

When to choose être, avoir, or faire in the past

• être + adjective / role / location (background):
  

  Quand j’étais étudiant, j’étais souvent fatigué.

• avoir + possession / age / conditions (background):
  

  À cette époque, j’avais peu de temps et j’avais 25 ans.

• faire + activities / routines / weather / “doing something” (background):
  

  Le week-end, nous faisions les courses. Il faisait froid.

Imparfait vs passé composé: the decision rule

Ask yourself: description or event?

Common traps (and how to self-correct)

• Trap 1: inventing forms

  je suisais → j’étais

  j’aiavais → j’avais

• Trap 2: mixing “nous” endings

  nous faisais → nous faisions

  nous avais → nous avions

• Trap 3: spelling without accents

  j'etais / j’etais → j’étais

  (Accents matter in writing, even if pronunciation is similar.)

Mini self-check before you speak

1. Meaning check: Am I describing a past situation/habit? → imparfait.
2. Form check: Do I see the stem? ét- / av- / fais-.
3. Ending check: Is it -ais/-ait (je/tu/il) or -ions/-iez (nous/vous)?

If you can answer these three quickly, you can use the forms confidently in conversation.