7.1.4 Formation of the imparfait

The formation of the imparfait is very regular. The stem for this tense is the one of the first person plural without the ending -ons. To this stem the endings of the imparfait are added.

Example: recevoir = to receive (présent)
personal pronoun stem ending English
  je reç ois I receive
  tu reç ois you receive
  il / elle reç oit he / she receives
  nous recev ons we receive
  vous recev ez you receive
  ils / elles reçoiv ent they receive

Formation of the imparfait
  personal pronoun stem 1st plural ending English
je recev ais ich bekam
  tu recev ais du bekamst
  il / elle recev ait er / sie bekam
  nous recev ions wir bekamen
  vous recev iez ihr bekamt
  ils / elles recev aient sie bekamen
Example: dire = to say (présent)
personal pronoun stem ending English
  je di s I say
  tu di s you say
  il / elle di t he / she says
  nous dis ons we say
  vous dit es you say
  ils / elles dis ent they say

Formation of the imparfait
  personal pronoun stem 1st plural ending English
je dis ais I said
  tu dis ais you said
  il / elle dis ait he / she said
  nous dis ions we said
  vous dis iez you said
  il / elles dis aient they said

 

Example: boire = to drink (Présent)
personal pronoun stem ending English
je boi s I drink
tu boi s you drink
il / elle boi t he / she drinks
nous buv ons we drink
vous buv ez you drink
ils /elles boiv ent they drink

Formation of the imparfait
  personal pronoun stem 1st plural ending English
je buv ais I drank
  tu buv ais you drank
  il / elle buv ait he / she drank
  nous buv ions we drank
  vous buv iez you drank
  il / elles buv aient they drank
Example: savoir = to know (Présent)
personal pronoun stem ending English
je sai s I know
tu sai s you know
il / elle sai t he / she knows
nous sav ons we know
vous sav ez you know
ils / elles sav ent they know

Formation of the imparfait
  personal pronoun stem 1st plural ending English
je sav ais I knew
  tu sav ais you knew
  il / elle sav ait he / she knew
  nous sav ions we knew
  vous sav iez you knew
  ils / elles sav aient they knew

Example: devoir = must (présent)
personal pronoun stem ending English
je doi s I must
tu doi s you must
il / elle doi t he / she must
nous dev ons we must
vous dev ez you must
ils / elles doiv ent they must

Formation of the imparfait
  personal pronoun stem 1st plural ending English
je dev ais I must
  tu dev ais you must
  il / elle dev ait he / she must
  nous dev ions we must
  vous dev iez you must
  ils / elles dev aient they must

Example: avoir = to have (présent)
personal pronoun stem ending English
j' a is I have
tu a is you have
il / elle a it he / she has
nous av ons we have
vous av ez you have
ils / elles   ont

they have

Example: avoir = haben
personal pronoun stem   English
j' av ais I had
  tu av ais you had
  il / elle av ait he / she had
  nous av ions we had
  vous av iez you had
  ils /elles av aient they had

The verb être is the only exception:

Example: être = to be (présent, irregular)
personal pronoun stem   English
je suis   I am
tu es   you are
il / elle est   he / she is
nous sommes   we are
vous êtes   you are
ils /elles sont   they are

Formation of the imparfait (irregular)
  personal pronoun stem 1st plural ending English
j' ét ais I was
  tu ét ais you were
  il / elle ét ait he / she was
  nous ét ions we were
  vous ét iez you were
  ils / elles ét aient they were






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