When I was younger (AQA GCSE French): Revision Notes
When I was younger
When talking about your childhood and past experiences in French, you'll need to master the imperfect tense. This tense allows you to describe what you used to do, what things were like, and what was happening during your younger years. The imperfect tense is essential for painting a vivid picture of your past experiences and creating engaging narratives about your childhood.
The imperfect tense is one of the most commonly used past tenses in French conversation. Unlike other past tenses that focus on completed actions, the imperfect helps you describe the atmosphere and ongoing situations of your younger years.
Key vocabulary
Understanding these time expressions and key phrases will help you structure your descriptions of the past effectively:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| dans le passé | in the past |
| il y a cinq ans | five years ago |
| il y a dix ans | ten years ago |
| quand j'étais petit(e) | when I was little |
| quand j'étais plus jeune | when I was younger |
| quand j'avais dix ans | when I was 10 years old |
| à l'âge de | at the age of |
| c'était | it was |
| il y avait | there was/were |
| je faisais | I used to do |
| je jouais | I used to play |
| j'allais | I used to go |
| j'habitais | I used to live |
| je participais à | I used to participate in |
These expressions are key building blocks for constructing natural-sounding sentences about your past. Notice how many of them use the imperfect tense endings, which we'll explore in detail below.
The imperfect tense
The imperfect tense is your go-to choice when describing past habits, ongoing situations, or setting the scene in the past. Think of it as the French equivalent of "used to" or "was/were doing" in English. This tense is fundamental for expressing continuity and habitual actions in the past.
When to use the imperfect tense
Key Function: Describing Past Habits and States
You use the imperfect tense to express what used to happen regularly in the past, or to describe states and situations that continued over time. For example, you might describe where you lived, what you enjoyed doing, or what your routine was like when you were younger.
The imperfect tense is perfect for creating descriptive narratives and establishing the background context of your stories. Unlike past tenses that focus on specific completed events, the imperfect paints a broader picture of how things were.
Forming the imperfect tense
Essential Formation Rule
Creating the imperfect tense follows a straightforward pattern for most verbs:
- Take the "nous" form of the present tense
- Remove the "-ons" ending
- Add these special imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient
Here's how the pattern works with regular verbs:
| Person | Ending | Example with "habiter" |
|---|---|---|
| je | -ais | j'habitais |
| tu | -ais | tu habitais |
| il/elle/on | -ait | il/elle/on habitait |
| nous | -ions | nous habitions |
| vous | -iez | vous habitiez |
| ils/elles | -aient | ils/elles habitaient |
Special case: être (to be)
Critical Exception: être
The verb "être" is the only irregular verb in the imperfect tense. Instead of using the usual stem, you use "ét-" and add the same endings:
- je → j'étais
- tu → tu étais
- il/elle/on → il/elle/on était
- nous → nous étions
- vous → vous étiez
- ils/elles → ils/elles étaient
Remember: être is the exception that proves the rule!
Example sentences
Here are some practical examples of how to talk about your younger self. These demonstrate the imperfect tense in action:
Worked Example: Describing Your Past
Describing where you lived:
- J'habitais une grande maison au bord de la mer avec mes parents. (I used to live in a big house by the sea with my parents.)
Talking about activities:
- Je jouais toute la journée. (I used to play all day.)
- Je participais à beaucoup d'activités. (I used to participate in lots of activities.)
Describing situations:
- C'était génial! (It was great!)
- Il y avait beaucoup d'enfants dans mon quartier. (There were lots of children in my neighbourhood.)
Talking about personality:
- J'étais plus calme et travailleuse. (I was calmer and more hard-working.)
Notice how each of these sentences uses the imperfect tense to create a sense of ongoing past situations rather than single completed events.
Useful flexible phrases
Flexible Expressions for Natural Speech
These expressions will help you sound more natural when describing your past:
- C'était génial/nul/extraordinaire (It was great/rubbish/extraordinary)
- Ma vie était plus simple (My life was simpler)
These phrases can be easily adapted to fit different contexts and help you express your personal experiences more fluently.
Translation tips
Understanding how to move between English and French past tenses is crucial for accurate communication.
Key Translation Points
When translating "used to" from English to French, remember that there isn't a direct French equivalent for these two English words. You simply use the imperfect tense. For example, "He used to play" becomes "Il jouait."
Be careful with continuous actions in the past. "He was playing" and "he played" can both be translated as "il jouait," depending on the context.
Practice exercises
Test your understanding with these translation exercises:
Translate from French to English:
- Quand j'étais plus jeune, j'habitais une grande maison au bord de la mer.
- Ta vie était comment quand tu étais plus jeune?
Translate from English to French:
- When I was younger, I used to play football every day.
- She was quieter when she was little.
Answers:
- When I was younger, I used to live in a big house by the sea.
- What was your life like when you were younger?
- Quand j'étais plus jeune, je jouais au football tous les jours.
- Elle était plus calme quand elle était petite.
Key Points to Remember:
- The imperfect tense describes past habits and ongoing situations using endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient
- Most verbs follow the regular pattern, but être uses the special stem "ét-"
- "Used to" in English simply becomes the imperfect tense in French - no extra words needed
- Time expressions like "quand j'étais petit(e)" and "il y a dix ans" help set the scene for your past descriptions
- The imperfect is perfect for painting a picture of what your life was like when you were younger