Le Passé (Junior Cert French): Revision Notes
📚 Revision Notes
L'Imparfait
When to Use the Imperfect Tense
- To talk about activities you used to do but no longer do now. L'année dernière, je lisais des livres tous les soirs. (Last year, I used to read books every evening.)
- To describe an action that was ongoing before something suddenly interrupted it (often shown in the passé composé). Je faisais mes devoirs quand la sonnette a sonné. (I was doing my homework when the doorbell rang.)
- To depict scenes or situations from the past (descriptions). Le soleil se couchait et les oiseaux volaient dans le ciel. (The sun was setting, and birds were flying across the sky.)
- To express an emotion or feeling. Mon week-end à la plage était fantastique ! (My weekend at the beach was fantastic!)
Formation of the Imperfect Tense
- Take the nous form of the present tense.
- Remove the -ons endings.
- Add the imperfect endings. The imperfect endings:
| Je | -ais |
|---|---|
| Tu | -ais |
| Il/Elle/On | -ait |
| Nous | -ions |
| Vous | -iez |
| Ils/Elles | -aient |
infoNote
Memory Hacks The 'imperfect tense' and the 'conditional tense' share endings!
"Danser" (to dance)
| French | English Translation |
|---|---|
| Je dansais | I was dancing |
| Tu dansais | You were dancing |
| Il/Elle/On dansait | He/She/One was dancing |
| Nous dansions | We were dancing |
| Vous dansiez | You were dancing |
| Ils/Elles dansaient | They were dancing |
"Frémir" (to tremble)
| French | English Translation |
|---|---|
| Je frémissais | I was trembling |
| Tu frémissais | You were trembling |
| Il/Elle/On frémissait | He/She/One was trembling |
| Nous frémissions | We were trembling |
| Vous frémissiez | You were trembling |
| Ils/Elles frémissaient | They were trembling |
"Rendre" (to return)
| French | English Translation |
|---|---|
| Je rendais | I was returning |
| Tu rendais | You were returning |
| Il/Elle/On rendait | He/She/One was returning |
| Nous rendions | We were returning |
| Vous rendiez | You were returning |
| Ils/Elles rendaient | They were returning |
There is ONE exception: Être
- The stem for "être" in the imparfait is "ét-".
- The endings for the imparfait are consistent across all verbs: ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
| Pronoun | Imparfait Form | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Je (J') | étais | I was |
| Tu | étais | You were |
| Il/Elle/On | était | He/She/One was |
| Nous | étions | We were |
| Vous | étiez | You were |
| Ils/Elles | étaient | They were |
- Quand j'étais enfant, je jouais au parc tous les jours. (When I was a child, I played at the park every day.) Habitual action in the past.
- Nous étions très heureux ensemble. (We were very happy together.) Describing an emotion in the past.