Imperfect

The imparfait is a tense of the past in the French language, which is similar to the construction according to the German past tense, but is used partly different. In contrast to the Passé composé can be expressed with the perfect or selective actions in the past, can be expressed with the Imparfait ongoing, unfinished or existing actions.

Education

• Stem of the first person plural ( nous cherchons = we are looking for )
• The ending:

Use

In contrast to the German preterite the Imparfait is subject to certain usage rules, so you usually must dodge in the following cases no more tense: It is used to

• Present background information: Mme Delacroix a lu le journal pendant que son mari préparait les plats dans la cuisine ( = Mrs. Delacroix has read a newspaper, while her husband prepared the dishes in the kitchen. )
• To describe repetitive actions or habits: Comme d' habitude, elle lisait " Le Monde" ( = As usual, she read " Le Monde". )
• Parallel, non-expiring actions: Pendant que je nageais depending pensais au cadeau. ( = As I swam, I thought of the gift. )
• Express comments and explanations in the past: C'était vraiment drôle! ( = That was really funny! )
• Description of feelings, people, weather and objects: Il était triste. ( = He was sad. )

Signal words for the Imparfait are, inter alia, pendant que ( = while ), toujours (always when ), tout le temps ( = always, constantly ) and souvent ( = often ). Come however puis ( = then, afterwards ), après ( = after), tout de suite ( = immediately) or a similar provision, which introduces a temporal sequence, the Passé composé used.

According to another classification of use of the imparfait is described as follows:

• When not closed, continuous actions (eg Il amait lire des livres. boire du lait Elle amait. Ils fumaient depuis 10 Anees. dans le jardin El travaillait. )
• At regular, repeated appropriate actions ( Signalwörte: régulièrment, tout les ans, d' habitude, tout le soir tout l' Anee, toujours, souvent )
• The emphasis of the course of actions and processes (eg He grabbed everything in the suitcase. The trip went as planned. Camels passed before us.)
• Offer states with undetermined beginning and end ( eg He can cook, he squints you can sing He knows nothing about songbirds.. .. ) Signal words: avoir, être, savoir, pouvoir, connaître.
• At utilization (two actions are parallel, a main plot while subplot. ) Signal words: pendant; être en train de - in the past.
• In habits (of course there is some overlap, because gewohheitsmäßig running actions are regularly and repeatedly. ) Signal words: d' habitude, chaque fois avant ... - sooner did he do that ...
• For the identification of circumstances and background ( ie, a sub-plot beside the main story ), with the main plot (or sequence of actions ) is described with the passé composé. Yes after reading you can not separate all sharply between circumstances and background: typical descriptions of the background are: habits, behaviors, conditions, intentions and opinions. Examples of background actions: I was in the kitchen and drank milk. It was cold outside and pulled on a warm coat. ( After Hinder basic plot is with the questions What? , Or what was asked? ).
• Circumstances are observations and comments on the main plot, as well as descriptions. Remarks and comments on the events: for example, the image was dull; I was tired; it was to see that he was proud. Descriptions: for example, he wanted to know, but he was not really interested. Statements and information: for example, he ran away quickly to avoid being caught. Perceptions: in the distance was heard music; the mood was bad. Intentions and expressions of opinion: I found the picture beautiful; we wanted to come later.

In texts that are written in the past tense, the following verbs are usually in Imparfait:

• Avoir - have
• être - to be
• Vouloir - want
• Pouvoir - can
• Savoir - to know can
• Devoir - must, should
• Falloir ( il faut ) - must
• Connaître - know, know

Keywords for the Imparfait are words for labeling:

• Duration
• Repetition
• Frequency
• Habit

Such as:

• D' habitude - usually, normally
• Tous les jours - every day (also: every week, month, year, hour, morning, evening, Sunday ... )
• Toujours - always
• Souvent - often
• Régulièrement - regularly
• Autrefois - at that time, previously
• Ne ... jamais - never
• Quelquefois - sometimes
• Chaque fois - every time
• Chaque jour - every day
• Toute la journée - all day
• De temps en temps - from time to time
• Pendant que - while

The imparfait is still in used:

• Si - sets
• Relative clauses
• With: pendant que, quand and Lorsque
• And often in opposition to the Passé composé

Other uses in the plus - que- parfait

To form the plus - que- parfait, you need the Imparfait form of être or avoir. Then you use the Participe Passé. For this purpose, the commonly used Imparfait form of avoir: first, the verb form of the first person plural ( nous ) in Présent ( present tense):

The root word av is maintained, now, on the trunk of the endings

Appended to the respective persons.

Special shapes

Many irregular verbs in Présent form the Imparfait perfectly regular. (Ex: → faire je / tu faisais, venir → je / tu venais )

The following should be noted however:

• With verbs like the manger mangeais Note (Due to the debate: would not "e" in between, would the "g" pronounced as in English through the "e" but it is very soft.. ) Other verbs with the suffix " - ger " are: manager, juger, voyager, protéger, abréger.

• Commencer will commençais (see also Rules for Cedille: If a C, an A, O or U, is from the C one Ç is, however, then an E or I, it remains a C). Other verbs with the suffix "- cer" are: lancer, annoncer, placer, effacer.

• The root word of être when Imparfait, ét, is another exception.

Thus, the verb être is different in the past, clearly from the derivative form, which is otherwise universal.

Example: Quand j'étais jeune, depending faisais beaucoup de sport. ( = When I was young, I did a lot of sport. )

With étudier it comes with all the regularity to an unusual doubling of the "i":

Other verbs with the suffix "- ier " are: prier, terrifier, trier, varier, verifier.

Aorist · Habituativ / In habitat · · perfective imperfective · · continuative in the perfect

• French language
• French grammar