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Pour Décrire Les Circonstances (Où ? Quand ? Comment ?), On Utilise L'imparfait
Pour Décrire Les Circonstances (Où ? Quand ? Comment ?), On Utilise L'imparfait
uses
The imperfect tense (l'imparfait), one of several past tenses in French, is
used to describe states of being and habitual actions in the past. It also
has several idiomatic uses. The imperfect is used to describe background
activities, which in the time frame of the story haven't been completed
and are ongoing.
Imperfect explains what was happening when another event took place.
Note:
Remember that you NEVER use the verb être to translate was or
were in forms like was raining or were looking and so on. You change
the French verb ending instead.
Here, we use the imparfait for both of the verbs because both of these
events took place over a period of time. The Nazis occupied France for
four years (1940 to 1944) and the black market flourished throughout
this period.
Quand elle avait huit ans (age), elle visitait sa grand-mère tous
les week-ends (repeated action).
When she was eight years old, she visited her grandmother every
weekend.
We use the imparfait because the fact that she was eight years old is a
condition that sets up the rest of the sentence. We put visiter in the
imparfait because it’s a habitual/repeated action. She visited her
grandmother, not just once, but on a regular basis.
This one’s also rather simple. Whether it’s hair color, height or clothing,
we use the imparfait when we describe how a person or thing was.
good, quiet, difficult, tired, upset, happy, strange, excited, angry, better,
older, bored
verbs that describe mental or emotional states of being in the past often
use l’imparfait
aimer
avoir envie de
vouloir
croire
penser
désirer
préférer
savoir
pouvoir
Je m’ennuyais souvent (state of being).
I was often bored.
duration
This might be the most common use of the imparfait. When we’re
describing a routine we used to practice, a habit we used to have or
anything else that was repeated, we’ll use the imparfait.
The imparfait is also used to state habitual actions in the past. These past
habits are often translated as 'used to, or 'would.' Distinguish between
the use of 'would' for habitual past actions (imparfait) and the use of
'would' for the conditional. Note that the imparfait may also be translated
by the simple past in English; however, the context, and often adverbs,
let you know the action is a past habit.
When we wish to express the idea of “used to” in French, the idea that
you did something habitually over a period of time, you use the imperfect
tense:
To express an action that happened often in the past, such as a habit that
one has grown out of.
In this sentence, we can clearly see that we are talking about a period of
time (“when I was young”). And that we are talking about something that
happened habitually. The addition of the word “often” reinforces this idea.
Because you went to the beach every weekend (living the dream!) we use
the imparfait.
Note that in English you can use used to or would, but you can also use
the Simple Past (i.e. I played) to express habits and repeated actions.
Il travaillait et j’étudiais.
He was working, and I was studying.
continuing action
J'allais au marché...
I was going to the market...
opinions
C'était fantastique !
It was great!
C'était difficile !
It was difficult!
idiomatic uses
questions
suggestions
The imparfait is used to express wishes such as 'If only we didn't have a
test this week!' The French equivalent structure, si + imparfait, (may, or
may not, contain the adverb seulement): The imparfait is used to express
wishes in phrases beginning with Si seulement ... ! (if only)
Ah ! Si j'étais riche !
Oh, if only I were rich!
Note that the question mark at the end of the sentence indicates a
suggestion, and the exclamation mark a wish. In spoken French,
however, you have to rely on context and intonation to distinguish
between wish and suggestion.
Si je me faisais tatouer ?
What if I got tattooed?
comme si
aller
J’allais te téléphoner.
I was going to call you.
vouloir
pouvoir
When used in the imparfait, pouvoir is much like saying “could have.” In
the imparfait, it tends to indicate that it was a possible state of events,
but no attempt was ever actually made to achieve the objective. Using
pouvoir in the passé composé indicates that an attempt was actually
made, because it can be tied to a specific point in time.
venir de
Also, using venir de in the past takes the imperfect. This phrase is
essentially the equivalent of “just had.”
When venir de is used in the present, it conveys the sense of having just
done something. It is used in the imparfait to convey the sense of “had
just done something.” This usage is rather idiomatic, so remember to
choose the imparfait to avoid confusion.
être en train de
If you use the phrase “être en train de“ (to be in the middle of) and are
talking about the past, then you would use the imperfect tense:
devoir
was supposed to (do)
J’ai perdu mon livre deux fois. Je perdais constamment mon livre.
I lost my book twice. I was always losing my book.
J’ai été inspiré par ton succès. J’étais toujours inspiré par mes
I was (became) inspired by your profs.
success. I was always inspired by my teachers.
Event + Background
… the passé composé interrupted Imparfait describes what was happening
with news of some occurence. or how something was when …
habituellement habitually
Usually, when verbs like être, avoir, pouvoir, vouloir, and savoir are
in a past narration, they will be in the imparfait, since they most likely
describe a past state of being or condition. However, when these verbs
(and others like them) occur in the passé composé, they indicate a change
of state or a change of condition.
In this case, the difference has nothing to do the period of time since, for
both, we are talking about “last year”.
Here, if the speaker chooses the second example, what they wish to express
is the idea that last year, they worked hard all the time and that it was
considered normal and habitual to work hard every day for the entirety of the
year.
If the speaker chooses the first option using the perfect, the idea is that
every day, they worked hard over and over again.
J’ai pris un selfie et j’ai souri Il faisait gris, des gens regardaient
pour la photo. un type qui dansait. Un autre type
I took a selfie and I smiled for the prenait des photos. Les gens
picture. étaient captivés.
It was a grey day, people were watching
a guy who was dancing. Another guy
took several pictures. People were
captivated (attracted)
Of course, it’s all a question of perspective: were you smiling for your selfie
when suddenly a bike ran into you? Then the smiling part would be the
background…
Ils sont entrés (specific event – short in length) pendant que nous dormions
(ongoing action – longer in length).
They came in as we were sleeping.
Histoire à l’imparfait