FlexiLingoIn one line
Take the
nousstem from the present and add fixed endings. There is exactly one exception in the whole language.
The table
How it is built — two steps
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
1. Take the nous /nu/ form of the present | nous parlons /nu paʁ.lɔ̃/ nous finissons /nu fi.ni.sɔ̃/ nous buvons /nu by.vɔ̃/ |
2. Drop -ons and add the ending | parl /paʁl/ finiss /fi.nis/ buv /byv/ |
The endings — for every verb in the language
je | tu | il | nous | vous | ils |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-ais | -ais | -ait | -ions | -iez | -aient |
| /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | /jɔ̃/ | /je/ | /ɛ/ |
Four of them sound identical — je parlais · tu parlais · il parlait · ils parlaient are all /paʁ.lɛ/.
A full example
parler | finir | boire | |
|---|---|---|---|
je /ʒə/ | parlais /paʁ.lɛ/ | finissais /fi.ni.sɛ/ | buvais /by.vɛ/ |
tu /ty/ | parlais /paʁ.lɛ/ | finissais /fi.ni.sɛ/ | buvais /by.vɛ/ |
il /il/ | parlait /paʁ.lɛ/ | finissait /fi.ni.sɛ/ | buvait /by.vɛ/ |
nous /nu/ | parlions /paʁ.ljɔ̃/ | finissions /fi.ni.sjɔ̃/ | buvions /by.vjɔ̃/ |
vous /vu/ | parliez /paʁ.lje/ | finissiez /fi.ni.sje/ | buviez /by.vje/ |
ils /il/ | parlaient /paʁ.lɛ/ | finissaient /fi.ni.sɛ/ | buvaient /by.vɛ/ |
When it is used
| Use | Example | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| describing the past | Il faisait froid. it was cold | /il fə.zɛ fʁwa/ |
| a habit in the past | Je parlais français chaque jour. I spoke French every day | /ʒə paʁ.lɛ fʁɑ̃.sɛ ʃak ʒuʁ/ |
| something in progress | Je mangeais. I was eating | /ʒə mɑ̃.ʒɛ/ |
| age and state in the past | J'avais vingt ans. I was twenty | /ʒa.vɛ vɛ̃.tɑ̃/ |
English scatters this across three constructions. "I was eating", "I used to eat", and plain "I ate" when it means a habit — all three are
imparfait. There is no separate French form for "used to":je mangeaiscarries it. If an English sentence would take "used to" or "was ‑ing", the French is almost certainly the imperfect.
Exceptions
| Exception | What happens |
|---|---|
être /ɛtʁ/ is the only exception | its stem is ét /e/, not from nous sommes /nu sɔm/: j'étais /ʒe.tɛ/ tu étais /ty e.tɛ/ il était /il e.tɛ/ nous étions /nu.z‿e.tjɔ̃/ vous étiez /vu.z‿e.tje/ ils étaient /ilz e.tɛ/ |
-ger keeps an e /ə/ — but not everywhere | je mangeais /ʒə mɑ̃.ʒɛ/ and il mangeait /il mɑ̃.ʒɛ/ keep it, because the ending starts with a /a/. nous mangions /nu mɑ̃.ʒjɔ̃/ and vous mangiez /vu mɑ̃.ʒje/ do not — their ending starts with i /i/, which keeps the g /ʒe/ soft on its own |
-cer takes a cedilla | nous commençons /nu kɔ.mɑ̃.sɔ̃/ → je commençais /ʒə kɔ.mɑ̃.sɛ/ |
-ier doubles the i /i/ in nous /nu//vous /vu/ | étudier /e.ty.dje/ → nous étudiions /nu.z‿e.ty.di.jɔ̃/ |
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| It was cold | Il faisait froid. | /il fə.zɛ fʁwa/ |
| I was twenty | J'avais vingt ans. | /ʒa.vɛ vɛ̃.tɑ̃/ |
| I lived in Canada | J'habitais au Canada. | /ʒa.bi.tɛ o ka.na.da/ |
| We spoke French every day | Nous parlions français chaque jour. | /nu paʁ.ljɔ̃ fʁɑ̃.sɛ ʃak ʒuʁ/ |
| I was a child | J'étais enfant. | /ʒe.tɛ.zɑ̃.fɑ̃/ |
| I was eating | Je mangeais. | /ʒə mɑ̃.ʒɛ/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
je suis étais | j'étais | The imperfect takes no auxiliary — it is one word |
je étais | j'étais | je elides before a vowel |
je mangais | je mangeais | g hardens before a, so the e protects it — but nous mangions does not need it, since i keeps g soft by itself |
nous étudions (past) | nous étudiions | stem étudi- + -ions = two is. It looks wrong and it is right |
j'étais allé (meaning "I went") | je suis allé | The imperfect is habit, not a finished event |
Why it is so easy to build
one exception in the entire language
No other French tense is this regular.
| Tense | How many exceptions |
|---|---|
| present | dozens |
| passé composé | ~30 irregular participles |
imparfait | one — être |
And you already know the stem, because it is the nous stem of the present. So if you know nous, the imperfect is free.
nous buvons /nu by.vɔ̃/ | → je buvais /ʒə by.vɛ/ |
nous prenons /nu pʁə.nɔ̃/ | → je prenais /ʒə pʁə.nɛ/ |
nous faisons /nu fə.zɔ̃/ | → je faisais /ʒə fə.zɛ/ |
nous voulons /nu vu.lɔ̃/ | → je voulais /ʒə vu.lɛ/ |
Even the most irregular verbs become regular in the imperfect.