Microsoft Word – FGB§2 verbs

PAST TENSES
There are two simple past tenses in French, the IMPERFECT and the PAST HISTORIC
(sometimes called the ‘preterite’). The past historic is now used only in formal writing,
usually only in the 3 rd person. Today the PERFECT is normally used instead.
The PAST HISTORIC / PERFECT is used to recount events in the past, whereas the
IMPERFECT is used for states and habits.
A rule of thumb when deciding on which to use is to ask “Did it occur?” If the answer is ‘yes’, use
the past historic (perfect). If the answer is ‘yes’ to the questions “Was it going on at the time?” or
“Did it happen regularly?”, use the imperfect.
THE IMPERFECT TENSE
Formation: add the following endings to the present stem:
ais ais ait ions iez aient
These are the same endings as in the conditional tense.
To find the PRESENT STEM, take the ending ons away from the 1 st person plural of the
present tense:
Nous commençons - commenç- nous prenons - pren-
ÊTRE is the only verb that is irregular in the imperfect:
[1] to express a state of being in the past:
étais étais était étions étiez étaient
THE USE OF THE IMPERFECT:
There was a book on the table Il y avait un livre sur la table
[2] to express a habit in the past:
He went to church every week Il allait à l’église toutes les semaines
[3] to express what was happening at a particular time in the past:
He was reading when she entered Il lisait quand elle est entrée
[4] to translate the English simple past after IF:
If I had a book I would read it Si j’avais un livre je le lirais