Songs/Chansons
L'IMPARFAIT
The boundaries are gone but the contents remain
Shining as blades of grass after a heavy rain.

A
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F
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Je n'aimais pas
Tu n'aimais pas
Il n'aimait pas
Elle n'aimait pas
On n'aimait pas
Nous n'aimions pas
Vous n'aimiez pas
Ils n'aimaient pas
J'aimais
Tu aimais
Il aimait
Elle aimait
On aimait
Nous aimions
Vous aimiez
Ils aimaient
                   

                   Now let’s look at the concept of the Imparfait:

    Sometimes the above rules cannot be applied.
    Elle parlait Anglais (She spoke English)
    So we must understand the underlying concepts of the Imparfait

    Use the Imparfait when the time span of the action is not clearly defined,
    because the process is emphasized:
    Il semblait la vendre aux enchères
    (He seemed to be auctioning it off)

    Use the imparfait when there is repetition  
    unless the number of repetitions itself is defined
    (ie j’ai chanté une fois, deux fois…..)
    Je cuisinais chaque mardi.  (I cooked every Tuesday)

    As a result:

    The verbs vouloir, pouvoir, savoir, connaitre, penser, rêver,
    songer, croire and other verbs that express actions of the mind take the
    Imparfait unless the action occurs in a relatively definite time frame.
    This is so because the time span of such actions is hard to define, and the
    process is automatically emphasized.
                                  Je pensais que je la connaissais
     (I thought I knew her)

    Descriptions take the Imparfait, again because the time span tends to be
    very blurry:
                                  Les nuages s’étiraient dans le ciel:
    The clouds stretched out in the sky.


    The verb avoir used as “to own” takes the imparfait.
                                 J’avais une voiture.
    I had a car

    The verb être almost always take the imparfait.
                                J’étais à Paris cet été.
    I was in Paris this summer

    I didn’t know translates as “Je ne savais pas”.

    In the present, the expressions  
                                                                       (I am) Going to (eat)
                                                                       (I) Just (ate)
    translate respectively with the verbs Aller and Venir *
                                                                      Je vais manger
                                                                      Je viens de manger)

     The past takes the imparfait in French:
         I was going to eat                            J’allais manger   
         I had just eaten                                Je venais de manger




                                     The big bad Would :

    In English  Would has 2 usages:
                   -The conditional:
    She would do it if he told her to.
                   -And another form which is not the conditional:
    She would do whatever he said.

    This second form is a past form
     (she did whatever he said, she used to do whatever he said)
    and does not take the conditional but the imperfect:
                        Elle faisait tout ce qu’il lui disait de faire.

            The verb devoir in the imparfait means "had to" but leaves the
    door open:
                    Je devais travailler hier:
    I had to work yesterday (but maybe I didn't)

          In a conditional sentence, the simple past in English is translated
    as the imparfait in French:
             Si  la lune pouvait parler, elle aurait bien des choses à dire.
    If the moon could speak, she would have plenty to tell.
               Si la lune pouvait parler!
    If the moon could speak!


    __________________________________________________

                               Now the verb formation :

                 In contrast with its usage, the Imparfait is very easy to form.

    Most textbooks will say that all you need to know is the “nous” form of the
    present and then you change the ending.
    It does not matter whether the verb is regular or irregular,
    with one exception (être):

                          Nous chantons……Je chantais
                          Nous savons……..  Je savais
    But
                         Nous sommes….… J’étais

    However, most students are much more familiar with the « vous » form of
    the présent,  so in my constant search for the practical I advise them to
    use this form. Moreover, it sounds exactly like the "Je tu il elle on ils elles"  
    forms of the Imparfait.

    The only drawback is that here you have 3 exceptions instead of just one:
    (être, dire, faire).

    So from Vous chantez we get:
                                                                    Je chantais,
                                                                    Tu chantais
                                                                          Il chantait,
                                                                   Elle chantait,
                                                                    Nous chantions,
                                                                    Vous chantiez,
                                                                    Ils chantaient.

    As you can see, only nous chantions and vous chantiez
    SOUND different than the présent vous CHANTEZ.

    Irregulars:
    Vous Savez becomes
    Je savais, tu savais, il savait, nous savions, vous saviez, elles savaient.
    The exceptions :
    Vous êtes…..J’étais
    Vous faîtes….Je faisais
    Vous dîtes…….Je disais


    As a conclusion, let me say that the Imparfait is somewhat similar in
    essence to the Passé Simple, an explanation of which you will find in the
    advanced section. In contrast with the Passé Composé (which we will
    tackle next month), the Imparfait transports the reader to the moment
    when the action was taking place.
    With Elle lisait un livre,
     the listener has one foot in the past and one foot in the present.
             With Elle a  lu un livre,
    the listener is presented with a fact, a statement, an occurrence, a remark
    which in no way carries him or her away from the present moment.
    The Imparfait is most probably so named because the
    time span of the action involved is not clearly defined.
    This is because the process rather than the
    accomplishment of the action is emphasized.
    Students of French, however, may think it is so named
    because of the difficulty of mastering perfectly its
    usage.

    The equivalent of the imparfait in English are two past
    constructions:
    1.    WAS ……ING  
    2.    USED TO…….
             I was singing   (Emphasizes the process)
             I used to sing  (Implies Repetition)
             
          These two constructions ALWAYS
               take the imparfait in French.

    You will also find the imparfait in English with the
    regular past construction: I sang.

    If this “I sang” CAN be replaced with either
    "I was singing" or
    "I used to sing",
    it will take the Imparfait.

    EX:
    -When I was young, I sang (I used to sing) in a chorus.
    Quand j’étais jeune, je chantais dans un choeur.

    -I sang while they listened.
    (I was singing while they were listening)
    Je chantais tandis qu’ils écoutaient.


    The above rules cover probably more than 95 per cent
    of the use of the Imparfait in French.