can someone explain the imperfect tense for french?

Question

How is it used?

thanks!
and could you use an example in French?
the english confuses me slightly

Answer 1

It can be used:

1) for actions that were repeated in the past (in English "used to"/ "would")
> J'allais chez ma grand-mère tous les étés (I would go to my grandmother's every summer)

2) For actions that were already in progression at a certain moment in the past (Past continuous in English: I was V+ ing)
> J'attendais le bus quand j'ai vu mon ami Pierre dans la rue (I was waiting for the bus when I saw my friend Pierre in the street)
> Sur cette photo, je jouais du piano (In the picture, I was playing the piano = implied: at the time the photo was taken)

> En avril, nous habitions à Paris. (In 1990 we ere living in Paris). You were already living in Paris in 1990 (maybe for several years or months, it didn't start in April. Maybe you are still living there, maybe not, this is not important, what matters is that in April you had already been living there and still were.



The imperfect is also used to express states/tastes/facts (rather than actions) in the past:

Quand j'avais 10 ans (when I was 10), je n'aimais pas les épinards (I didn't like spinach).
Note that if you used the simple past to express age (quand j'ai eu 10 ans), it would mean "when I turned 10". Whereas the imperfect never implies a change at that time in the past that you are refering to.

> Quand j'étais petit, je jouais au foot (when I was little I used to play soccer)

Answer 2

It's used when an action took place over a time rather than in an instant. It's usually translated into English as 'was verb-ing' or 'used to verb' but also as the simple past. 'When I was in Paris, I met this beauticul womean.' The first bit (I was) would be in the imperfect tense because I was there for several hours or day - the second bit (I met) happened once and once only and would be in the pretirite tense in French. If you followed it with 'I used to meet her every evening', then you'd use the imperfect in the second part of the sentence because it is a repetitive action.

Answer 3

Millie's answer is great to me!

(Millie, may I ask you if your name is pronounced "mi-li" or "mi-yi" ? I keep wondering every time I read "Le grand Meaulnes")