Query about the imparfait (1 Viewer)

[bunnie]

My teacher gave me a sheet about the imparfait and you know how the endings are:

je ___ais
tu ___ais
il/elle ___ait
nous ___ions
vous ___iez
ils/elles ___aient

My teacher said that the only exception to the rule is the verb 'etre', but doesn't it have the same endings?

 

[chepas]

It's an exception not because it's spelt differently, but because it's really special . You know already the rule as:

"take the 'nous' form of the verb (eg 'chanter' - nous chantons) then add the endings as appropriate".

With être it is really an irregular verb, so there is your exception:

je suis
tu es...
***
nous sommes

We can't take anything off this nous form to make 'je sommais, tu sommais'. .

So with être. the bane of the world as far as I'm concerned!, you have to learn it with the 'ét' prefix

j'étais
tu étais
il était

nous étions
vous étiez
ils étaient.

And yes, you are right that they have the same endings. It's just the prefix (or rather, the 'stem') of the être form of the imperfect that is the exception to the rule

At the start that I said that it's an exception to the rule as the verb is an irrgular verb. This isn't completely right. 'aller' is irregular yet it DOES follow this rule, so the 'irregular verb = doesn't follow the rule' thing isn't really right.

PRESENT: nous allons, donc...

j'allais
tu allais...

et ainsi de suite.

Make sense? Hehe. It's late...
chepas .

 

[bunnie]

lol that makes sense! :uhhuh: Thanks chepas.

 

[lourai*87]

merci aussi chepas. Je n'aime pas le passe composee ou l'imparfait - pas du tout. Je les oublie tous le temps!

 

[melsc]

I find the subjective the most annoying once u do subjunctive the others seem simple LOL

Just remember that u use the imparfait for things like was, used to etc...It describes an incomplete action in the last i.e. It also describes state of mind in the past...but not realised...bcoz that is complete

I was washing the dishes, when she came in the room.
(Imparfait) (Passe compose)

 

[toreshi]

for those who find imparfait hard to remember

Ma prof. made up this thingy.
it's sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey.

You got your a-i-s
You got your a-i-s
You got your a-i-t
that's how you form the imparfait,

You got your i-o-n-s
and your i-e-z
and your a-i-e-n-t.

oh, you take the nous form,
of the present tense.
chop off the o-n-s,
and that's the imparfait!
Boom! Boom!



kinda strange, but the main thing is it works.

 

[chepas]

? As a music student I can't fathom the tune from the text above.... . Perhaps an MP3 demonstrating this made by you...

Any more mnemonics, post them away. Some of them are so funny you can't help but remember them - and that's the whole point!

 

[malkin86]

How many singalongs have you attended recently? To give a reference point,
"You got your a - i - s" is "You put your left hand in". If you know the Hokey Pokey, you should be able to work it out from there. Sing it!

I know that song, but I've varied it so that the pronoun is the same as what the ending is for, so it becomes:

I've got my a-i-s
You got your a-i-s
He's got his a-i-t
etc. - it helps me remember what ending goes with what pronoun better that way. :3

 

[chepas]

I did! And as if you sing this at a singalong. You do it on the dancefloor...!

You got your a-i-s - You put your right hand in
You got your a-i-s - You put your right hand out
You got your a-i-t - You put your right and in
that's how you form the im-par-fait,
and you shake it all a-bout-....? missing a whole syllable.

????

I'm one step away from notating it in Sibelius, because it's now driving me crazy!

Anyway, welcome toreshi! I'm not a nitpicking maniac, usually .

 

[malkin86]

how about "And voila the imparfait!"?

bienvenue a la forum BoS francophone, toreshi! Merci beaucoup pour ton l'imparfait chanson!

 

[lourai*87]

pour le verbe aller

Je vais
Tu vas
Il va....etc

sung to the tune of the mexican hatdance! I know youre all going to get your phones to play it right now

 

[Hippy La-Laa]

LOL! I can't quite catch on to the tune either.... But it's cool, regardless.

I remember I used to put everything to the tune of the 'Locomotion'. From velocity and other science-y crap to french verbs- I was adamant that it could be rhymed to the 'Locomotion'.

So. Here we go.

"Everybody's doing the imparfait now. Come on baby, do the imparfai-t.
A-I-S/ A-I-S/ A-I-T. IMPARFAIT! Come on baby, do the imparfai-t
There's never been a verb that's so easy to do......"

Can anyone say 'lame'?

Gawd. I'm gonna be humming the 'Locomotion' ('Imparfait' mix) for the rest of the day.