162 - How to Conjugate “To Be” (Être) in French (Imperfect Tense)

In this episode, I’ll break down the imperfect tense conjugation of ‘être’ (to be).

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Transcript

Hello everyone! Bonjour tout le monde. 💛 Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode 162, numéro 162!

Today, we're going back to our conjugation series. So we’re starting with one of the most important verbs, the verb "être" (to be). We've previously learned "être" conjugated in the present tense (in episode 15) and in the future tense (in episode 101). I’ll link these 2 episodes in the transcript. And today, we’ll learn the conjugation of "être" in the imperfect tense (l’imparfait).  

Before we start, as always, if you're new to the podcast, welcome! Please make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet handy, so you can see the spelling of the words while you listen. And when you finish this episode, you can head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to download your lesson's exercises and practice what you've learned today. You'll find all the download links in the episode notes. It’s free!

So. The imperfect tense, or l'imparfait, describes actions that were ongoing or habits in the past. It depends on what verb you’re using, but it’s like saying “I was being, I was having, I was doing,” or “I used to be, I used to have, I used to do…” in French, again, depending on what verb you’re actually conjugating.

For example:

• Je regardais souvent les dessins animés le matin. (I used to watch cartoons in the morning.) So this example shows you how the imperfect tense is used to describe habits in the past.
• Il travaillait dans un café pendant ses études. (He was working at a cafe during his studies.) And that example shows you how the imperfect is used to describe ongoing actions in the past.

Alright, now let’s jump right into conjugating "être" in the imperfect tense:

Repeat after me:

• j'étais (I was)
• tu étais (you were)
• il / elle était (he / she was)
• on était (we were)
• nous étions (we were)
• vous étiez (you were)
• ils / elles étaient (they were)

Here are some examples to practice:

• J'étais souvent en retard à l’école. (I was often late to school.)
• Est-ce que tu étais bon en maths? (Were you good at math?)
• Il/Elle était souvent stressé(e) pendant ses examens. (He/She was often stressed during his/her exams.)
• On était toujours ensemble pendant les vacances. (We were always together during the holidays.)
• Nous étions en train de dîner lorsque tu as appelé. (We were in the middle of dinner when you called.)
• Est-ce que vous étiez à la réunion d'hier soir? (Were you at the meeting last night?)
• Ils/Elles étaient meilleur(e)s ami(e)s au lycée. (They were best friends in high school.)

Alright, so quick recap, the conjugation of "être" in the imperfect tense is:

• j'étais (I was)
• tu étais (you were)
• il / elle était (he / she was)
• on était (we were)
• nous étions (we were)
• vous étiez (you were)
• ils / elles étaient (they were)

Et voilà! That wraps up our lesson on the imperfect tense of "être"! Now, make sure you go practice with the exercises available in the Exercises Library. Thanks for listening. I’ll chat with you next week. À bientôt. Bye.