Imperfect – Continuing Past Action

French uses the imperfect tense to refer to past actions that are seen as continuing at another point of time in the past. English uses a had been doing something construction for this function. The French construction consists of the following elements:

• depuis quand + imperfect [OR]
• depuis combien de temps + imperfect [OR]
• ça faisait combien de temps que + imperfect (colloquial) [OR]
• il y avait combien de temps que + imperfect (colloquial)

These patterns are used to ask a question about how long something had been going on.

• Depuis quand est-ce que tu travaillais à Québec ? | How long had you been working in Quebec?
• Depuis combien de temps est-ce que vous étiez à la bibliothèque quand vous avez vu votre professeur ? | How long had you been at the library when you saw your professor?
• Ça faisait combien de temps qu’ils cherchaient un logement quand on leur a offert cet appartement ? | How long had they been looking for a place to live when they were offered that apartment?
• Il y avait combien de temps qu’elle travaillait dans cette entreprise quand ils lui ont donné une augmentation ? | How long had she been working at that company when they gave her a raise?

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• imperfect + depuis + time expression [OR]
• ça faisait + time expression + que + imperfect (colloquial) [OR]
• il y avait + time expression + que + imperfect (colloquial) [OR]
• imperfect + depuis + starting point of action

These patterns are used to tell how long something had been going on.

• J’habitais ce quartier depuis un an. | I’d been living in that neighbourhood for a year.
• Ça faisait un an qu’ils sortaient ensemble quand ils se sont fiancés. | They had been going out for a year when they got engaged.
• Il y avait une heure que nous attendions l’autobus quand vous nous avez aperçus. | We had been waiting for the bus for an hour when you spotted us.
• Je travaillais à Québec depuis septembre quand j’ai dû rentrer en Belgique. | I had been working in Quebec since September when I had to go back to Belgium.

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End Point Specified for Past Action

Although the imperfect is usually used to express repeated actions in the past, when the end point of those actions is specified, the verb is in the passé composé because the speaker’s focus shifts to the completion of the actions. In the following example, no end point is specified:

• Quand j’étais petit, j’allais au bord de la mer tous les étés. | When I was a child, I went to the seashore every summer.

Notice the change in tense when an endpoint is specifically mentioned:

• Jusqu’à l’âge de douze ans, je suis allé au bord de la mer tous les étés. | Until the age of twelve, I went to the seashore every summer.

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Have a great week, everyone!

Merci à vous !

Courtney

Imparfait vs. Passé Composé

Friday bonus post!

Imparfait vs. Passé Composé

The passé composé and imperfect both refer to past time, but express different ways of looking at past actions and events. The imperfect tense denotes an action as going on in the past without any reference to its beginning or end. The passé composé denotes an action that the speaker sees as completed in the past or as having happened once.

Quand j’étais en France, je parlais français.

When I was in France, I spoke French.

 

Hier j’ai parlé français avec Caroline.

Yesterday I spoke French with Caroline.

 

Completed Action

The passé composé implies that an action is complete in the past. It also may imply that the action happened once.

Quelqu’un a sonné à la porte d’en bas.

Someone rang the downstairs doorbell.

 

Tout à coup la porte s’est ouverte.

Suddenly the door opened.

 

L’avion est arrivé en retard.

The plane arrived late.

 

Continuous or Repeated Action

The imperfect is used for actions that the speaker sees as going on in the past without reference to the beginning or the end of the action. The imperfect may convey that the action happened repeatedly.

Le quartier devenait de plus en blus bruyant.

The neighbourhood was getting noisier and noisier.

 

Les enfants faisaient leurs devoirs dans la cuisine.

The children used to do their homework in the kitchen,

 

Tu te couchais toujours tôt.

You always went to bed early.

 

Background for Past Actions or Events

The imperfect often provides the background for past actions or events that are expressed in the passé composé.

Philippe lisait quand ses amis sont arrivés.

Philippe was reading when his friends arrived.

 

Quand je suis entrée, tout le monde travaillait.

When I came in, everyone was working.

 

J’ai fermé les fenêtres parce qu’il pleuvait.

I closed the windows because it was raining.