La transformation des villes : imperfect of être, avoir and faire | French

Starter quiz

Match the French words with their English meanings.

sans

⇔

without ✓

pour

⇔

for ✓

avant

⇔

before ✓

moi

⇔

me ✓

toi

⇔

you ✓
Match the subjects with the correct imperfect tense verb forms.

tu

⇔

allais ✓

il

⇔

allait ✓

nous

⇔

allions ✓

vous

⇔

alliez ✓

elles

⇔

allaient ✓
Which is the correct imperfect verb ending in this sentence? 'Nous visit... souvent le musée quand j'étais enfant.'

ais

ait

ions ✓

iez

aient
What is the imperfect tense stem of être?

êt

et

ét ✓

èt
The present tense form for which subject is the starting point for creating the imperfect tense stem?

je

il

nous ✓

vous

ils
Which is the correct word order to make this sentence? They used to like going to France on holiday.

1

⇔

ils

2

⇔

aimaient

3

⇔

aller

4

⇔

en

5

⇔

France

6

⇔

en

7

⇔

vacances

Exit quiz

Which tense should you use when speaking or writing about what you did regularly in the past?

perfect tense

present tense

conditional tense

imperfect tense ✓
Match the French and English vocabulary.

prévenir

⇔

to let know, warn ✓

se rappeler

⇔

to remember ✓

le commissariat

⇔

police station ✓

le tiers

⇔

third ✓

bas

⇔

low ✓

fermé

⇔

closed ✓
Which sentences are in the present tense?

Ma ville est grande et moderne. ✓

Dans ma ville, il y avait des hôtels.

Ma ville a un aéroport. ✓

Nous faisions les magasins chaque week-end.

Ils font du sport au stade. ✓
Write the imperfect tense correct form of the verb in brackets. 'Ils ______ (avoir) de longs cheveux châtains.'

'avaient' ✓
What is the correct imperfect form of the verb in brackets in this sentence? 'Vous ______ (faire) de l'athlétisme quand vous étiez jeune ?'

'faisiez' ✓
Complete the sentence: The translation of 'there used to be' is: il y ______.

'avait' ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

The imperfect tense is used to describe how something or someone 'used to' be and what regularly happened in the past.
'il y avait' is the imperfect tense form of 'il y a', and means 'there used to be'.
When a word ending in a normally silent consonant is followed by a mute 'h', the consonant is heard in liaison.

Common misconception

When speaking or writing about what you did regularly in the past, use the perfect tense to state the action of the sentence.

When speaking or writing about what you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect tense to state the action. This is because you are talking about something that didn't have a clear start and end point. Perfect tense is not appropriate.

Keywords

Imperfect tense - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past, or to say what was happening
Simple present - describes habitual events in the present: 'I do'