Free practice · Imparfait · A1 to B1
Imparfait Practice: 10 Free Questions
Ten imparfait questions, free and playable right here. You type the form, it is corrected the moment you answer, and anything you get wrong comes back before the round ends. Below the drill, the full imparfait of the same ten verbs: parler, être, avoir, aller, finir, prendre, faire, pouvoir, attendre and vouloir.
Try it · imparfait
1 / 10
Tu trop vite !
parler · to speak
Accents are not marked here, so êtes and etes both count. Ten questions, imparfait only. The full drill runs six tenses over 300 verbs, offline, in one file.
When ten questions stop being enough
The same drill, with 300 verbs instead of ten and six tenses instead of one. It keeps a record of the verbs that catch you out and hands them back more often, which is what turns practice into progress.
- 300 verbs, 6 tenses, over 12,600 questions
- A timer mode, for when you need the answer to come without thinking
- One file you download and keep, opening with no connection
The imparfait of the ten verbs, in full
Every form the drill can ask you for. Read it after the round rather than before: looking up the answer you just missed is what makes it stay.
| Verb | je | tu | il | nous | vous | ils |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| parlerto speakRegular | parlais | parlais | parlait | parlions | parliez | parlaient |
| êtreto beIrregular | étais | étais | était | étions | étiez | étaient |
| avoirto haveIrregular | avais | avais | avait | avions | aviez | avaient |
| allerto goIrregular | allais | allais | allait | allions | alliez | allaient |
| finirto finishRegular | finissais | finissais | finissait | finissions | finissiez | finissaient |
| prendreto takeIrregular | prenais | prenais | prenait | prenions | preniez | prenaient |
| faireto do / to makeIrregular | faisais | faisais | faisait | faisions | faisiez | faisaient |
| pouvoircan / to be able toIrregular | pouvais | pouvais | pouvait | pouvions | pouviez | pouvaient |
| attendreto waitRegular | attendais | attendais | attendait | attendions | attendiez | attendaient |
| vouloirto wantIrregular | voulais | voulais | voulait | voulions | vouliez | voulaient |
One stem, one set of endings, one exception
The imparfait is the most regular tense in French. Take the nous form of the présent, drop the -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Nous faisons gives faisais, nous prenons gives prenais, nous finissons gives finissais.
Nine of the ten verbs in this round follow that rule without a murmur. Être is the exception, and it is the only verb in the language that is one: its stem is ét-, which gives étais, étions, étaient. Learn that one form and the tense is finished.
Three endings that sound exactly alike
Je parlais, il parlait and ils parlaient are pronounced identically. Nothing in the sound tells you which one to write, so the subject of the sentence is the only evidence you have.
That is why the questions here are sentences rather than bare pronouns. Reading "Ils ___ des photos" and writing prenaient is the skill; conjugating a verb into empty air is not.
The single letter that separates two tenses
Nous finissons is the présent. Nous finissions is the imparfait. One i, and a year of your life moves.
The same trap waits on every verb whose nous form already ends in -ions: nous étudiions, nous oubliions. The letter looks like a typo and is not, which is precisely why it gets corrected out of so many exam papers.
The same ten verbs, another tense
- PrésentWhere the marks start going. Ten questions.
- Passé composéAvoir or être, then the participle. Ten questions.
- ImparfaitYou are here. One stem, one set of endings, one exception.
- Futur simpleEndings you already know, stems you may not.
Questions
- Is this imparfait practice really free?
- Yes. The ten questions run in your browser, you type the answers and they are corrected straight away, with no account and no email address. The paid drill exists for the other 290 verbs and the other five tenses, not to unlock this page.
- How do I form the imparfait in French?
- Take the nous form of the présent, drop the -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Nous prenons gives je prenais. Être is the only exception: its stem is ét-, giving j'étais.
- When do I use the imparfait rather than the passé composé?
- The imparfait sets the scene: backgrounds, weather, moods, habits and whatever was already happening. The passé composé is the event that happens and is then over. The two sit in the same sentence more often than not.
- What is in the paid drill that is not here?
- 300 verbs instead of ten, six tenses instead of one, over 12,600 questions, a timer mode and a progress record that remembers which verbs keep catching you out. It is one file you download and keep, and it opens with no connection.