The imperfect for describing childhood

L’imparfait pour décrire l’enfance

Chats

Describe to your cousin what you did every summer when you were a child

Tell your friend what your primary school was like

Study: L’imparfait to describe childhood

Guide

Talking about Childhood with L’imparfait

When describing your childhood in French, l’imparfait is used to talk about repeated actions, ongoing situations, and background descriptions. It sets the scene for what life “used to be like.”

For example, you can describe routines:
* Tous les jours, je jouais dans le jardin.
* Quand j’étais enfant, nous allions à la plage chaque été.
* Avant, il y avait moins de voitures dans la rue.

You can also use it for descriptions of places, weather, or people in your childhood:
* Le paysage était magnifique pendant l’enfance.
* En été, le temps était toujours chaud.
* Ma maison était près de la forêt.

The following table shows how regular verbs are conjugated in l’imparfait, using jouer (to play) as an example:

Français	English
je jouais	I was playing
tu jouais	you were playing
il/elle/on jouait	he/she/one was playing
nous jouions	we were playing
vous jouiez	you (pl) were playing
ils/elles jouaient	they were playing

Common time indicators for l’imparfait in the context of childhood include: * avant (before) * l’enfance (childhood) * l’été (summer) * le paysage (the landscape) * le temps (the weather/time) * tous les jours (every day)

Examples of descriptions:

Quand j’étais petit, le paysage était très vert.
Pendant l’enfance, nous jouions tous les jours dehors.
L’été, il faisait chaud et nous allions à la piscine.

These patterns help you describe your routines, environment, and feelings from your childhood in French.

Skills

Vocabulary Learning Progress