Year 10 - French
Que faisais-tu quand ... ? The imperfect tense with regular verbs ('be' + ing)
My personal world: Mes amis
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit introduces verbs that follow the pattern of connaître in the present and perfect tense and extends pupils' use of impersonal verbs. It also develops mastery of the imperfect tense of regular verbs, set in the context of past and present friendships and activities.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe what you and others were doing and what was happening using the imperfect tense.
Key Notes
- The imperfect tense is used to describe what was happening or what you were doing when something else happened.
- For imperfect of regular verbs remove -ons from 'nous' present tense and add: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
- [ai] sounds like 'vrai', [on] is a nasal sound like 'non', and [ez] sounds like 'écrire'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- imperfect tense: tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past, or to say what was happening
- sound-symbol correspondence: relationship between letters and their sounds
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- The ending -aient is pronounced differently to -ais and -ait.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
The imperfect tense is used to describe what was happening or what you were doing when something else happened. For imperfect of regular verbs remove -ons from 'nous' present tense and add: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'imperfect tense'
tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past, or to say what was happening. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: The ending -aient is pronounced differently to -ais and -ait. Correction: Although the third person plural ending of the imperfect tense contains a lot of letters, it is pronounced the same way as -ais and -ait. Students will need a lot of practice saying the -aient ending out loud to become confident with this verb form.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Activités avant et aujourd'hui: extended speaking, photo description Study Guide
- Avec mes amis : extended writing and speaking Study Guide
- Avec mes amis: verbs like connaitre in present and perfect tense Study Guide
- Ce week-end: impersonal verbs Study Guide
- On se retrouve : impersonal verbs Study Guide
- Projets pour le week-end: extended writing and speaking Study Guide
- Quand j'étais petit : the imperfect tense with regular verbs ('used to') Study Guide
- Une rencontre : verbs like 'connaitre' in present tense Study Guide
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