Tense / Aspect / Mood / Voice
Imparfait: idiomatic uses
The imperfect tense (l’imparfait) has two primary uses: to describe on-going actions or states of being in the past, and to state habitual actions in the past. The imparfait also has several idiomatic uses found in the following contexts:
suggestions
The imparfait is used to suggest an action in phrases beginning with Si on … ?
| Tammy: Si on achetait une grosse Suburban? | Tammy: What if we bought a big Suburban? (note: ‘on’ is often used in the sense of ‘nous’) |
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| Tex: Si on achetait une Harley Davidson? | Tex: What about buying a Harley Davidson? |
wishes
The imparfait is used to express wishes such as ‘If only we didn’t have a test this week!’ The French equivalent structure, si + imparfait, may, or may not, contain the adverb seulement:
| Tex: Si (seulement) on avait plus d’argent! | Tex: If (only) we had more money! | |
| Tammy: Ah, si (seulement) mes parents nous prêtaient de l’argent! | Tammy: If only my parents would lend us some money! |
Note that the question mark at the end of the sentence indicates a suggestion, and the exclamation mark a wish. In spoken French, however, you have to rely on context and intonation to distinguish between wish and suggestion. Listen to the difference in intonation between these two sentences:
| Tammy: Si je me faisais tatouer? | Tammy: What if I got tattooed? | |
| Tex: Si seulement je pouvais avoir une moto! | Tex: If only I could have a motorcycle! |
For other uses of si + imparfait, see si clauses + conditional. The imparfait also occurs in idiomatic uses with depuis and venir de.
