📖LearnModule 4 · Lesson 12 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2, completedUnit 3 · L'imparfait — the way things were
Quand j'étais petit — the way it was
Module 4 of the free French course (CEFR A2, completed), lesson 12 of 30: The imparfait owns "used to": Quand j'étais petit, j'avais un chat. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 12.
The words
French
English
Say it
quand j'étais petit
when I was little (m)
kah(n) zhay-teh puh-TEE
quand j'étais petite
when I was little (f)
kah(n) zhay-teh puh-TEET
j'avais un chat
I had a cat
zhah-veh uh(n) SHAH
nous habitions
we used to live
noo zah-bee-TYOH(n)
on jouait
we used to play
oh(n) zhoo-EH
il faisait beau
the weather was nice
eel fuh-zeh BOH
quand
when
kah(n)
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
The imparfait owns "used to": Quand j'étais petit, j'avais un chat. Nous habitions à Montréal. On jouait tous les jours.
Et aussi · And also
Its endings ride a steady pattern — -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient — and four of the six sound the same: eh.
Attention · Watch out
Four of the six imparfait endings sound the same (eh), so the spelling is the whole lesson: -ais for je and tu, -ait for il, -aient for ils.
habiter, imparfait — the table
je habitais · tu habitais · il/elle habitait · nous habitions · vous habitiez · ils/elles habitaient
jouer, imparfait — the table
je jouais · tu jouais · il/elle jouait · nous jouions · vous jouiez · ils/elles jouaient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with quand j'étais petit.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out habiter, imparfait and jouer, imparfait in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.