imperfect tense

6.3

To talk about past actions that happened often or were still happening

noun
/ɪmˈpɜrfɪkt tɛns/

Specialized

: tiempo imperfecto

When telling stories in French, the imperfect tense helps to set the scene by describing what was happening.

Examples

Time seems to stop with the shift to the imperfect tense, and space stands out all the more in the description of the after-dinner scene.

Academic text (1996)
The teacher explained that the imperfect tense describes actions that were ongoing in the past.
In her writing class, she learned how to use the imperfect tense to indicate repeated actions from her childhood.

Synonyms

imperfect

vsimperfect tense

Specialized

1 6.9

A past verb form used for actions that were ongoing or repeated

is the full official phrase used to name that tense

past progressive tense

vsimperfect tense

Specialized

4.0

Shows an action that was happening at a certain time in the past

also covers repeated past actions and ongoing states rather than single past times

past progressive

vsimperfect tense

Specialized

3.7

A verb form that shows an action happening at a certain time in the past

also describes repeated past actions rather than only time-specific events

Surface Forms

imperfect tense singular

imperfect tenses plural

Morphology

imperfect + tense

The compound simply names a verb tense: 'imperfect' (the non-completed/ongoing past quality) combined with 'tense' (verb time form) yields a meaning that is directly compositional. This grammatical term and its logic are cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish imperfecto, French imparfait), so a B1 learner who knows the parts will understand it.

Etymology

Imperfect tense The name imperfect tense comes from Latin 'imperfectus', which means 'not finished'. It shows past actions that were still going on or happened again and again, so the word imperfect reminds us the action was not complete.