When is the imperfect tense used in French and how is it formed?

The imperfect tense is used to talk about the past. There are several uses which include: -I used to (+ verb) to show habits/routines in the past e.g. I used to go swimming 3 times a week e.g. I used to have piano lessons -Was/were (+ verb) to describe what happened over a period of time e.g. I was looking at the lake e.g. I was eating a banana-To describe situations e.g. She was happy e.g. It was raining Formation We take the 'nous' form of the present tense of the verb, remove the 'ons' and add the following endings: Je ... -ais Tu ... -aisIl/elle/on ... -aitNous ... -ionsVous ... -iezIls/elles ... -aientÊtre is the only irregular verb in the imperfect tense for which the stem is 'ét', followed by the same endings as above.