This introduction covers L'imparfait — Painting the Past, Not Just Listing Events within The imperfect for description: c'était, il y avait for GCSE French. Revise The imperfect for description: c'était, il y avait in Time Markers and the Three Time Frames for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 1 of 4 in this topic. Use this introduction to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🌅 L'imparfait — Painting the Past, Not Just Listing Events
The perfect tense tells you what happened. The imperfect tells you what it was like. To describe the atmosphere of a past holiday, explain what the weather used to be, or say how you felt at that moment — French uses the imperfect. At GCSE, two phrases unlock most of this tense instantly: c'était (it was) and il y avait (there was / there were). Get comfortable with these and your descriptive writing transforms.
Practice questions for The imperfect for description: c'était, il y avait
What does 'c'était génial' mean in English?
What does 'il y avait beaucoup de monde' mean in English?
Quick recall flashcards
c'etait
it was -- the single most useful imperfect form. c'etait genial (it was great), c'etait nul (it was rubbish), c'etait interessant (it was interesting).
il y avait
there was / there were -- imperfect of 'il y a'. il y avait beaucoup de monde (there were lots of people).