Memories
I was an imparfait student
We've already seen one way to talk about the past in French: the passé composé.
J'ai acheté une maison.
I bought a house.
But if you want to describe something you used to do or how something used to be, you'll use a verb form called imparfait.
Let's start by looking at the je, tu, and il / elle forms.
Quand j'étais à l'université, j'étudiais le français.
When I was in college, I studied French.
Quand tu étais étudiant, tu habitais à Paris.
When you were a student, you were living in Paris.
Quand il était jeune, il aimait étudier.
When he was young, he loved studying.
Je travaillais à Paris.
I worked in Paris.
C'était le plus beau des voyages !
We've seen how to use c'est to talk about how things are right now. Use c'était to talk about how things were in the past!
C'était la belle vie.
It was the good life.
Souviens‑toi…
In French, se souvenir is always followed by de.
Tu te souviens de tout.
You remember everything.
Elle se souvient des vacances en Espagne.
She remembers the vacation to Spain.
Nous nous souvenons de notre grand‑père.
We remember our grandfather.