Bonjour à tous,
Could someone explain why these verbs aren't ever used in the imperfect ? I realize there are alternative verbs that can be used, but am just curious about the reason.
Merci !
Bonjour à tous,
Could someone explain why these verbs aren't ever used in the imperfect ? I realize there are alternative verbs that can be used, but am just curious about the reason.
Merci !
Hi Jean,
This is a very interesting question.
Clore and 'Éclore' don't have an imperfect, a past historic and are part of verbs which are called 'defective' ( défectif in French) by the very reason that they cannot be conjugated like other verbs as they have missing tenses or forms.
' Falloir' and 'pleuvoir' are other examples as they are only conjugated in the third person singular like all impersonal verbs.
Others include, absoudre , accroître, faillir ....
This is what the Académie Française has to say about them -
http://www.academie-francaise.fr/verbes-defectifs-je-closis-et-je-traisis-il-appert
Hope this helps!
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