Why the imparfait?

Question

The lesson that drew me here said the correct answer was in the imparfait.  Ils ne habitaient plus ici but the examples in the lesson do not transition from the present to the imparfait. What makes the difference?

Accepted Answer

Hi Ted,
Without the full context, it is impossible to answer your query. Using the correct past tense depends on the situation.
Normally the problem is when to use the passé composé or the imparfait.
It has nothing to do with ne --- plus.
The examples in this lesson are all in the present tense because we are concentrating on the use of this negative and adding different tenses would only complicate the matter.
Bonne Continuation !

Answer

Hm, "ne ... plus" means "no more/no longer" no matter what the tense. Maybe the lesson should contain examples in other tenses than the present to make this more clear.

So the imparfait in the answer will be required because the question is about the past but it is not related to "ne ... plus".