In French, to describe something or to express an opinion in the past, you use L'Imparfait.
Learn how to describe and express opinions in L'Imparfait (Indicatif) in French
Look at these examples in L'Imparfait (Indicatif):
Dans un coin de la pièce, une petite fille se tenait debout. Elle avait les yeux fermés.In the corner of the room stood a little girl. She had her eyes shut.
Les clameurs de la foule en colère lui parvenaient à travers les rideaux.The tumult of the angry crowd reached him through the curtains.
Le soleil brillait sur la campagne, et les animaux couraient dans l'herbe verdoyante.The sun shone on the countryside, and the animals ran in the green grass.
Il était une fois, un roi et une reine qui vivaient dans un château.Once upon a time, a king and a queen lived in a castle.
-> Here, note that in French, you literally say "There was once a king and a queen who lived in a castle."
L'Imparfait (Indicatif) is also used for descriptions, i.e. to help visualise the setting or atmosphere in which an action took place, characters, location, time frame ...
In a similar way, L'Imparfait (Indicatif) is also used to express opinions about the past:
When the verb être is used in a past context, it is usually in L'Imparfait (Indicatif) and NOT Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), as it often appears in a descriptive context or to express an opinion.
Other uses for L'Imparfait (Indicatif):
Expressing continuing action with the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait)
Expressing past habits or repeated actions with the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait)
Using the compound tense (Le Passé Composé) on its own or with the imperfect tense (L'Imparfait)
And to see how to conjugate in L'Imparfait (Indicatif):
Conjugate regular verbs in the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait) and Conjugate être in the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait)
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Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Ce jour-là, nous portions des portions de frites.That day, we were carrying servings of French fries.
Le soleil brillait sur la campagne, et les animaux couraient dans l'herbe verdoyante.The sun shone on the countryside, and the animals ran in the green grass.
Dans un coin de la pièce, une petite fille se tenait debout. Elle avait les yeux fermés.In the corner of the room stood a little girl. She had her eyes shut.
