Conjugate semi-regular -ger verbs in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense)

Hi Joan,

Changer de and changer have a very similar meaning albeit not exactly the same.

Changer de -- to switch, to change over, a change of something
Changer -- to change, to exchange

Nous changions de voiture tous les ans. -- We used to have a change of cars every year.
Nous changions la voiture tous les ans. -- We used to change the car every year.

That's my understanding of the matter, but the opinion of a native speaker would be appreciated.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi Joan,

When you use the verb 'changer' the subject is doing the "changing".

e.g.

Il a beaucoup changé, on ne le reconnait plus.

(He has changed a lot, you don't recognise him any more.)

With 'changer de' it is the object doing the "changing".

Je vais changer de coiffeur = I am going to change my hairdresser

Je vais changer de robe/de pantalon  = I am going to change my dress/trousers

Hope this helps!

Hi Cécile,

this is an interesting explanation that I am still not entirely clear about.

Would the sentence "Je change ma robe." be incorrect? And if not, how would it be translated?

-- Chris.

Hi Chris,

Yes, you can say 'Je change ma /de robe car j'ai fait une tâche dessus'.

or even 'Je change ma/de voiture cette année.

I was trying to simplify the different usages of 'changer'

Changer ( intransitive verb) means just 'to change'.

e.g. Cette ville a beaucoup changé depuis la guerre. (This town has changed a lot since the war.)

Il change en ce moment, il devient vraiment méchant.

(He is changing at the moment, he is becoming nasty.)

In the case of transitive usages of 'changer quelque chose':

it conveys 'to bring change to something'or 'to replace something':

Changer une ampoule = to change a light bulb

Changer le monde  = to change the world

Changer les draps = to change the sheets

'Changer DE quelque chose'  will usually mean 'to switch something' or 'to get a different something'

Changer de T-shirt, changer d'avis /d'idée  (to change one's mind), changer de couleur. etc...

A big difference in meaning between "Je veux changer le pays" (I want to change the country) and "Je veux changer de pays" (I want to leave the country)!

Hope it is clearer...

My 2 bits:    I want 'a change of' country (changer de).

I want 'to change' (changer,trans) the country.

The country is changing (changer ,intrans).

Sorry, my full question didn't post. Used to or was doing something... Is imparfait more of "I used to do something" or storytelling "I was doing something" ? The examples on this lesson use "I used to..." but on another imparfait lesson they use "was doing." Je mangeais des pâtes. I used to eat pasta. Could the translation also be "I was eating pasta" ? An example on another lesson for l'imparfait is: Je faisais un château de sable. I was making a sandcastle. Based on the examples on this page- the translation for could also be "I used to make sandcastle(s)" Help!

Hi Katie,

yes, the Imparfait can express habits in the past or describe the setting of an event which happened in the past.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Bonjour Katie !

In French, you have mainly 2 past tenses : L' Imparfait and Le Passé Composé.
We don't have a Continuous past, equivalent to "was doing", so we will use L'Imparfait instead.

It's also L'Imparfait that we use when talking about repeated actions in the past, hence being equivalent to "used to" in certain cases.

Here are links to our related lessons:

https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/l-imparfait-usage-expressing-continuing-action-in-the-past-imperfect-tense

https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/l-imparfait-usage-expressing-habits-or-repeated-actions-in-the-past-imperfect-tense

https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/l-imparfait-usage-describing-and-expressing-opinions-in-the-past-imperfect-tense

I hope that's helpful!

Bonne journée ! 

Bonjour Terri. In the passé composé, i.e. j'ai beaucoup voyagé, the word beaucoup functions as an adverb and goes before the past participle of voyager; however in the present tense «je voyage beaucoup» it follows the verb. Bonne chance,

Ron, thanks for your answer. I'll need to work that one through a bit. Is it because it's a negative vs affirmative statement issue, or that it's another of the words that has two meanings depending on where it is placed?

Bonjour Terri ! Usually, when you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, as is the case here (dois + pratiquer), the adverb will come in between the two verbs :) Bonne journée !

Aurélie, thank you for your response. This makes sense, and I seem to remember coming across this before - the adverb between the two verbs. Thanks for the challenge, now I can tackle it! Terri

Aurèlie, Merci pour l'explication parce que je n'ai pas entendu cela expliqué comme ça.

Bonjour Matt, Those are two different tenses. Present tense: nous mangeons, nous voyageons Imperfect: nous mangions, nous voyagions

Oops. Moi mal (?) :)

You would say "Au temps pour moi" :)