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FrenchConjugationImparfait

Pouvoir (can) · Imparfait

By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated

Pouvoir in the French imparfait is: je pouvais, tu pouvais, il/elle/on pouvait, nous pouvions, vous pouviez, ils/elles pouvaient. The imparfait of pouvoir is regular, from the nous form 'pouvons': je pouvais, tu pouvais. Describes ongoing past ability or interrupted ability. 'Je pouvais courir vite quand j'étais jeune' = 'I could run fast when I was young'.

pouvoir conjugation in the Imparfait
To Be AblePouvoir
I used to be able
je pouvais
you used to be able
tu pouvais
he/she used to be able
il/elle/on pouvait
we used to be able
nous pouvions
you used to be able
vous pouviez
they used to be able
ils/elles pouvaient
Examples

Pouvoir (can) in context

Sentences that use pouvoir in the imparfait. Tap each to hear it.

Quand j'étais jeune, je pouvais courir vite.

When I was young, I could run fast.

Tu pouvais m'aider, mais tu ne l'as pas fait.

You could have helped me, but you didn't.

Il pouvait lire avant ses cinq ans.

He could read before he was five.

Nous pouvions voir la mer depuis la fenêtre.

We could see the sea from the window.

Vous pouviez venir si vous vouliez.

You could come if you wanted.

Ils ne pouvaient pas dormir à cause du bruit.

They couldn't sleep because of the noise.

Tip

Working with the imparfait

The imparfait paints the background of a past scene: weather, age, habits, descriptions, ongoing actions that get interrupted. "Il faisait nuit" (it was nighttime), "j'avais cinq ans" (I was five years old), "je marchais quand tu m'as appelé" (I was walking when you called me). The imparfait is almost completely regular — the stem comes from the nous form of the present (nous parlons → je parlais), with only être being truly irregular (j'étais). The contrast with passé composé is the single most important past-tense distinction in French: imparfait = background or habitual; passé composé = completed event.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do you conjugate pouvoir in the imparfait?
Pouvoir is regular in the imparfait: je pouvais, tu pouvais, il/elle/on pouvait, nous pouvions, vous pouviez, ils/elles pouvaient. Stem 'pouv-' from the nous form. The stem alternation 'peu/pouv' of the present doesn't apply here — only the present and subjonctif use 'peu-'.
When do I use 'je pouvais' instead of 'j'ai pu'?
Use 'je pouvais' for ongoing past ability without committing to outcome: 'de jeune, je pouvais courir un marathon' (when young, I could run a marathon — capability, not specific event). Use 'j'ai pu' when the ability was actually exercised: 'l'année dernière, j'ai pu courir un marathon' (last year, I was able to run a marathon — and I did). Background = imperfect; foreground completion = passé composé.
What does 'tu pouvais le faire' imply?
Depending on context, 'tu pouvais le faire' carries one of two meanings: 1) descriptive past ability ('you could do it, back then') or 2) a soft reproach ('you could have done it' — and you didn't). The second meaning often surfaces in the conditional 'tu aurais pu le faire' for stronger reproach. French speakers use the imparfait of pouvoir to soften criticism — saying what someone could have done without explicit blame.
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More tenses of Pouvoir (Can)

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Pouvoir (can) · Passé Composé
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Pouvoir (can) · Subjonctif

More verbs in imparfait

All tenses
Pouvoir (can)
imparfait
Être (to be)
imparfait
Avoir (to have)
imparfait
Aller (to go)
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