Read the following:

Quand j'étais petite / When I was young, je faisais beaucoup de bêtises (I used to play the fool). Mon père me punissait quelquefois (My father did punish me at times). Ma mère me pardonnait souvent (My mother used to forgive me often).

As you can infer from these sentences, the Imparfait is used to describe how things were or used to be in the past. It is translated by used to, was [punish] ing, was. In this section, you will learn how to form the imparfait, and how to use it. Explanations are given to you followed by exercises.