The past for habits, descriptions, and how things were.

• je parlaisI (parler) — endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient on the nous-stemje parlais = I was speaking / I used to speak
• tu parlaisyou (parler)tu parlais = you were speaking
• il/elle parlaithe/she (parler)il parlait = he was speaking
• nous parlionswe (parler)nous parlions = we were speaking
• vous parliezyou (parler)vous parliez = you were speaking
• ils/elles parlaientthey (parler)ils parlaient = they were speaking
• je finissaisI (finir) — the -iss- stem carries over from nous finissonsje finissais = I was finishing
• il finissaithe (finir) — keeps the -iss- stemil finissait = he was finishing
• j'étaisI was (être) — être is the only irregular stem: ét-j'étais = I was
• tu étaisyou were (être)tu étais = you were
• il étaithe was (être)il était = he was
• nous étionswe were (être)nous étions = we were
• ils étaientthey were (être)ils étaient = they were
• j'avaisI had (avoir) — stem av- from nous avonsj'avais = I had
• il avaithe had (avoir)il avait = he had
• Quand j'étais petitImparfait = description / past state, not a single eventQuand j'étais petit = When I was little
• Il pleuvaitImparfait = ongoing background / setting the sceneIl pleuvait = It was raining
• Je mangeais quand il est arrivéImparfait (ongoing) interrupted by passé composé (completed event)Je mangeais quand il est arrivé = I was eating when he arrived
• Tous les jours, je jouais au footImparfait = habitual / repeated action ('used to')Tous les jours, je jouais au foot = Every day, I used to play football
• Imparfait vs passé composéImparfait = ongoing / habitual / description; passé composé = a single completed eventJe lisais (I was reading) vs j'ai lu (I read / I have read)