PC vs imparfait at C1 — les emplois stylistiques
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The imparfait beyond time: politeness, hypothesis, and suggestion.
Imparfait de politesse
« Je voulais vous demander… » — nothing past about it; the imparfait softens the request. Same family as « je venais voir si… ».
Imparfait de suggestion
« Et si on partait ce week-end ? » (how about leaving?) — hypothesis and invitation, no past meaning at all. Mastering these non-temporal uses is pure C1.
💡 Suggestion et politesse — aucun sens passé !
🔊 Example sentences
💡 Your C1 goal
At C1 you’re refining style: choosing between correct options for tone and precision. Notice how native writers and speakers deploy this, and imitate deliberately.
Feeling shaky? Step back to Passe Compose Vs Imparfait at B2. Comfortable? Level up to Passe Compose Vs Imparfait at C2.
✍️ Practice
Et si on ___ (aller) au cinéma ? (suggestion)
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allait
Je ___ (vouloir) vous demander… (polite) (softener)
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voulais
Encore une minute et je ___ (rater) le train ! (near-miss)
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ratais
🎮 Practise
🧩 Sentence builder rebuild the negation