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l'imparfait

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The imparfait is used when you are talking about how things used to be, what things were like, or what used to happen in the past.  It can be used in conjunction with the passe compose, but does not take it's place. 

To form the imparfait, you need to know the nous form of your verb in the present tense.
parler --- parlons
partir --- partons
attendre --- attendons
Then drop the -ons and add the following endings:
-ais          -ions
-ais            -iez
-ait          -aient

If you want to talk about someone playing with toys all the time when they were young, you would use the verb jouer in the following way:
je jouais          nous jouions
tu jouais          vous jouiez
il/elle jouait     ils/elles jouaient