exrong

[foggy cedar]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[keen jasper]

Par exemple, il faut que je récrive cettes phrases avec l'imparfait ou le passé composé .

"Lorsque les enfants (voir) qu'ils étaient seuls, ils (commencer) à crier et à pleurer de toute leur force. Le petit Poucet (les/laisser) crier."

J'ai écrit

"Lorsque les enfants ont vu qu'ils étaient seuls, ils ont commencé à crier et à pleurer de toute leur force. Le petit Poucet les a laissés crier..."

Mais chuis pas sûr si mes choix sont corrects

En plus

"Ils (suivre), et il (les/mener) jusqu'à leur maison par le même: chemin (suivre) pour venur dans la forêt."

J'ai récrit:

"Ils l'ont suivi et les a menés jusqu'à leur maison par le même chemin ont suivi pour venir dans la forêt."

Je comprends l'imparfait et le passé composé quand il s'agit de sentiments, d'emotion, ou quand la phrase a qqch comme "hier, la dernière semaine"

Mais je comprends pas comment déterminer si une action est complete ou non parce que parfois je me sens qu'une action est complete.

Par exemple

Ils (se mettre) à table et (manger) d'un appétit qui (faire) plaisir au père et à la mère.

Je crois que je devrais écrire : "ils se mettaient à table et ont mangé d'un appétit qui a fait plaisir au père et à la mère"

Mais ...à vrai dire je suis pas sûr pk j'ai choisi ces verbes. Y'a pas une bonne raison 😅

[tall brook]

lgtm

[tall brook]

"ont suivi" is kinda out in the open there, idk what it's doing

[keen jasper]

Ty 👍
Also took me an embarrasingly long time to realize that meant looks good to me lmao

[tall brook]

1st one is a simple action
2nd I feel could go both ways but you probably chose best, because it's the main action and completed.
3rd is a description, background information

[keen jasper]

Oh qu'ils ont suivi. Idk why the text didnt copy over correctly

[tall brook]

lol

[keen jasper]

I waa confused too lmao

[tall brook]

I'd go with plus-que-parfait for that one then

as it's past before past

[keen jasper]

Yeee i put that one down after i realizwd it was qu'ils lol

[tall brook]

but passé composé would be better than imparfait if you were to pick one as it's a simple completed action. imparfait would sound like a habit there

[keen jasper]

For simple actions is it just passé composé?

Gotchu

[tall brook]

generally yeah, unless theyre interrupted

or really vague in their time periods

mainly when longer-lasting

but if it's quick, short, start-stop, it's generally passé composé

[keen jasper]

Gotchu 👍

Idk why l'imparfait trips me up so much. Its mainly with big narrations i think

I think its like determing background information but also like

Idk lol

Mais bref, j'apprécie bien ton aide!!

[tall brook]

yeah it confused me for a long time, still occasionally trips me up but somehow a teacher simplifying it to "imparfait is background info/descriptions" helped me more than most other descriptions of it, though ofc it helped to know the use cases

[keen jasper]

I will definitely keep that in mind when goinf throuvh this more lol

Merci beaucoup

[tall brook]

cuz most of the use cases you can justify as that

habits? description of what you were doing over that period of time

[keen jasper]

Yeah like habits, continuous actions

[tall brook]

interrupted action? description of what was happening when the main action happened

[keen jasper]

Yeah

Thats how i first learned it

And with like....specific trigger words and phrases and sfuff

But with big ass long narrations

[tall brook]

I think a lot of it is just getting enough exposure and really getting a feel for it

[keen jasper]

Im just like

[tall brook]

cuz when you basically never see "j'ai pensé" you're not as inclined to use it lol

[keen jasper]

Lol yeah

I only know how to speak it when it concerns interrupted actions and like habitual stuff, or like savais, pensais, sentais

I dont talk a lot about past stuff i do tho to be fair lmao with friends haha

Need more practice lol

[tall brook]

well u seem to be doing pretty good

that last one probably wouldve tripped me up in the past

[keen jasper]

Faire plaisir?

Yeah i took a random ass guess 50/50 i figured

[tall brook]

haha

for example if the first one on there were imparfait, you'd expect a main action to go with it

but you go immediately to an action that (normally) would only be done after they had sat down

so the action is fully completed on its own, if that makes sense. It's not background info for anything, they aren't doing anything else as they sit down

[keen jasper]

Ah okay

But because that extra bit is like

I guess its descriptive

[tall brook]

at the end?

[keen jasper]

To like what theyre feeling ss they eat

Yeah

[tall brook]

yeah

[keen jasper]

Its l'imparfait

[tall brook]

the main action there is eating, and that one is describing the background info of their eating

[keen jasper]

Yeeee

I will try and like

Use that as a reference when thinking lol

[tall brook]

feel free to poke me at any point if u just wanna double check

[keen jasper]

I appreciate it 😄

Mais Faut que je dorme haha.
Ibgotta wake up at 8:30 💀

[tall brook]

I find that giving it a shot and then understanding why it is the way it is (and where you're getting confused) can help a lot

[keen jasper]

Yeah!

I appreciate all the help

[tall brook]

np! nite

[wintry rock]

Tu devrais regarder un manuel de temps pour la narration

Attends que je trouve

[keen jasper]

Oh merci beaucoup