#Owen

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

edgy zincBOT
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Please be patient

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dense rivet
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im sorry if this is incredibly vague

graceful hollow
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The other way around, actually. The imparfait describes a duration, background event, that is wholly in the past whereas the passé composé is more about actions with a clear before/after state.

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dense rivet
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yeh i know its the other way around with adverbs

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like toujours or jamais

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but i see the opposite as well

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like for this conversation for instance

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graceful hollow
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Think of it like this: The imparfait describes habitual stuff that you used to do in the past but now you no longer do them; this implies that what you are doing no longer is true in the present like saying, « Je comprenais le latin » means that you used to understand Latin but now you don't anymore. The passé composé instead describes actions that were in the past but that doesn't mean it still isn't true today; saying, « Je n'ai pas compris ce texte » means that you didn't understand a text in the past and maybe you still don't to this day – the possibility is open.

graceful hollow
dense rivet
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ok but i dont get his explanation of it contiuning today

graceful hollow
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Basically, the existence of the hoax, its state of being essentially, is still ongoing

dense rivet
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but why would "ça a été un canular" implie its no longes a hoax or he thinks its no longer one

graceful hollow
dense rivet
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i just dont understand

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im trying to rack my brain but i just cant seem to get it

graceful hollow
# dense rivet im trying to rack my brain but i just cant seem to get it

It's really contextual a lot of the time but what I would say is that try and separate actions from events (in that events are seen as a collection of actions). Actions, which are generally one-and-done with a clear before/after state, use the passé composé while events, which can happen over and over again when taken as a collection, use the imparfait.
In the first picture example there, « je voulais être médecin » implies an event, something that happened again and again; « j'ai voulu être médecin » implies an act, like before this action I didn't want to become a doctor, the action then happened, and that after state of me deciding to become a doctor stayed with me.
In the second picture example, « j'aimais l'école » implies an event, something that happened again and again; « j'ai aimé l'école » implies an act, like before this action I didn't like school, the action then happened, and that after state of me liking school stayed with me.
In Andy's example, « l'alunissage était un canular » implies an event, something that happened again and again; « l'alunissage a été un canular » implies an act, like before this action the lunar landing was hoax, the action then happened, and that after state of the lunar landing being real stayed true.

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Just as an example of the distinction being contextual, « y avoir » can be either imparfait or passé composé :
« Il y avait un orage quand je me suis réveillé ce matin. »
-> The fact that there was a storm was used to paint the background, an event that endured for some time, when an event interrupted that
« Je marchais quand il y a tout à coup eu un orage. »
-> The fact that a storm happened was used as an action that interrupted the background event and the storm stayed active

dense rivet
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"l'alunissage a été un canular » implies an act, like before this action the lunar landing was a hoax, the action then happened, and that after state of the lunar landing being a real thing stayed true."

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wouldnt it be before before this action the lunar landing was real then action then happened it being a hoax and then it remained true

graceful hollow
dense rivet
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then why does andy say the opposite

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that it would imply it would no longer be true

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je says the use of the imparfait implies the grandpa still believes it to be a hoax

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and the pc when he no longer thinks that

graceful hollow
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Hold on I'm mixing my meanings

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because I can't hold it in my brain to say that the moon landing is a hoax

graceful hollow
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Andy said the same thing: it's imparfait because the condition/state of being of the statement continues until now whereas passé composé implied he must've changed his opinion

dense rivet
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yeh thats where my confusion lies i have no idea how it implies these things

oak crystal
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So

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Hello

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This one's a bit tricky

dense rivet
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hello

oak crystal
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Basically

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Était here implies it still was a hoax

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In the present, it was a hoax
If that makes sense

dense rivet
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not particulary

oak crystal
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C'était la première fois
It was the first time
It still was the first time
It hasn't changed

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It didn't turn into something else

dense rivet
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yeh that makes sense

oak crystal
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It's always gonna be a bit tricky but that's basically the same idea here

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I'm having trouble thinking of good ça a été examples tho

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It's not an incredibly common thing to say especially vs était

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Since things "being" something is generally a vague time period that often doesn't truly "end"

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Generally things continue to have "been" a certain way

dense rivet
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this was very informative i think i understand alot better now

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thank you

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thank you bertie as well

dense rivet
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sorry to bother you but i saw this "ça a été" use here should this not be c'était?

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graceful hollow