invisible121 | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

nocturne novaBOT Feb 28, 2024, 6:18 PM

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haughty cypress Feb 28, 2024, 6:19 PM

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imparfait is to tell atmosphere and routine. no avoir needed.

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je suis allée à Paris, c'était beau.

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:20 PM

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haughty cypress je suis allée à Paris, c'était beau.

i am gone to paris, it was beautiful?

haughty cypress Feb 28, 2024, 6:21 PM

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frigid pebble i am gone to paris, it was beautiful?

i have*

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:22 PM

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haughty cypress i have*

wont that be j'ai

runic vault Feb 28, 2024, 6:22 PM

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haughty cypress je suis allée à Paris, c'était beau.

*beau (adjectif toujours masculin singulier après c'est)

haughty cypress Feb 28, 2024, 6:22 PM

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frigid pebble wont that be j'ai

there are a special set of verbs that use aller instead of avoir in passé composé which are DR MRS VAN DER TRAMP

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runic vault Feb 28, 2024, 6:23 PM

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The idea is that imparfait expresses the context that another action occurs in: it can often be translated as "was Xing" or "used to X", though English often doesn't make this distinction explicit

haughty cypress Feb 28, 2024, 6:23 PM

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and alsoreflexive (je me/tu te/il se/elle se/vous vous/ nous nous/ils se/elles se)

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:24 PM

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haughty cypress there are a special set of verbs that use aller instead of avoir in passé compos...

house of etre

haughty cypress Feb 28, 2024, 6:24 PM

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ouais!!!

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:24 PM

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hmmmmm

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so j'ai ete would mean i was

haughty cypress Feb 28, 2024, 6:27 PM

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frigid pebble so j'ai ete would mean i was

i had been

velvet hound Feb 28, 2024, 6:28 PM

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I was

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I had been → j'avais été

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but "j'ai été" has a very specific meaning that isn't super natural to try to translate into English

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:29 PM

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woah

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then what is j'étais?

velvet hound Feb 28, 2024, 6:29 PM

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also "I was"

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:29 PM

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im confused

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when to use which one

velvet hound Feb 28, 2024, 6:29 PM

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the tenses don't align perfectly

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English has a different paradigm than French, so you need to learn how French uses verb tesnes, not just translate word-for-word from English

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:30 PM

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hmmm

velvet hound Feb 28, 2024, 6:30 PM

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This article is a good place to start to see the differences https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait/

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:31 PM

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in j'ai ete, what is ete an example of?

velvet hound Feb 28, 2024, 6:31 PM

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été is a past participle

frigid pebble Feb 28, 2024, 6:32 PM

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oh so passe compose

devout hatch Feb 29, 2024, 1:54 AM

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frigid pebble oh so passe compose

Yeah. Though « j'ai été » would be translated into 'I was' when you're dealing with active voice sentences, it does appear in the passive and it tracks with the English.
I have been assigned to the south of France.
J' ai été affecté au sud de France.

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