#reena7998
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Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.
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.
Comment puis-je dire ça ?
Quelle est ta question exactement ? Tu cherches à savoir comment ces phrases se prononcent ?
oh, just noticed your edit
The imparfait describes a state or a recurring action.
Ma mère achetait = My mom was buying / my mom used to buy
in the context it’s about my mom buying me a plushie but it was in 2014
The passé composé describes a single completed action.
Ma mère a acheté = My mom bought
would I use passé compose or l’parfait in this context?
May I ask why the “a” is present?
You would likely use the passé composé, since you're talking about the action of her buying something.
The "a" is the auxiliary "avoir". The passé composé is built by conjugating the auxiliary in the present tense, and then adding the past participle of your target verb.
In your screenshot, you're using the plus-que-parfait tense: "Elle avait acheté". That means "she had bought", not "she bought".
ok thank you
doesn’t she had bought make sense too though?
but I guess if acheté is already a type of past tense then I don’t need a to be avait
oh wait I also just realized how achetait won’t work because it’s not like a habituelle action it’s just once she bought
Pretty much this. The pluperfect is usually used in this context to portray an event that’s past of an already mentioned past event with the implication being that the two are connected. So, I can say, « Après que j’avais acheté cet ours en peluche, ma copine l’a pris pour qu’elle se souvienne toujours de moi. »