fifteenminutes

[coral snow]

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.

[rough quiver]

Only the third one is grammatically correct (l'autre ne pouvait pas rester assis).

But that's not because only the imparfait tense works, it's because the other two sentences aren't formed correctly.

Passé composé: L'autre n'a pas pu rester assis
Imparfait: l'autre ne pouvait pas rester assis

[upbeat grail]

@frank moth i’d just like to make an helpful distinction

you use "a" to mean "has"
you use "à" to mean "to"

you can remember this because the accent on the "à" is like an arrow pointing to something

if you’re forming the passé composé for il/elle/on etc. you only ever use "a" without the accent

e.g.
"mark a donné un cadeaux à sophie" = "mark has given a present to sophie"

"mark à donné un cadeaux a sophie" = "mark to given a present has sophie" (doesn’t really make sense)