bre (corrigez-moi)

[hollow stone]

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.

[whole oar]

L’imparfait is a past tense itself, are you talking about the passé composé?

if I understand your question correctly, the short answer would be that using l'imparfait would indeed make more sense in most cases when talking about past habits, but the passé composé can be used when there’s a need to stress the temporary nature or completion of the habit

I’m gonna use these examples to illustrate why we’d use one tense over the other

• Passé composé: "J'ai eu l'habitude de me lever tôt pendant mes vacances l'année dernière, mais maintenant je dors tard"
  In this case the passé composé suggests that the habit of waking up early was specific to that vacation and is now over.
• Imparfait: "J'avais l'habitude de me lever tôt quand j'étais enfant"
  Here, the imparfait expresses a long-lasting habit in the past without specifying when it ended. In summary the passé composé gives the idea of a temporary habit tied to a specific period, while the imparfait presents a general, continuous habit

[modest citrus]

i was wondering because l'imparfait is used to express (past) habits so what's the point of using avoir l'habitude to express a past habit when that is a function of l'imparfait

right ?

[whole oar]

« avoir l’habitue » ain’t a past tense 👀, it’s the infinitive

[modest citrus]

yeah i mean in general

[whole oar]

Do you mean why use it in the present?

[modest citrus]

like why say 'j'avais l'habitude de prendre le train tous les jour' when you could say 'je prenais le train tous les jours'

dont they mean the exact same thing

[whole oar]

Well I would say that when using "je prenais" you’re simply narrating that this happened regularly in the past whereas when using "j'avais l'habitude de" you’re emphasizing that it was a habit, highlighting the regularity or the fact that it was a conscious pattern in your life. "avoir l'habitude de" is useful when you want to emphasize that the action was a habit or routine, especially if you're contrasting it with a change in behavior later on

[modest citrus]

ah okay

that makes sense

[whole oar]

Sorry for not completely understanding the question, I’m happy you got it now 😅

[modest citrus]

oh tkt its fine

i dont think i worded it very well anyway baha

but thank you for helping me

🫶

[clear tide]

~ I was used to taking the train every day/I had a habit of taking the train every day
vs
I took the train every day

[modest citrus]

ah daccord

thank you