Why is it used "c'etait" with a meaning of passé composé ? I.e. "C'etait une belle soirée " Thanks!
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Máximo Kwiziq community member
Why is it used "c'etait" with a meaning of passé composé ? I.e. "C'etait une belle soirée " Thanks!
MassyKwiziq community member
Because the "soirée" is finished and they are probably saying good by to their host; The meaning is not "passé composé" , since the "soirée" is over:
Máximo Kwiziq community member
Thank you massy but in my opinion "c'etait" is conjugated " à l'imparfait" and the meaning does not correspond to that tense theoretically. Thanks again!
LauraKwiziq team member
Bonjour Máximo,
The verb être does not have distinct imperfect vs passé composé meanings like many other verbs do - ça a été and c'était are both normally equivalent to "was/were."
This is also the case for avoir, which is normally just "had" in English.
In comparison, action verbs like aller do have different translations: je suis allé - I went vs j'allais - I was going.
Máximo asked:View original
Why is it used "c'etait" with a meaning of passé composé ? I.e. "C'etait une belle soirée " Thanks!
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