French language Q&A Forum

Can you explain why passé composé is used to translate 'I didn't have the time before my trip'? I always make this mistake because I think that the speaker means they didn't have the time for an extended period of time and I often think that imparfait should be used in those cases.

Bonjour,

In one of the examples above:
Maintenant que ses parents n'étaient plus là, elle devait s'occuper de sa sœur.

However I'm confused because it states that Devoir with l'imparfait is "was supposed to [do]", however the translation is:
Now that her parents were gone, she had to take care of her sister.

Why is it not:
Now that her parents were gone, she was supposed to take care of her sister.

Merci

Pourquoi le phrase "Il s'en occupe tout de suite" veut dire "He takes care of them right away. (i.e. things)" au lieu de  "He takes care of it right away" dans le test? Si je disais "Je m'occupe de mon problèm," pourrait-on utilise "en" pour remplacer le seul problèm?

I’ve seen this example a that doesn’t t follow the rule:. Elle pense à sa famille … Elle y pense 

Comment je peux dire en Français

The french language has many exceptions.

Merci beaucoup

It says jusqu'à ce que and subjunctive is for until someone does something so for example 'we kissed until his parents arrived'. But could it also apply to 'we talked until it became too late'? So a second part of the sentence not done by someone but a situation without a person and action.

Salut,

pourquoi on dit "C'est un ange !" quand on parle de la fillette ?

la fillette = elle, n'est-ce pas?

Merci.

Au cours des années, elle m'a transmis sa passion - why is passé composé used? She clearly says 'over the years' so a repeated action? surely the imparfait would be used here?