Further clarification sought

Question

Seeking clarification on Maartens answer to Randa.  The link provided, indicated that 'toujours' could be in either tense. I felt the imparfait was indicated as the action "loving" is ongoing and not finished.   Would 'love' to read your response/s.

Accepted Answer

Hi Andrea, 
Just to add to this excellent conversation, and I hope I am not adding to your confusion but I cannot find any example in our lesson with aimer and toujours.
The only two examples i found are 
Nous nous sommes aimés pendant des années 
to which you have to choose the English equivalent.
and 
Et ils _________  jusqu'à la fin ( And they loved each other until the end )
to which we accept:

Ils s'aimèrent jusqu'à la fin (passé simple) 
Ils se sont aimés jusqu'à la fin (passé composé) 
Ils s'aimaient jusqu'à la fin (imparfait)

Answer

Hi Andrea,There is no link in your post so cannot be reminded about what Maarten wrote.Generally, if in English the French sentence could be translated by "was" "were" or "would" (would in a habitual sense) then l'imparfait is expected to be appropriate in French.I don't claim that this approach is infallible but it is a useful guide.Hope this helps.Bonne journéeJim

Answer

Passé composé is used if the ‘loving’ is ongoing - things true in past, and still true now. Imparfait would indicate that the loving came to an end at some undefined stage, and leave a French speaker wondering why/how. Note passé composé can of course also be used if there are ‘specific time boundaries’ to the loving (other event etc) - as in its standard usage.

Also not sure which of my previous comments was seen, but this link to a YouTube by Hugo Cottongue covers this ‘advanced’ case use of passé composé well - at about 14 minute mark. The whole clip is worth watching - all in well-enunciated French, and subtitles available if wanted.

https://youtu.be/3rpQ5xeFneg

Answer

This is the direct link to the question:

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/questions/view/just-wondering-why-and-they-loved-each-other-forever-would-not-be-expressed-in-the-imparfait

I'm not sure what the French translation was, but the English text implies something complete in the past. Presumably they loved each other until they died.