j'ai toujours eu or j'avais?

Carl C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

j'ai toujours eu or j'avais?

Why do we use j'ai toujours eu for "I have always had"? My understanding is the passe' compose' of avoir implies "I got" more than "I had". If we want to say "I had" we should use j'avais.

This question relates to:French writing exercise "Which book to choose?"

Freeform Writing Exercise C1

Asked 4 months ago

Like1Answer1

CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Carl,

- Passé Composé:

J'ai toujours eu... = I've always had...

-> the action started in the past and still occurs (due to the presence of "toujours")

- Imparfait:

J'avais toujours... = I always had (used to have)...

-> the action was recurring in the past but stopped ages ago.

Take a look at this similar query: Imparfait vs Passé Compose

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Like14 months ago

Carl C. asked:

j'ai toujours eu or j'avais?

Why do we use j'ai toujours eu for "I have always had"? My understanding is the passe' compose' of avoir implies "I got" more than "I had". If we want to say "I had" we should use j'avais.

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