Can you explain grammatically the construction if this phrase? I get that it means "we got home from school", but it seems unnecessarily complicated. Could you not say "nous étions retourné de l'école"?
"nous étions de retour de l'école"
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »

Hi Gary,
The two expressions we accept for 'to be home / back from school' are
être de retour de l'école
être rentré de l'école
'retourné is wrong here.
Bonne continuation !
GaryKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thank you Cécile ! I was confused by the "de"s in the phrase, but I see they are just a part of the phrase.
Gary asked:View original
"nous étions de retour de l'école"
Can you explain grammatically the construction if this phrase? I get that it means "we got home from school", but it seems unnecessarily complicated. Could you not say "nous étions retourné de l'école"?
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level