Tense question

HazelC1Kwiziq community member

Tense question

Quand j'ai signé mon prêt dans vos locaux, c'est Monsieur Dupont qui était responsable de mon dossier. - In English we would say - when I signed………it was …… who was responsable/in charge of. 

Here it is 

‚c‘est M.Dupont qui était responsable…‘

Is this an expression that always uses the present tense followed by the imperfect? Could you use imperfect and imperfect in this example ……c‘était M. Dupont qui était…..

Thank you 

Asked 1 year ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Hazel,

Take a look at the examples below:

C'est M. Dupont qui est responsable de l'équipe. = It is Mr Dupont who is in charge of the team.

C'est M. Dupont qui était responsable de l'équipe. It was Mr Dupont who was  in charge of the team.

 

You are stating a "true" fact (a bit like a historical fact) therefore "it was" is going to be translated in Le Présent (de vérité générale). 

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Tense question

Quand j'ai signé mon prêt dans vos locaux, c'est Monsieur Dupont qui était responsable de mon dossier. - In English we would say - when I signed………it was …… who was responsable/in charge of. 

Here it is 

‚c‘est M.Dupont qui était responsable…‘

Is this an expression that always uses the present tense followed by the imperfect? Could you use imperfect and imperfect in this example ……c‘était M. Dupont qui était…..

Thank you 

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