Use of Le Passé Composé

Question

Why has the Passé Composé been used to translate "Sébastien and I have always loved sailing" and "I have always been fascinated by..." ? There is nothing to suggest these actions/emotions have finished, and in fact they are apparently ongoing due to the word "always", but the imperfect is not given as the translation. Thank you.

Answer

Hi Marilyn,The sentences you specify from the writing exercise use the present perfect tense in English. My understanding is that there is no present perfect tense in French, but that the passé composé is used to express sentences like these that specify something that started in the past and that is still true in the present. Since the use of the passé composé can refer to something that happened in the past or something that is still true in the present, I imagine that this should be made clear through additional contextual information. In the writing exercise, the first sentence uses the passé composé and might seem to describe an action in the past, but the subsequent sentences make it clear that Sébastien and Patrick still love sailing in the present. I hope this helps :)