When I was young... I use etais but to say he was promoted you don't say il etait promu but il a ete promu and I don't understand why you use this and not the imperfect. Please explain! I can't add accents on this so forgive me they are missing
Using imperfect or passe compose??
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Hi Pippa,
When to use the passé composé or imparfait is extremely difficult for non-French natives and this question has been asked before.
Take a look at the answers to a similar question in the hope that it may clarify matters for you -
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/questions/view/l-imparfait-vs-le-passe-compose
Hope it helps!
Hi Pippa,
It can be confusing to differentiate between when to use l'imparfait v passé composé.
"Quand j'était jeune." This is to reminisce a previous past progressive situation - not complete, but continuous historically.
"Il a été promu." This is a completed action -- the person has been elevated to a more senior status.
Hope this helps.
Bonne continuation
Jim
French imperfect is a lot like continuous form in English. Ask yourself: would you say,
When he was young, he was being promoted. -- Quand il était jeune, il était promu.
When he was young, he was promoted. -- Quand il était jeune, il a été promu.
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