You define L'imparfait as being about things that happened repeatedly in the past or past habits. Yet "You had eaten cereal this morning" is neither a repeated action nor a past habits, yet is expressed in L'imparfait... "tu avais mangé des céréales ce matin"? Sounds more like your definition of le passé composé - a single event in a defined timeframe. I get that the grammar is correct. What I'm questioning is your definitions.
"You had" + verb is l'imparfait?
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Gilberts I.Kwiziq community member
"You had" + verb is l'imparfait?
This question relates to:French lesson "Using the French compound past (Le Passé Composé) to express sentences in the English simple past"
Asked 2 years ago
It seems likely you have come across this sentence in another lesson or context?
Tu mangeais des céreales ce matin ... You were eating cereal this morning (when I saw you, or whatever) - Imparfait
Tu as mangé des céreales ce matin ... You ate cereal this morning. - Passé Composé
Tu avais mangé des céréales ce matin - You had eaten cereal this morning . . . (before you went out, or whatever) - Plus-que-parfait
Jim J. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Gilberts,
I assume that you are referring to question 2 at the end of the lesson?
"You had eaten ...." is an option for you to select.
The user has to decide whether that expression meets the lesson criteria or not?
I will refrain from answering for you -- that would defeat the object of the lesson.
Bonne continuation.
Jim
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
"You had eaten" is past perfect tense, not imperfect.
"You ate" is imperfect tense.
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