Expressing habits or repeated actions in L'Imparfait (imperfect tense)

Hi Jennifer,

The imparfait can translate both  meanings of 'used to' and 'were doing' so the only way you would know would be by the context.

'You were studying every day' ,would be -

Tu étudiais chaque jour

that is what I thought Cécile, but your site gave the other answer - You 'used to' study each day for 'Tu étudiais chaque jour'.  I always it difficult to analyse the context in just a phrase in your tests...  But thank you for your response. 

that is what I thought Cécile, but your site gave the other answer - You 'used to' study each day for 'Tu étudiais chaque jour'.  I always it difficult to analyse the context in just a phrase in your tests...  But thank you for your response. 

Without any other clue, its exact temporal interpretation would be left open. One would wait for the speaker to provide some context.

Thank you Chris

Your answer seems just fine to me. Don't know why it was marked as incorrect.

Hi Linda, 

If you use the ‘Report it’ button on your Correction Board it will link directly to the quiz you are referring to and it will make it easier for us to answer your question...

I did and they instructed me to go here

Will flag it up Linda...

Bonjour Linda !

I've had a look at the question you mentioned, and I'm a bit confused, as the answer "You used to come to see me every week." is not an option we offer, therefore can't possibly be the one you selected...

The three possible answers are (with the correct one in green here):

You used to come and see me every week 
You come to see me every week 
You had come to see me every week

I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

Why isn't 'you had come to see me every week' incorrect?

Bonjour Linda !

It is incorrect, the only correct option here is "You used to come and see me every week"

thanks sometimes I get too literal in my translations

Also why the verb "être" in this sentence is used in "Imparfait" ? Can't Passé Composé be used ?

I have also observed a sentence like-

"C'était un match entre l'Angleterre et la France."

Why can't Passé Composé be used?

In the previous post too I had doubts with " Il était petit" which I still am unable to figure out even after re-reading the lessons.

Madame Cécile, aidez-moi s'il vous plaît.

Verbs of state, ones that describe a state of being or emotions, are most often in th imperfect than the perfect. Être is such a word, as it describes a state and not an action. 

Merci would like Madame Cécile to expand a bit 

Hi Varsha,

In the example you quote, you cannot say, quand j'ai été petit and 'ça a été un match' for the reasons given by Chris above.

Verbs of state like, être, paraître, sembler, croire, penser describe duration which is conveyed by using the 'imparfait' in French and they are seldom in the 'passé composé'.

The imparfait is normally translated into English by,

something you did on a regular basis, you used to do, or  would do frequently at that period of time - when you were a child.

Hope this helps!

Merci beaucoup Madame Cécile 

Really grateful for your help 

I think you should trust the translations on this site more than Google Translate, but still, if you ask Google to translate "You used to accompany me to school every morning" into French, it does give "Tu m'accompagnais à l'école tous les matins".

Hi Gio,

In this sentence 'je m'endorme' is in the present subjunctive because 'jusqu'à ce que' is always followed by a subjunctive.

Hope this helps!

Hi Dragana,

yes, there is a problem with being able to post full questions. A lot of people suffer from it. I did bring it to the attention of the kwiziq team. If you want, why not send them a mail (under Tools > Help & Support).

Yes, "je m'endorme" is subjunctive; "je m'endors" would be indicative.

About your second question: you could also say "les bras" but in this case "ses bras" just stresses the fact that they belong to the mother since there is more than one person involved.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).