passé composé vs. l'imparfait

Luciana A.A2Kwiziq community member

passé composé vs. l'imparfait

In the sentence "donc ce n'était pas trop compliqué !"
Why was l'imparfait used? I thought lepassé composé would be a best fit for the sentence.
Asked 4 years ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Luciana,

As Jim mentioned, the sentence describes an opinion/a state of facts about a situation, in which case l'imparfait will be used. 

See link to Kwiziq lesson: Expressing opinions and describing with the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait)

Plus as mentioned in the lesson (see link above), when the verb être is used in a past context, it usually is in L'Imparfait as it describes something/fact or as it expresses an opinion. 

For example: 

c'était bien! 

It was great!

Le test était horrible et compliqué!

The test was horrible and complicated!

 

I hope it is helpful. 

Bonne journée!  

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

As I see it the text is describing a "state" of complication. Être is appropriate but the situation historically and enduring,  therefore  était. The point is the "enduring historic situation" rather than "completed."

Hope this helps?

Luciana A. asked:

passé composé vs. l'imparfait

In the sentence "donc ce n'était pas trop compliqué !"
Why was l'imparfait used? I thought lepassé composé would be a best fit for the sentence.

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