Un jeune sauveteur (A2)

Question

Bonjour Madame Cécile !I wanted to ask a query I came up while attempting this dictée ->“Par chance, personne n'a été blessé” Madame, why has the verb “être” been conjugated in Le Passé Composé ? However, Être is a verb of state and generally takes L’Imparfait.Now, Madame, if a sentence is given -> The film was great.There are two possibilities-       1. Le film a été merveilleux. 2. Le film était merveilleux. How to judge whether a Verb of State takes Passé Composé / Imparfait ?Merci encore Madame pour votre aide.Je vous souhaite une bonne journée!

Accepted Answer

Hi Shrey, 
In that exercise, the passé composé ( for the actions) and imparfait ( for the descriptions) are quite clear.
In the case of  -
personne n'a été blessé = nobody was hurt 
we are looking back and everyone was fine, so the action is finished.
I can see why you are asking the question and it is one of the hardest things to explain as it is so instinctive to a Fench person.
In another sentence like -
Je me suis arrêté sur la route car il y avait un accident, mais comme personne n'était blessé, je suis parti tout de suite.
You use the imperfect for 'être blessé' here, as nobody was hurt at the time.
You will rarely use the PC for verbs of state but in the exercise, it is a good example where it is necessary.
In your example of the film-
Le film a été merveilleux  (in hindsight)
Le film était merveilleux  (at the time) 
is probably the best way to think about it.
Bonne continuation!

Answer

I would have said that the difference here is between the verb blesser in the passé composé example (i.e. it's the passive voice), and the adjective blessé in the imparfait example.