# FR: fut / était



## AnneClaire

Hello.
I think fut is a past form of verb etre..but etait is also a past form of etre..
or Am i wrong about this?
I'd like to know the difference between the two, <fut> and <etait>

Many thanks..^^


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## Kelly B

Hello, AnneClaire, I'm not a native speaker but most of them are probably in bed, so here's my attempt; they might correct me in the morning. 

the first (il fut) is the passé simple, which is used mostly in writing rather than speech, and is discussed here:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=33925&highlight=pass%E9+simple

The second (il était) is the imperfect, which is used for something in the past that happened over a period of time.

The passé composé, or perfect, ( il a été) is used for something in the past that happened as an event.


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## elroy

AnneClaire said:
			
		

> Hello.
> I think fut is a past form of verb etre..but etait is also a past form of etre..
> or Am i wrong about this?
> I'd like to know the difference between the two, <fut> and <etait>
> 
> Many thanks..^^


 
Hello.

First of all, *était* is written with an accent.

They both mean "was/were" (était can also mean "used to be.")  The difference is that "fut" is the so-called _historical _or _narrative_ past (in French _passé simple_).  It is not used in everyday speech and reserved for the written language, usually when retelling events or stories in the distant past.  In the spoken language you will hear "était" (it's called the _imparfait_ in French.) 

Does that answer your question?  If you have more doubts, please feel free to ask!


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## elroy

Kelly B said:
			
		

> The second (il était) is the imperfect, which is used for something in the past that happened over a period of time.


 
This is the technical grammatical explanation, and it is most of the time applicable, but with some verbs (_être_, _avoir_, etc.) the imperfect tends to be preferred, even if something did not happen over a period of time.  For example:

*J'étais *(not j'ai été) *surpris quand je t'ai vu.*

Natives may feel free to correct me if I err.


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## Starcreator

Try about.com's french resource on the passé simple - good explanations!


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## AnneClaire

Thank you so much...
Merci mille fois~~^^
I think i understand..
You all up there helped me a great deal in that quesiton.
^^


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## ilydork

Hi, I want to write 'Last week was a very interesting week for me' in a paragraph.
I can't decide between:
_- La semaine dernière était très intéressante pour moi._
_- La semaine dernière fut très intéressante pour moi._
_- La semaine dernière a été très intéressante pour moi.

_


> The second (il était) is the imperfect, which is used for something in the past that happened over a period of time.
> 
> The passé composé, or perfect, ( il a été) is used for something in the past that happened as an event.


I guess the 'week' is a period of time, but wouldn't it also be an event? Then again, this is written French so should I use the passé simple? 
But I've also seen the imparfait used for writing, no..? T-T  If someone could clear up those three sentences for me, that would be great! Thank you.


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## Quaeitur

The _imparfait _doesn't sound natural here. Both _passé simple_ and _passé composé_ are fine here, although _fut _would probably be used only in writing.


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## ilydork

Thank you Quaeitur. Just one more thing: So if I wrote '_ La semaine dernière fut très intéressante pour moi.' 
_And go on to say in passé composé, _'Nous sommes allées à Montréal.' _Is it acceptable to mix the tenses? 
I've read posts on this but I'd just like to know in this context.. Or should I go post in another thread


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## quinoa

Avoid mixing, simply because "fut" refers to written speech, whereas "sommes allés" to spoken and more modern speech.


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## quinoa

> *J'étais *(not j'ai été) *surpris quand je t'ai vu.*
> 
> Natives may feel free to correct me if I err.


 
Given the fact that it's when I saw you that I felt surprised, it's much relevant to say :
J'ai été surpris quand je t'ai vu.
Two successive actions: "ai vu" first, then "ai été surpris"


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## dragsterwave

Bonsoir,

Pour un évenement qui s'est produit le jour même, on mettrait 'était' ou 'fut' dans ce cas ?
Ex: La conférence d'aujourd'hui fut très intéressante


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## Maître Capello

Selon le contexte exact et la nuance que l'on veut faire passer, il y a en fait trois possibilités :

imparfait → _La conférence d'aujourd'hui *était* très intéressante._
passé simple → _La conférence d'aujourd'hui *fut* très intéressante._
passé composé → _La conférence d'aujourd'hui *a été* très intéressante._

Il ne faut toutefois pas oublier que le passé simple ne s'emploie guère que dans la langue écrite soignée.

Voir aussi les discussions suivantes :

FR: être - passé composé / imparfait
FR: imparfait / passé simple
FR: passé composé / imparfait


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## dragsterwave

Le contexte étant dans un mail à quelqu'un.. Donc ne on mettrait pas le passé simple alors. […]


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