# FR: when the photo was being taken



## ptikobj

hello / salut!

i have a question regarding the following phrase:

When the photo was being taken, my friend and I were drinking (i.e. getting drunk).

Quand la photo prenait, mon amie et moi buvions.

Is 'quand' the right word to use for 'when/while, and is prenait correct in terms of l'imparfait (as in 'the photo was taking', 'being taken' etc.)?

For context, I'm meant to be describing a moment - i'm describing a memory of some event.

 thanks!


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## Aestyle

_Quand_ is actually the right word to use. However_ prenait_, you must use a passive form, in this case _était prise_

*Quand la photo était prise, mon amie et moi buvions.

*I am also thinking about using _passé composé_

*Quand la photo a été prise, mon amie et moi buvions.*

It seems to be more grammatically correct, but we are kind of losing the continuous tense _was being taken_


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## Maître Capello

Aestyle said:


> *Quand la photo était prise, mon amie et moi buvions.
> **Quand la photo a été prise, mon amie et moi buvions. *
> It seems to be more grammatically correct


But the “most correct” way to write it would be:
_
Quand la photo *fut*_ (passé simple [passif])_ prise, mon amie et moi buvions/étions en train de boire._


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## madolo

en quoi le passé simple est-il plus correct que le passé composé ?


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## mandareene

Passé simple si tu fais une version de type littéraire. Mais l'on utlisera plus aisément le passé composé à l'oral.


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## madolo

mandareene said:


> Passé simple si tu fais une version de type littéraire. Mais l'on utlisera plus aisément le passé composé à l'oral.


"littéraire" et "correct" ne sont pas synonymes.
Vu le contexte, il s'agit plutôt d'un énoncé de la vie courante : je commente la photo pour les copains.
Le "quand la photo _fut _prise" me semble improbable.


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## geostan

ptikobj said:


> hello / salut!
> 
> i have a question regarding the following phrase:
> 
> When the photo was being taken, my friend and I were drinking (i.e. getting drunk).
> 
> Quand la photo prenait, mon amie et moi buvions.
> 
> Is 'quand' the right word to use for 'when/while, and is prenait correct in terms of l'imparfait (as in 'the photo was taking', 'being taken' etc.)?
> 
> For context, I'm meant to be describing a moment - i'm describing a memory of some event.
> 
> thanks!



If you are talking specifically about this English sentence, then I would translate it as:

Quand/Pendant qu'on prenait la photo, mon amie et moi buvions.


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## L'Inconnu

Aestyle said:


> _Quand_ is actually the right word to use. However_ prenait_, you must use a passive form, in this case _était prise_
> 
> *Quand la photo était prise, mon amie et moi buvions.
> 
> *I am also thinking about using _passé composé_
> 
> *Quand la photo a été prise, mon amie et moi buvions.*
> 
> It seems to be more grammatically correct, but we are kind of losing the continuous tense _was being taken_



*“Quand la photo a été prise, mon amie et moi buvions.” *would translate into English as: “My friend and I were drinking when the photo was taken.” This is probably what ptikobj meant to say in the first place. However, if ptikobj really does mean to say “When the photo was being taken, my friend and I were drinking” then I am given the impression that the act of taking the photograph was somehow a continuous process occurring in the past. Its almost as if they had to make arrangements and experiment with different poses before the image was actually captured. Could a French speaker say: “quand on était en train de prendre la photo, mon amie et moi buvions."?


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## madolo

c'est bien le sens, mais on ne le dirait pas . je propose : *au moment où *la photo a été prise, on était en train  de boire


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## L'Inconnu

madolo said:


> c'est bien le sens, mais on ne le dirait pas . je propose : *au moment où *la photo a été prise, on était en train  de boire



 Now this seems to translate as "At the time when the photo _was taken_, we were in the process of drinking” or, more naturally for an American, “we were in the middle of a drinking session.”

  But, if I want to say “the photo _was being_ taken” could I say

  “Pendant qu’on prenait la photo, nous buvions”?


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## Maître Capello

L'Inconnu said:


> But, if I want to say “the photo _was being_ taken” could I say
> “Pendant qu’on prenait la photo, nous buvions”?


Well… If you say that, people will understand that it took quite a bit of time to take the picture as it happend in the 19th century or as if the photographer had asked them to take some pose. In other words, I don't think this sentence is suitable for what you intend to say… By the way, in your English sentence, why do you insist on using the past continuous?


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## Fred_C

Maître Capello said:


> Well… If you say that, people will understand that it took quite a bit of time to take the picture as it happend in the 19th century or as if the photographer had asked them to take some pose. In other words, I don't think this sentence is suitable for what you intend to say… By the way, in your English sentence, why do you insist on using the past continuous?



 hi,
I do not agree entirely with your explanation:
I understand the imperfect tense as expressing not an absolutely long duration, but a relatively long duration.
I mean that you use the imperfect not because it expresses an action that not long "per se", but because it expresses an action that is longer than another action (expressed using the simple past tense or the "passé composé" tense), and when that shorter action is included in the longer one.

For this reason, it is impossible to use twice the imperfect here.

(Note : The shorter action is not necessarily in the same sentence. Sometimes, it is not expressed at all, but it is quite obvious).


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## L'Inconnu

Maître Capello said:


> Well… If you say that, people will understand that it took quite a bit of time to take the picture as it happend in the 19th century or as if the photographer had asked them to take some pose. In other words, I don't think this sentence is suitable for what you intend to say… By the way, in your English sentence, why do you insist on using the past continuous?



 That’s just because that was the original sentence offered by ptikobj, see the first message in this thread.



ptikobj said:


> i have a question regarding the following phrase:
> 
> When the photo was being taken, my friend and I were drinking (i.e. getting drunk).


 
I assume he meant _was taken_, in which case I have no problem with “la photo a été prise.”

  I am just debating what I might say if ptikobj _did_ insist on “the photo was being taken”. You would have to imagine him and his friend holding drinks in their hands at the same time the photographer was giving instructions on how to set up the photo. 

  I got the idea to use ‘_pendant que_’ directly from my French grammar book which, evidently, Fred wants me to throw away. Note that Geostan also used ‘pendant que’ in his suggested phrase. He also is a native English speaker. Perhaps we have the same grammar book.


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## geostan

"While the photo was being taken, we were drinking." and the French version
"Pendant qu'on prenait la photo, nous buvions." seem like perfectly reasonable sentences. In both languages, they could be said as explanatory comments to some other action or series of actions.

I honestly don't see the problems that have surfaced as a result of the original query.

For L'Inconnu: I wouldn't require a grammar text for something as basic as this.


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## Fred_C

Yes indeed :
"Pendant qu'on prenait la photo, nous buvions" is very correct, and it uses twice the imperfect, sorry for being so negative.

My claim about the impossibility to use twice the imperfect works only if these two imperfect tenses translate two English simple past tenses.
I was wrong.


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