# FR: Pendant + tous les jours - past tense



## Diddlina

In my grammar book it says that when there is a "pendant" in a sentence it is almost an obligation to use passé composé.

It also says that when there is a "tous les jours" imparfait is probable but you have a choice.

I had this sentence.

*Pendant les vacances, je (faire) du sport tous les jours.

*Given the above I chose passé composé. 

Pendant les vacances, j'ai fait du sport tous les jours.

Then I see that according to my teacher I got it wrong, I should have used imparfait but he doesn't explain why.

Pendant les vacances je faisais du sport tous les jours.

The only thing I can think of is that the "tous les jours" is stronger in this sentence than the "pendant" and therefore calls for the use of imparfait...

Can anyone explain?


----------



## Taurusfp

If you're talking about your current holidays, you have to use the present and  *either *the passé composé or the imparfait, if you're talking about holidays that took place in the past. I would’nt make a difference 

  But if you would’nt use* tous le jours*, the use of each tense would make a difference :
  “Pendant mes vacances, .....du sport;”
  - the use of the imparfait would imply that you’ve been practising sports on a regular basis (probably every day)
  - the use of the passé composé would imply that your are purposely vague about the frequency


----------



## ancel

Taurusfp said:


> If you're talking about your current holidays, you have to use the present and *either *the passé composé or the imparfait, if you're talking about holidays that took place in the past. I would’nt make a difference
> 
> But if you would’nt use* tous le jours*, the use of each tense would make a difference :
> “Pendant mes vacances, .....du sport;”
> - the use of the imparfait would imply that you’ve been practising sports on a regular basis (probably every day)
> - the use of the passé composé would imply that your are purposely vague about the frequency


 
Je suis entièrement d'accord avec la réponse faite par Taurusfp.


----------



## Diddlina

Taurusfp said:


> If you're talking about your current holidays, you have to use the present and  *either *the passé composé or the imparfait, if you're talking about holidays that took place in the past. I would’nt make a difference
> 
> But if you would’nt use* tous le jours*, the use of each tense would make a difference :
> “Pendant mes vacances, .....du sport;”
> - the use of the imparfait would imply that you’ve been practising sports on a regular basis (probably every day)
> - the use of the passé composé would imply that your are purposely vague about the frequency



First, this was from an assignment, no context, just this one sentence and I was to choose between passé composé and imparfait.

But since there is a tous les jours in the sentence I have to use imparfait? But why then does it say otherwise in my grammar book?


----------



## Taurusfp

The fact that the frequency is mentionned in the sentence is not relevant to pick one tense or another. Both are possible and your grammar book should be revised....


----------



## Maître Capello

Taurusfp said:


> - the use of the imparfait would imply that you’ve been practising sports on a regular basis (probably every day)
> - the use of the passé composé would imply that your are purposely vague about the frequency


On the contrary! With the passé composé you insist that you did it every single day. On the other hand, with the imparfait you just say it was a habit.


----------



## Taurusfp

Let's say : it' open. I'm not an expert on french grammar….what you are probably, Maitre Capello, si votre expertise est à la hauteur de votre pseudonyme. Cette discussion est intéressante car elle montre que certaines notions seraient perdues…
  Diddlino, just consider that you can use the tense you want. What’s your opinion on that point Maitre Capello ?


----------



## Maître Capello

Taurusfp said:


> Diddlino, just consider that you can use the tense you want. What’s your opinion on that point Maitre Capello ?


For the sake of the exercise, both tenses are definitely possible and none is better than the other. However, I would not say that both are equivalent since they don't mean exactly the same thing as per my previous post…


----------



## Taurusfp

Maitre Capello,
Je reste dubitatif sur l'utilisation passé composé tel que vous la définissez. Peut être est-elle académique (et donc respectable) ? Pour en avoir parlé autour de moi, ça n'est en tout cas pas celle qui est perçue dans le langage courant mais bien celle que j'ai exposée...Je suis intéressé de connaître votre source. Bien à vous.


----------



## Taurusfp

Taurusfp said:


> Maitre Capello,
> Je reste dubitatif sur l'utilisation passé composé tel*le* que vous la définissez. Peut être est-elle académique (et donc respectable) ? Pour en avoir parlé autour de moi, ça n'est en tout cas pas celle qui est perçue dans le langage courant mais bien celle que j'ai exposée...Je suis intéressé de connaître votre source. Bien à vous.


*
To correct the mistake...*


----------



## itka

1._ Pendant les vacances, j'ai fait du sport_ = I just assert that during this period I did some sport. i don't precise how many times nor if it was on a regular basis (or not). Maybe it only happened one time.

2. _Pendant les vacances, je faisais du sport _= I regularly did some sport, I uses to do it, no matter if it was every day, or every morning... It was an habit to me.

3._ Pendant les vacances, j'ai fait du sport tous les jours._ = look at the sentence n° 1 : the meaning is the same. That sport, I was talking about, took place every day.


4. _Pendant les vacances, je faisais du sport tous les jours._ = according to meaning of sentence 2, it was an habit and I just add here a special point : it happened every day.

By the way, the sentences 3 and 4 have the same meaning and you can choose one or the other, as you like.


----------



## geostan

itka said:


> 3._ Pendant les vacances, j'ai fait du sport tous les jours._ = look at the sentence n° 1 : the meaning is the same. That sport, I was talking about, took place every day.
> 
> 
> 4. _Pendant les vacances, je faisais du sport tous les jours._ = according to meaning of sentence 2, it was an habit and I just add here a special point : it happened every day.
> 
> By the way, the sentences 3 and 4 have the same meaning and you can choose one or the other, as you like.



I'm with MaîtreCapello on this one. I cannot believe that a sentence with the passé composé can mean exactly the same thing as one with the imperfect.

The main problem with isolated sentences is that a context is missing. If there were one, selecting the appropriate tense would be more or less automatic. This is the problem with exercises of this type. 

But I think Diddlina's teacher should not be so dogmatic about the correct answer. He/she should try to imagine a situation for each tense, rather than simply dismiss the passé composé as incorrect.

Cheers!

This just occurred to me:

In a sentence such as this, the passé composé  puts an end to the statement. Nothing further is needed to make it an intelligible sentence. With the imperfect, there is a sort of inconclusiveness about the statement. One would expect further details.


----------



## Taurusfp

I insist that *if and only if the frequency is given* ("tous le jours" in this case), the imparfait and passé composé are *equivalent*. Maybe not for highly specialized experts, but for common French people used to speaking French in France for example : yes.

  It would'nt be the case if the frequency were not explicit (see my reply above and Itka’s)


----------



## Diddlina

geostan said:


> I'm with MaîtreCapello on this one. I cannot believe that a sentence with the passé composé can mean exactly the same thing as one with the imperfect.
> 
> The main problem with isolated sentences is that a context is missing. If there were one, selecting the appropriate tense would be more or less automatic. This is the problem with exercises of this type.
> 
> But I think Diddlina's teacher should not be so dogmatic about the correct answer. He/she should try to imagine a situation for each tense, rather than simply dismiss the passé composé as incorrect.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> This just occurred to me:
> 
> In a sentence such as this, the passé composé  puts an end to the statement. Nothing further is needed to make it an intelligible sentence. With the imperfect, there is a sort of inconclusiveness about the statement. One would expect further details.



Thank you, that's what I thought, both tenses could be used and dismissing one as incorrect was a mistake.


----------



## Maître Capello

Taurusfp said:


> I insist that *if and only if the frequency is given* ("tous le jours" in this case), the imparfait and passé composé are *equivalent*. Maybe not for highly specialized experts, but for common French people used to speaking French in France for example : yes.



In the present case both tenses might be almost equivalent in meaning but not in the way you use them—I concur with Geostan's addendum in his last post…


----------



## Nicomon

I'm surprised your teacher dismissed the passé composé as wrong. It definitely comes to me more naturally than the imperfect... unless it is made clear in context that we're talking about a distant past.

e.g. : Pendant les vacances, en juin dernier, j'ai fait du sport tous les jours. 
Quand j'étais enfant, je faisais du sport tous les jours pendant les vacances.


----------



## Maître Capello

Nicomon said:


> I'm surprised your teached dismissed the passé composé as wrong.  It definitely comes to me more naturally than the imperfect... unless it is made clear in context that we're talking about a distant past.
> 
> e.g. : Pendant les vacances, en juin dernier, j'ai fait du sport tous les jours.
> Quand j'étais enfant, je faisais du sport tous les jours pendant les vacances.


 I fully agree with your interpretation.


----------

