# FR: the house was bought



## jacques songo'o

I'm confused as to whether to use été or était when constructing the passive voice with the sentence La maison à été/était achetée par l'homme. What determines whether it is in the imperfect or perfect or are they simply interchangeable. Any help much appreciated.


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## krometor

Bonjour
Je pense que vouz utilisez l'imperfect quand vous décrivez une action dans le passé. Allors, je ne suis pas très sûr si j'ai la raison
J'espère qu'il soit utile à vous.
Par exemple

La maison a éte achetée par lui
La maison a était achetée par lui quand je suis arrivé


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## quinoa

"a été " means the passé composé of verb "être".
"était" is the imperfect ov verb "être".

Exemples:
Il a décidé de vendre sa maison. Le lendemain elle était vendue. Elle a été achetée par un Anglais.
He decided to sell his house. The next day, it was sold. It was bought by an Engishman.

The difference between "était vendue" or "a été vendu" comes from the choice you, as the speaker", make as to on which part of your speech you want to insist.
"était vendue" focuses on the state, on the description of the new status of the house.
"a été achetée" focuses on the action.

I don't know if it helps.


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## MHastings

jacques songo'o,  quinoa's explanation is correct and even makes a point that none of my professors ever covered.  But I would like to add the following, which my professors were kind enough to explain:

"La maison à été achetée par l'homme" is equivalent to "The house was (or has been) bought by the man."  You're simply describing one action that occurred in the past.

But "La maison était achetée par l'homme" means "The house *had* been bought by the man."  Here you're describing an action in the past that pre-dates another action also in the past.  A complete example would be:  "La maison était achetée par l'homme avant que je suis arrivé."

Je crois avoir raison ici, mais, quinoa, je vous invite à me corriger si je me trompe.


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## quinoa

So I would just correct the last of your sentences : La maison était achetée / a été achetée *avant que je n'arrive*.

Now as to the English "had bought", it would be translated into "avait été achetée".

The problem between "était" and "a été" is tricky because you will find the same English form "was" in both cases. The difference will come from the whole context.

To find a way out in such cases is to eliminate the passive form and put it all in the active...
Does it help?


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## MHastings

My professors also taught us that:  It's best to avoid the passive altogether.  The French use it far less than we do.

But you also bring up another issue that I never encountered in class.  Namely, that mysterious "ne".  After much searching, I found in one, and only one, grammar book, a brief reference to something  the author termed the "ne expletive" with no description or examples.  It merely stated that the form was falling out of usage.  Yet, I see it often.

Not even my French friends can explain it; they simply *know* to use it.  Can you please explain it... or at least tell me where I can find out more about it?


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## Pierre Simon

MHastings said:


> Can you please explain it... or at least tell me where I can find out more about it?


 
Have a look here


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## MHastings

Thank you, Pierre Simon!

(Now, I understand why my professors never taught us this!  )


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## jacques songo'o

I'm confused as to whether to use été or était when constructing the passive voice with the sentence La maison à été/était achetée par l'homme. What determines whether it is in the imperfect or perfect or are they simply interchangeable. Any help much appreciated.


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## janpol

C''est la question générale du choix entre imparfait et passé composé que tu poses là. Non, les deux phrases "la maison a été achetée par l'homme" ("a" sans accent) et "la maison était achetée par l'homme" ne sont pas interchangeables... mais je ne trouve pas de situation qui justifie l'emploi de la 2è de ces phrases.


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## Soos

Jacques, consider these translations:
La maison à été achetée = The house was bought (and now it is a finished event in the past).
La maison était achetée = The house was *being* bought.
The imperfect and the perfect usually pose trouble for anglophones at one point or another.  However, it is very important that you understand that they are not interchangeable.  The perfect is used to express an event in the past that occurred and was completed.  The imperfect is used to express habitual actions as well as actions that were in progress in the past (i.e. When I was a child I would go to chruch on Sundays=Quand j'etais enfant(e) j'allais à la messe le dimanche.) vs. (Today I went to church=Aujourd'hui je suis allé(e) à la messe).
Consider this translation to exemplify an action that was in progress in the past:
EN: I was walking along the beach, when I heard a strange noise.
FR: Je marchais (imp) le longue la plage, quand j'ai entendu (par) un bruit bizarre.


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## quinoa

The problem is that "La maison était achetée" can sometimes be "The house was bought", particularly when the speaker is telling about many events that happened in the past, setting a scene.


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## janpol

dans la phrase de départ, le verbe passif a un agent (que l'on a tendance à perdre en cours de route)
un essai de phrase pouvant justifier l'emploi de l'imparfait : pendant que nous hésitions, la maison était achetée par l'homme que/qui...


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## Jfoe

I would say that the difference in this case is that the use of passé composé here focuses on the action of the sale, and the imparfait (achetée being used here as an adjective, rather than a past participle), describing the state of the house. 

Examples:

C'était peu après mes parents ont divorcés. Comme ça, on a déménagé, est la maison où j'ai grandit était vendue, et celle-ci était achetée.

La maison était à vendre depuis 6 mois avant qu'elle s'est achetée.

It all depends on what is more important to convey, although my bet is that the majority of French people would naturally just use the passé composé here.


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## janpol

CITATION : achetée being used here as an adjective, rather than a past participle
C'est pour cette raison que j'ai rappelé la présence du complément d'agent.


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## jacques songo'o

I think I understand now. But what I meant by interchangeable was that either can be used depending on what you want to emphasis; so if it's a state était, if it's an action été. In other words neither one is necessarily wrong.


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## Jfoe

Right. You've got it.


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