# FR: those who knew me - temps



## casena

I am bit unsure about which tense should I use to say this sentence passe compose or l'imperfait.

all my friends and those *who knew* me *didn't know* that *I was* a clever student.

tous mes amis et ceux qui ( me connaissaient/ m'ont connu) ne savaient pas que j'étais un étudiant intelligent. 

Thanks


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## elroy

Imperfect.


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## casena

Thanks
Is there a rule here?


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## olivier68

En fait, les 2 sont possibles, mais l'imparfait est peut-être préférable.


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## elroy

Can you elaborate on that?  I thought "m'ont connu" referred to a process, something like "got to know me," as opposed to a state ("knew me").  Am I wrong?


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## Juan Moretime

I think you're right. The meaning changes depending on whether or not you use l'imparfait or le passé composé. In my opinion, _*ceux qui m'ont connu(e)*_ means the same thing as _*ceux qui m'ont rencontré(e)*_. Whereas, _*ceux qui me connaissaient*_ implies that they _had_ already made my acquaintance at an earlier time. But, if the latter case is true, _*ceux qui me connaissaient*_ would be no different than _*mes amis*_. Regardless, they are certainly going to notice that you're intelligent. But, smart people aren't necessarily good students. So, I like the following sentence:

*Mes amis et d'autres personnes qui m'ont rencontré n'ont jamais su que j'étais un bon étudiant.*
_*My friends, and other people who met me, never knew (that) I was a good student.

Mes amis et d'autres connaissances n'ont jamais su que j'étais un bon étudiant.
(My) Friends and other acquaintances (of mine) never knew (that) I was a good student.*_

You can also say _ne savaient pas, _but_ n'ont jamais su _is more emphatic. It stresses the fact that they didn't know the truth.


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## Oddmania

casena said:


> Is there a rule here?


Basically, this is all background, contextual information. There is no 'main' action in the sentence that could require the _Passé Composé_ tense. Using the Passé Composé would sound like you were talking about actual actions/one-off events.

"...ceux qui m'ont connu": people who learnt to know me (over the years)​​"...n'ont pas su": missed the opportunity to find out (on that particular day)​​"...j'ai été un étudiant brillant": this would be more likely with a time adverb ("durant toute ma scolarité", etc.).​​It's pretty much the same in English: you might say "They didn't know I was reading" (_continuous_) or "They didn't know I read _all night_", but "They didn't know I read" sounds somewhat incomplete and we're left wondering "When??"​


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## elroy

Oddmania said:


> "...ceux qui m'ont connu": people who learnt *got* to know me (over the years)


Right, and the original is "*knew* me," so I think you've confirmed that "m'ont connu" doesn't fit.


Oddmania said:


> "They didn't know I read" sounds somewhat incomplete.


This works in English.  It means "They didn't know I was a reader (someone who reads regularly)."


Oddmania said:


> "They didn't know I read _all night_"


This should be "*had* read."


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## Oddmania

Aah yes, because in English the sentence becomes so incomplete you have to get rid of the "action" aspect of the verb to make sense of the sentence, and "to read" becomes synonymous with "to *be *a reader" (so the _action _becomes a _state_). Otherwise the sentence doesn't really seem to make sense to the person who hears it.

In French, we can't do that naturally. We have to change the tense to give the verb a state-like aspect: "_Ils ne savaient pas que je *lisais*_" (They didn't know that I could read / that I was a reader").

Overall, the P.C tense would really not fit for the last part of the sentence. And yes, it would have to be "...que j'_avais été _un étudiant..." in French as well if, for some reason, you truly did not want to use the Imparfait tense. But I agree the P.C really doesn't fit.


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## elroy

Oddmania said:


> "They didn't know I read _all night_"





elroy said:


> This should be "*had* read."


Wouldn't it have to be past perfect in French too?
"Ils ne savaient pas que j'_*avais lu*_ pendant toute la nuit"?
Or can you say
"Ils ne savaient pas que j'_*ai lu*_ pendant toute la nuit"?


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## Oddmania

No, the P.C doesn't work in French either.

It only works in Casena's sentence if the other verbs are in the P.C tense too. But if you start with "...ne savaient pas...", then the following verb needs to be either in the Imparfait tense or the Plus-Que-Parfait tense.


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## Juan Moretime

elroy said:


> I think you've confirmed that "m'ont connu" doesn't fit.



Yes, but it does fit if casena means to say "people who met me", which is what Olivier was trying to say from the beginning. Either the imparfait of the passé composé can apply, depending on what you mean to say. 

I'm trying to say that since your friends are people who know you, they're practically the same as _*ceux qui me connaissaient*_. Whereas, people that casena met only once would be better defined as _*ceux qui m'ont recontré/ceux qui m'ont connu*_.


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## elroy

But "who knew me" can't mean "who met me."


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## Juan Moretime

English is not his native language. I take it you think he means co-workers and/or other people he knew (or met) that were not strictly his friends. If this is the case, why not say <other acquaintances>? Now, you don't have worry about whether or not connaître should be conjugated in the imparfait or the passé composé.

*Mes amis et d'autres connaissances n'ont jamais su que j'étais un bon étudiant.*
_*(My) Friends and other acquaintances (of mine) never knew (that) I was a good student.*_

You can also say _ne savaient pas, _but_ n'ont jamais su _is more emphatic. You can also say _ne s'ont jamais rendu compte que _or even use_ s’apercevoir, _or _prendre conscience_


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