Past impersonal verbs (il y avait, il fallait)

QuestionAnswer
there was, there were
il y avait
In the past, there was a king in this castle.
Autrefois, il y avait un roi dans ce château.
the electricity (f)
l'électricité
There was electricity at my grandfather's house.
Il y avait de l'électricité chez mon grand-père.
it was necessary, one had to
il fallait
Without electricity, one had to go to bed early.
Sans électricité, il fallait se coucher tôt.
In winter, there was a lot of snow.
En hiver, il y avait beaucoup de neige.
hard, tough
dur
One had to work hard every day.
Il fallait travailler dur tous les jours.
the peasant, farmer
le paysan
poor
pauvre
There were poor peasants in my village.
Il y avait des paysans pauvres dans mon village.
rich
riche
There was a rich king and a poor peasant.
Il y avait un roi riche et un paysan pauvre.
Did one need a lot of money to become rich?
Est-ce qu'il fallait beaucoup d'argent pour devenir riche ?
the war
la guerre
In the past, there were often wars.
Autrefois, il y avait souvent des guerres.
to survive
survivre
During the war, one had to survive.
Pendant la guerre, il fallait survivre.
To survive, one had to work in the fields.
Pour survivre, il fallait travailler dans les champs.
the illness, disease
la maladie
Was there a serious disease?
Est-ce qu'il y avait une maladie grave ?
One had to take medication for this illness.
Il fallait prendre des médicaments pour cette maladie.
In the past, there were wars and life was hard.
Autrefois, il y avait des guerres et la vie était dure.

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