Learn French: L'examen a été terrible pour eux. - The exam was terrible for them.

L'examen a été terrible pour eux.

The exam was terrible for them.

Breakdown of L'examen a été terrible pour eux.

them (masculine/mixed)

avoir

to have

Questions & Answers about L'examen a été terrible pour eux.

How does a été translate to "was"?

In French, the past tense (passé composé) of être (to be) is formed using the helper verb avoir and the irregular past participle été. So a été literally translates to "has been", which we usually express simply as "was" in English.

Why use eux instead of ils for "them"?

Because it comes after the preposition pour (for). After prepositions like pour, avec (with), or de (of), you must use a stressed pronoun instead of a subject pronoun. The stressed pronoun for a masculine or mixed group is eux.

Does terrible always mean "terrible" in French?

In this sentence about an exam, yes, it means awful or really hard. However, in casual spoken French, terrible can actually mean the exact opposite: "terrific" or "awesome"! You have to guess from the context whether it is a good or bad thing.

How can I tell the gender of l'examen?

You cannot tell just by looking at l'examen because the words le and la both shorten to l' before a vowel. However, examen is masculine, so you would use un to say "an exam" (un examen).