Learn French: À l'époque, j'étais très à la mode. - At the time, I was very fashionable.

Être is the only verb in French that has an irregular stem in the imperfect tense. Instead of using the present tense nous form, it uses the special stem ét-. Since the subject is je (I), we add the standard imperfect ending -ais to get j'étais (I was).

Why use the imperfect (j'étais) here instead of the passé composé (j'ai été)?

The imperfect is used for descriptions, habits, and states of being in the past. Here, being fashionable was a continuous state back then, not a single completed action. The phrase À l'époque (At the time) is a great clue that we are setting a scene in the past!

How does à la mode translate to 'fashionable'?

Literally, it means 'at the fashion' or 'in the fashion'. La mode is the French word for 'fashion' or 'trend'. When a person or thing is à la mode, they are trendy or in style.

What does À l'époque literally mean?

Une époque translates to 'an era' or 'a period'. So, À l'époque literally means 'at the era', but it is the standard French expression for 'at the time', 'back then', or 'in those days'.