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Tu étais une fille très insouciante au lycée.

Tu étais une fille très insouciante au lycée.
You were a very carefree girl in high school.
From Lesson 131:The imperfect tense of être (j'étais, tu étais)·French

Questions & Answers about Tu étais une fille très insouciante au lycée.

How is the Imparfait formed for the verb être in this sentence?
Usually, the Imparfait stem is taken from the nous form of the present tense. However, être is the only exception in French! It uses the irregular stem ét-. To say "you were" (informal), you add the standard tu ending -ais to get tu étais.
Why is the verb étais used here instead of the Passé Composé?
Étais is in the Imparfait (imperfect) tense. We use the Imparfait to describe ongoing past states, habits, or background information. Since being a carefree girl was an ongoing state during high school rather than a single completed action, the Imparfait is the perfect fit.
Why does the adjective insouciante end in an -e?
In French, adjectives must match the noun they describe in gender and number. Since fille (girl) is feminine, the adjective meaning "carefree" needs an extra -e at the end, changing the default masculine insouciant to the feminine insouciante.
Why do we say au lycée instead of à le lycée for "in high school"?
When talking about attending a school or being at an institution, French uses the preposition à (at/in). Because lycée (high school) is a masculine noun, à and le must combine into the mandatory contraction au.

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