Word
J'étais un adolescent très indépendant.
Meaning
I was a very independent teenager.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about J'étais un adolescent très indépendant.
Why is j'étais considered irregular in the imparfait?
To form the imparfait, you normally take the present tense nous form of a verb and drop the -ons to get your stem. But être is the only verb in French where this doesn't work (because its form is nous sommes). Instead, it uses a special irregular stem: ét-. To say "I was", you just add the regular je ending (-ais) to get j'étais.
Why does this sentence use the imparfait (j'étais) instead of the passé composé (j'ai été)?
The imparfait is used to describe states of being, background information, or ongoing situations in the past. Because "being a teenager" is a phase of life rather than a single, sudden, or completed action, the imparfait is the perfect choice here.
Are there any hidden sounds when pronouncing this sentence out loud?
Why does très indépendant come after the noun adolescent?