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J'étais un adolescent très indépendant.

J'étais un adolescent très indépendant.
I was a very independent teenager.
From Lesson 131:The imperfect tense of être (j'étais, tu étais)·French

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?
Yes, there are two important liaisons here! The n in un links to the starting vowel in adolescent, sounding like "un-nado". Also, the s in très links to the starting vowel in indépendant, making a "z" sound: "trè-zindépendant".
Why does très indépendant come after the noun adolescent?
In English, we put the adjective before the noun ("independent teenager"). In French, most descriptive adjectives go after the noun. While there are a few exceptions for short, common adjectives (like bon or petit), indépendant follows the standard rule and comes after the noun it describes.

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