Question 1

Why does this sentence use en quatre heures instead of dans quatre heures?

Accepted Answer

This highlights the main difference between these two prepositions! Use en to express how long it takes to complete an action (they spent four hours doing it). Use dans to say when an action will start (for example, "they will start in four hours"). Because this sentence describes an action that was actively being done over a block of time, en is the correct choice.

Question 2

Why use the passé composé (ont fini) here rather than the imparfait (finissaient)?

Accepted Answer

The phrase en quatre heures gives the action a strict, measurable duration. When a past action has a clear, defined beginning and end, French requires the passé composé. The imparfait is reserved for ongoing, habitual, or background actions without a specific timeframe.

Question 3

I often see "stage" translated as scène. Why use étape here?

Accepted Answer

Une scène refers to a physical stage where actors perform. Une étape refers to a stage, step, or phase in a process, or a leg of a journey. Since they are finishing it in four hours, this refers to a phase of a project or a race, making étape the appropriate word.

Question 4

Why is it cette étape and not cet étape? Both are for words starting with a vowel, right?

Accepted Answer

Not quite! étape is a feminine noun, so it must take the feminine word for "this", which is always cette—regardless of what letter the noun starts with. The special spelling cet is only used for masculine nouns that start with a vowel or a silent 'h' (like cet homme).

Ils ont fini cette étape en quatre heures.

Breakdown of Ils ont fini cette étape en quatre heures.

Questions & Answers about Ils ont fini cette étape en quatre heures.

Learn Ils ont fini cette étape en quatre heures and more in French