ELONIO
Log inSign up

C'était un grand homme pendant sa jeunesse.

C'était un grand homme pendant sa jeunesse.
He was a great man during his youth.
From Lesson 264:Meaning-changing adjectives·French

Questions & Answers about C'était un grand homme pendant sa jeunesse.

Why is grand placed before homme here?
The adjective grand changes meaning depending on where it is placed. When it comes before a noun, it has a figurative meaning: un grand homme means "a great man." If we put it after the noun (un homme grand), it takes its literal meaning: "a tall man."
Why does the sentence use C'était instead of Il était for "He was"?
In French, when you describe a person using a noun modified by a determiner (like un) and an adjective, you use c'est (or in the past, c'était). If the sentence just used a standalone adjective without an article, you would use il était, like in Il était grand.
Why is it sa jeunesse (feminine) if it refers to a man's youth?
French possessive adjectives agree in gender with the thing being possessed, not the owner. Because the word jeunesse is feminine, you must use sa, even though the subject of the sentence is a man.
Why use pendant here instead of pour?
Pendant translates to "during" and is used to describe a state or action that happened over a specific period of time. English speakers often accidentally use pour ("for"), but in French, pour with time is mostly reserved for an intended future duration, like going on vacation for a week.

Learn C'était un grand homme pendant sa jeunesse and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →