Learn French: À l'époque, il était encore élève.

À l'époque, il était encore élève.

Back then, he was still a pupil.

Breakdown of À l'époque, il était encore élève.

the pupil, the student (m)

à l'époque

at the time, back then

Questions & Answers about À l'époque, il était encore élève.

How do we form the imperfect tense for être in this sentence?

Être (to be) is the only verb in French with an irregular stem in the imperfect tense. Instead of taking the stem from the nous form in the present tense, it uses the special stem ét-. Then, we just add the regular imperfect ending for il, which is -ait, giving us était.

Why does it say élève instead of un élève?

In French, when you use the verb être to state someone's profession, title, or status (like a student or pupil), you drop the indefinite article (un or une). The noun acts more like an adjective here.

Does À l'époque literally mean "back then"?

Literally, it means "at the era" or "at the epoch." In everyday French, it is the standard, natural way to say "at the time," "in those days," or "back then" when setting the scene for a past event.

Why is encore translated as "still" here? Doesn't it mean "again"?

Encore is a versatile word that can mean "again," "yet," or "still." Because this sentence describes an ongoing state in the past, "still" is the most natural translation.