Question 1

How does quand même fit into a lesson about cependant and pourtant?

Accepted Answer

While cependant and pourtant mean "however" or "yet", the expression quand même means "anyway" or "all the same". They all express opposition. You could rewrite this sentence as Il pleuvait, pourtant nous sommes sortis (It was raining, yet we went out), but using mais with quand même at the end is a very common way to express that same contrast in everyday French.

Question 2

Why does the sentence use the imperfect for pleuvait but the passé composé for sommes sortis?

Accepted Answer

This is the classic rule for telling stories in the past. Il pleuvait (imperfect) sets the background scene, showing an ongoing state. Nous sommes sortis (passé composé) is the specific, completed action that happened against that background.

Question 3

Why is it nous sommes sortis instead of nous avons sorti?

Accepted Answer

Sortir (to go out) is one of the verbs of motion that always uses être as its helper verb in the passé composé, rather than avoir. Because it uses être, the past participle must agree with the subject, which is why sortis gets an s to match the plural nous.

Question 4

Does quand même literally translate to "when same"?

Accepted Answer

Word-for-word, yes, but it is a fixed expression. You should always read it as a single chunk meaning "anyway", "even so", or "all the same". It is one of the most common everyday phrases in French for doing something despite an obstacle.

Il pleuvait, mais nous sommes sortis quand même.

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