Question 1

Why is savions in the imperfect tense (l'imparfait) here instead of the passé composé?

Accepted Answer

The imperfect tense is used to describe an ongoing state of mind, feeling, or condition in the past. Here, nous ne savions pas describes the continuous background state of not knowing, rather than a single, completed event.

Question 2

Why does the sentence use the infinitive dormir right after où?

Accepted Answer

When the subject of the main verb and the question word are the same, French often uses an infinitive directly after words like où, comment, or que (meaning what). It mirrors the English 'where to sleep' and avoids a clunkier phrasing like où nous devrions dormir (where we should sleep).

Question 3

This lesson is about concession. How could we rewrite the end of the sentence to say 'at this altitude, however freezing it was' using the si... que structure?

Accepted Answer

You would use si + adjective + que + subjunctive. It becomes à cette altitude, si glaciale qu'elle soit (or fût in very formal, literary past tense). Even though the sentence is in the past, modern spoken French generally accepts the present subjunctive soit here.

Question 4

Why does the adjective glaciale come after the noun it modifies?

Accepted Answer

In French, most descriptive adjectives, particularly those that classify something or describe a literal physical quality (like temperature, color, or shape), are placed after the noun. Since altitude is a feminine noun, glacial gets an extra -e to become glaciale.

Nous ne savions pas où dormir à cette altitude glaciale.

Breakdown of Nous ne savions pas où dormir à cette altitude glaciale.

Questions & Answers about Nous ne savions pas où dormir à cette altitude glaciale.

Learn Nous ne savions pas où dormir à cette altitude glaciale and more in French