Question 1

Why is se disputaient in the imparfait when the English translation says "had been arguing"?

Accepted Answer

This is the classic imparfait + depuis structure. When an action started in the past and was still ongoing at the past moment you are describing, French uses the imparfait. English uses the past perfect continuous ("had been doing"). If you had used the French past perfect (ils s'étaient disputés), it would imply the arguing had already completely finished before another past action.

Question 2

What does the se add to disputaient here?

Accepted Answer

It makes the verb reciprocal. The base verb disputer usually means "to scold" (e.g., scolding a child) or "to compete for" (e.g., a trophy). By adding the pronoun se, it becomes se disputer, which specifically means "to argue with each other".

Question 3

I know verbs with an é often change it to è in different conjugations. Why does empiétait keep the é?

Accepted Answer

Stem-changing verbs like empiéter (to encroach) or préférer (to prefer) only change their é to è when the following syllable contains a silent "e" (as in the present tense: la clôture empiète). In the imparfait, the -ait ending is pronounced, so the accent remains é.

Question 4

Does empiéter always require the preposition sur?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when you want to say what is being encroached upon or infringed upon, empiéter is always followed by sur. Fortunately, this maps perfectly to English: "to encroach on" or "to step on".

Ils se disputaient depuis des semaines parce que la clôture empiétait sur le chemin.

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