Learn French: Les voisins rédigeaient une plainte parce qu'il bouchait le passage depuis midi. - The neighbors were writing a complaint because he had been blocking the passage since noon.

Les voisins rédigeaient une plainte parce qu'il bouchait le passage depuis midi.

The neighbors were writing a complaint because he had been blocking the passage since noon.

Breakdown of Les voisins rédigeaient une plainte parce qu'il bouchait le passage depuis midi.

Questions & Answers about Les voisins rédigeaient une plainte parce qu'il bouchait le passage depuis midi.

Why is bouchait in the imparfait here when the English translation uses 'had been blocking'?

This is the core of the imparfait + depuis rule. In French, if an action started in the past and was still ongoing at another point in the past, you use the imparfait. Because he was still blocking the passage when they were writing the complaint, French uses the imparfait (il bouchait) with depuis, whereas English uses the past perfect continuous.

Could we use the plus-que-parfait (avait bouché) instead of the imparfait here?

Not if we want to show that he was still blocking the passage. If you used the plus-que-parfait (avait bouché), it would mean the blocking had already finished before they started writing. To say he had been doing it and was still doing it at that past moment, you must combine the imparfait with depuis.

Why use rédigeaient instead of écrivaient for writing a complaint?

While écrire means to write in a general sense, rédiger specifically means to draft, compose, or write up a formal document. Since a complaint (une plainte) is a formal text, rédigeaient is the most natural verb to use here.

I know une plainte means a complaint, but does it imply a formal police complaint or just complaining to a landlord?