Log inSign up

La réunion a duré tout le matin.

La réunion a duré tout le matin.
The meeting lasted all morning.
From Lesson 99:Closed duration (pendant)·French

Questions & Answers about La réunion a duré tout le matin.

Since the lesson is about the preposition pendant (for a set period), why isn't it used here?
The verb durer means to last. Just like in English where we say 'It lasted all morning' instead of 'It lasted for all morning', French usually drops pendant after durer. You can say a duré pendant tout le matin, but leaving it out is much more natural.
Why use matin here? Could I say toute la matinée instead?
Yes, you absolutely can! In fact, toute la matinée is very common. Le matin refers to the morning as a factual time of day, while la matinée emphasizes the duration or the span of time. Both work perfectly here, but matinée strongly highlights the length of the meeting.
Why is this in the passé composé (a duré) instead of the imparfait? Doesn't a long meeting imply an ongoing action?
Even though it took a long time, the meeting has a clear start and finish, and it is completely over. The passé composé is used for actions that happened for a specific, closed amount of time, which perfectly fits this sentence.
Why is it tout le matin and not tous le matin?
The word tout (all/whole) has to agree with the noun it describes. Because le matin is masculine and singular (one single morning), we use tout. If you wanted to say 'every morning', you would use the plural form: tous les matins.

Learn La réunion a duré tout le matin and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →