Breakdown of Quand il pleuvait, de l'eau tombait du plafond.
l'eau
the water
de l'
some
quand
when
pleuvoir
to rain
tomber
to fall
le plafond
the ceiling
du
from the
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching French grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Quand il pleuvait, de l'eau tombait du plafond.
Why is pleuvait used instead of pleut?
The imperfect tense (pleuvait) describes a continuous or habitual action in the past. It sets the scene (“when it was raining”) rather than talking about a general or current fact. Using pleut (present tense) would mean “when it rains” in general, not something that happened regularly in the past.
Why do we use de l’eau here?
De l’ is the partitive article indicating an indefinite quantity of something uncountable (in this case, water). It corresponds to “some water.” Saying l’eau (definite) would mean “the water” (a specific body of water), and une eau is not used because water is not a countable noun in French.
Why is du plafond used for “from the ceiling”?
In French, the preposition de expresses origin or source. When de is followed by the masculine singular definite article le, they contract to du. So du plafond literally means “from the ceiling.”
Why is tombait also in the imperfect?
Both actions are background information in the past: it was raining, and water was leaking down. To show that these two situations were ongoing or repeated at the same time, French uses the imperfect for both verbs.
Is the comma necessary after Quand il pleuvait?
Yes. When a subordinate clause (introduced by quand here) comes before the main clause in French, you normally separate them with a comma.
Could I use lorsque instead of quand?
Yes. Lorsque and quand are largely interchangeable in temporal clauses. Lorsque is slightly more formal, but both mean “when.”
Can we say l’eau tombait du plafond instead of de l’eau?
No. L’eau (with the definite article) refers to a specific or previously mentioned water. Here you want to express an unspecified or general amount, so the partitive de l’eau is required.
Why not use the passé composé like il a plu instead of pleuvait?
The passé composé (e.g., il a plu) describes a single, completed event. The imperfect (pleuvait) is used for scenes, background descriptions, or repeated actions in the past. Since the sentence describes an ongoing situation, the imperfect is the appropriate choice.