Breakdown of Avant, elle était mariée, mais maintenant elle est séparée de son mari.
Questions & Answers about Avant, elle était mariée, mais maintenant elle est séparée de son mari.
Avant on its own often means “before / previously / in the past” in a very general, vague way. It doesn’t need to name a specific event.
- Avant, elle était mariée.
= Before / In the past, she was married.
It’s similar to English sentences like:
- “Before, she was married.”
- “Back then, she was married.”
You could say Avant ça or Avant cela, but that usually refers more clearly back to a specific previously mentioned event:
- Avant ça, elle était mariée.
= “Before that, she was married.”
In the given sentence, Avant, by itself just sets a general “earlier time” contrast with maintenant (“now”), so the comma after Avant is natural: it’s like a little introductory time phrase.
French uses the imparfait (était) to describe a state in the past or a background situation, especially if we don’t care about its beginning or end.
- Elle était mariée.
= Focus on her situation at that time: she was in the state of being married.
Elle a été mariée (passé composé) tends to treat it more like a complete, finished period in her life, with a stronger sense that it’s over, almost like “She was married (once, in her life)” or “She has been married.” That is grammatically possible, but here the contrast Avant / maintenant works more naturally with the imparfait, because we’re just contrasting past state vs present state, not telling the story of a completed episode.
So:
- Avant, elle était mariée, mais maintenant elle est séparée
= “Before, she was married (that was her situation), but now she is separated.”
Marié / mariée here is an adjective, agreeing with the subject elle, which is feminine singular.
- masculine singular: marié
- feminine singular: mariée
- masculine plural: mariés
- feminine plural: mariées
Since elle refers to a woman:
- Elle était mariée. (feminine singular)
If the subject were masculine:
- Il était marié. (masculine singular, no -e)
You can say:
- Elle était mariée à Paul.
- Elle était mariée à son mari.
That’s perfectly correct and quite formal/standard. It makes the partner explicit.
In the given sentence, we don’t need to repeat “to her husband,” because it’s obvious: if we say she was married (and then say she’s now separated from her husband), the partner is already clear.
So:
- Avant, elle était mariée, mais maintenant elle est séparée de son mari.
is a stylistic choice: “Before, she was married (we understand: to him), but now she is separated from her husband.”
You’ll also hear mariée avec:
- Elle était mariée avec Paul.
This is very common in everyday speech, but traditional grammar considers marié à more correct in careful, written French.
Both describe relationship status, but they’re not the same:
- séparée: usually means they no longer live together or are no longer together as a couple, but they are not necessarily legally divorced. They might be in the process, or just living apart.
- divorcée: means they are legally divorced.
So:
Elle est séparée de son mari.
= They are living apart / no longer together, but still legally married (or their legal status is not specified).Elle est divorcée.
= The divorce is legally complete.
Context can blur the line a bit, but that’s the general difference.
Être séparé(e) and se séparer are related but not the same:
- être séparé(e) de quelqu’un = to be in the state of being separated from someone (relationship status).
- se séparer de quelqu’un = to separate (split up) from someone (the action / event).
In your sentence, we are talking about her current status, not the action of splitting up:
- maintenant elle est séparée de son mari
= “now she is separated from her husband” (her situation right now).
If you wanted to talk about the action in the past, you could say, for example:
- Elle s’est séparée de son mari l’année dernière.
= “She separated from her husband last year.”
With séparé(e) in the sense of “no longer together as a couple,” French normally uses de:
- être séparé(e) de quelqu’un
= to be separated from someone
So:
- Elle est séparée de son mari.
- Ils sont séparés de leurs conjoints.
Using avec (séparé avec) in this sense is not correct standard French.
(There is séparer quelque chose de quelque chose for objects: séparer le jaune d’œuf du blanc, “separate the yolk from the white,” also using de.)
In French, son / sa / ses (his/her) agree with the noun that follows, not with the owner.
- son: before a masculine singular noun
- sa: before a feminine singular noun
- ses: before any plural noun
Mari (“husband”) is masculine:
- un mari → masculine singular
So regardless of whether the owner is elle or il, you must use son:
- elle est séparée de son mari
- il est séparé de son mari (in a different context)
The possessive does not change to match the gender of the possessor, only the noun possessed.
Both are possible and both understandable; the difference is more about emphasis and style than grammar.
Avant, elle était mariée, mais maintenant…
Starting with Avant highlights the contrast in time right away. It feels very natural in spoken French and clearly sets up “before vs now.”Elle était mariée avant, mais maintenant…
This is also correct, but avant at the end can sound a bit more like an afterthought in this context. Often you’d prefer to be more specific:
Elle était mariée avant sa séparation, avant l’accident, etc.
When the main point is “before vs now,” placing Avant at the beginning is usually clearer and more elegant.
Tenses reflect the timeline:
- Avant, elle était mariée → imparfait (past state)
- maintenant elle est séparée → présent (current state)
You can’t normally say Avant, elle est mariée if “avant” clearly refers to the past; the present tense est would clash with the past time reference. You need a past tense for a past time frame.
So:
- Avant, elle était mariée (correct)
- Avant, elle est mariée (wrong in this meaning)
The second clause is in the present because maintenant (“now”) refers to her current situation:
- maintenant elle est séparée de son mari.
On its own, Avant, without any complement, is deliberately vague. It just means something like “earlier / before / back then,” not tied to a precise moment.
In context, the reader will naturally interpret Avant as “before the situation we’re talking about now” — that is, before the time when she is separated. But grammatically, Avant, by itself is simply:
- Avant, elle était mariée.
= “In the past, she was married.”
If you want to make it explicitly “before becoming separated,” you could say:
- Avant de se séparer, elle était mariée.
= “Before separating, she was married.”
But usually the original sentence is clear enough in context.