J'ai passé

Question

I'm so confused. Why is it "J'ai passé un an en Espagne" but "J'ai passé la journée avec Martin"? Why is one talking about the duration while the other is not?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Johnny,

It has to do with feeling. When you say that you spent the day with someone, you're typically talking about quality time, emphasizing that you spent the whole day together.

In contrast, when you spend a year somewhere, that's more of a factual kind of thing - I spent a year in Spain, and then moved to Italy. There's no emphasis on the fact that it was a whole year, every single day.

Does that help?

Answer

Thanks, Laura. Does that mean it's subjective? If I say I spent the day at work, nothing special. Would that be le jour? Or spending the day always be la jounée?

Answer

J'ai passé la journée au travail -
J'ai travaillé toute la journée- 
( you probably mean the entire day)

Answer

Even more explanation here: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/vocabulary/an-jour-matin-soir-vs-annee-journee-matinee-soiree/