passé composé vs. l'imparfait
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passé composé vs. l'imparfait
Why was l'imparfait used? I thought lepassé composé would be a best fit for the sentence.
Bonjour Luciana,
As Jim mentioned, the sentence describes an opinion/a state of facts about a situation, in which case l'imparfait will be used.
See link to Kwiziq lesson: Expressing opinions and describing with the imperfect tense in French (L'Imparfait)
Plus as mentioned in the lesson (see link above), when the verb être is used in a past context, it usually is in L'Imparfait as it describes something/fact or as it expresses an opinion.
For example:
c'était bien!
It was great!
Le test était horrible et compliqué!
The test was horrible and complicated!
I hope it is helpful.
Bonne journée!
As I see it the text is describing a "state" of complication. Être is appropriate but the situation historically and enduring, therefore était. The point is the "enduring historic situation" rather than "completed."
Hope this helps?
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