Present tense or past tense

David H.A2Kwiziq community member

Present tense or past tense

' never going to bed angry' should be surely present tense as they are still doing it? 

Asked 1 year ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour David,

This is an excellent question!

Nous n'allons jamais au lit en colère = We have never been going to bed angry

 -> Présent = Present Perfect Continuous (an action started in the past but still ongoing)

En douze ans, nous ne sommes jamais allés au lit en colère = In twelve years, we have never gone to bed angry

-> Passé Composé = Present Perfect (happened a repeated number of times)

Take a look at a link from one of our partners' sites: https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose/

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Christina M.A1Kwiziq community member

The sentence is "in 12 years, we have never gone to bed angry". It speaks about something the couple has been doing since the past 12 years. Hence it is past tense. 

Paul F.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

In this case it's exactly the same as in English. The English was "In 12 years, we have never gone to bed angry" (past tense). The present tense in English would be "In 12 years, we are never going to bed angry" (and we wouldn't say that).

Present tense or past tense

' never going to bed angry' should be surely present tense as they are still doing it? 

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