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J’ai trouvé + je trouvais | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| simonov Senior Member Portugal Joined 5587 days ago 222 posts - 438 votes  Speaks: English | Message 9 of 11 25 September 2013 at 10:47am | IP Logged | ||
As I said before: not quite. The imperfect has nothing to do with the present, which means you couldn't still be doing it now. If you still were, you would be using the passé composé. Just like in English "I was watching telly" has nothing whatsoever to do with what I'm doing now, even if I were watching TV right now. The same goes for descriptions of habitual actions in the past: "I used to smoke" Could that mean that I am still a smoker now, in English? Well, in French it definitely does not. Imparfait: Je fumais 2 paquets de cigarettes par jour. I used to, but don't anymore. Passé simple: J'ai toujours fumé 2 paquets par jour. I have (all my life, or nearly), and still do In real life the first sentence applies, the second one would have applied before I actually stopped smoking, while I was still hopelessly puffing away. [And while I'm at it: Indicatif présent (instead of English present perfect continuous, or whatever you call that tense): J'habite ici depuis 1979. I've been living here since 1979 Il y a donc 34 ans que j'habite ici. I've therefore been living here for 34 years.] 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| michaelyus Diglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4563 days ago 53 posts - 87 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: Italian, French, Cantonese, Korean, Catalan, Vietnamese, Lingala, Spanish Studies: Hokkien | Message 10 of 11 25 September 2013 at 6:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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There's a great review paper in French which talks about the Chinese aspect system from AILE. In essence, the perfective in the past in French (le passé compose) can often be mapped to 了 or 过 in Mandarin Chinese, but I don't think anyone would even elevate it to a guideline, much less a hard-and-fast rule. I'd say this is because: the imperfective / durative aspects do not easily correspond; distinguishing 过 and 了 can be a hassle, since (as far as I know) they both usually to the temps composés but with varying frequencies of use; and you need a good grasp of lexical aspect / Aktionsart as well as grammatical aspect for Chinese that is a little bit rarer in French.
Should this mean that it's easier to go from Chinese to French? There are a few comparisons here and here. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maucca Diglot Senior Member Finland Joined 4649 days ago 33 posts - 64 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English Studies: French | Message 11 of 11 25 September 2013 at 9:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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It just occurred to me that the imperfect is also used in si(if)-clauses:
Si je trouvais le temps je marcherais jusqu’au bout du monde. If I found the time, I would walk to the ends of the earth. And in clauses expressing a suggestion, supposition or wish: Si on prenait un verre ? How about a drink? Et s'il ne venait pas ? What if he didn't come? Si seulement je trouvais la solution ! If only I found the solution! And in polite questions: Je me demandais si je pouvais vous accompagner. I was wondering if I could come with you. And there are even other cases. Of course, not all of these are necessarily applicable to the verb "trouver". ^^ 1 person has voted this message useful |
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