Why J’ai été is usually wrong…
The passé composé is used in French in answer the question ‘What happened?’ On the other hand, you will usually put a verb in the imparfait if it answers the question ‘What was going on when something else happened?’
Generally, the passé composé is used to relate events while the imparfait is used to describe what was going on in the past, states of being in the past, or past habits.
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imparfait (set scene) |
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passé composé (event) |
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Avant, Tammy habitait à Fort Worth … |
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et puis un jour, elle a déménagé. |
Usually, when verbs like être, avoir, pouvoir, vouloir, and savoir are in a past narration, they will be in the imparfait, since they most likely describe a past state of being or condition.
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Quand j’avais 15 ans, j’habitais à Fort Worth. |
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When I was 15, I used to live in Fort Worth. |
This all goes to explain why J’étais is usually better than J’ai été. For more see frenchgrinds.ie
