C’étaient (en. They were)

/se.tɛt/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

Form of the imperfect indicative of the verb être, used to describe a situation or state in the past.

They were good times that we shared.

C’étaient de bons moments que nous avons partagés.

Used to evoke a former reality or a fact that took place.

They were difficult times, but we overcame the obstacles.

C’étaient des temps difficiles, mais nous avons surmonté les obstacles.

Belongs to the sentence construction in the past, specifically for the plural.

They were the best vacations of my life.

C’étaient les meilleures vacances de ma vie.

Contraction of 'ce' and 'étaient', derived from the Latin 'essere'.

those were the times

A phrase used to evoke a past era.

c’étaient les temps

they were true friends

Indicates that the friends were sincere.

c’étaient de vrais amis

they were difficult choices

Reference to past decisions that were complicated.

c’étaient des choix difficiles

was

Singular imperfect form of the verb être.

était

are

Present form of the verb être in the plural.

sont

were

Past composed form of the verb être in the plural.

furent

It was so cool

They were awesome parties.

C’étaient des soirées qui déchirent.

They were things

They were really not bad plans.

C’étaient des plans vraiment pas mal.