True. In this case, the witnesses HAVE described him as', then you would only need to say 'ont se décri comme' or something. Whereas, if you were saying the pluperfect, it would be '...HAD desribed him'.

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Reply 7

atsruser

11

Original post by TeenPolyglot

'ont se décri comme'
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".. l'ont décrit comme .."

Reply 8

Josb

6

Original post by lightningdoritos

How would I say "The witnesses have described him as..."

So far, I've used the Pluperfect but I don't know how to get the "as" bit...

Les témoins l'ont décrit comme...

Reply 9

username1226161

OP

15

Original post by atsruser

This doesn't look like it requires the pluperfect. That would typically translate "The witnesses had described him as .."

The question used pluperfect so I just presumed that the answer should also be in pluperfect

Reply 10

Josb

6

Original post by lightningdoritos

The question used pluperfect so I just presumed that the answer should also be in pluperfect

Give the question.

Reply 11

lilymoran

16

I think you need to learn your tenses -

I am giving , I give = present ( je donne)
I shall give = future ( je donnerai) I shall have given = future perfect ( j'aurai donne* )
I should give = conditional ( je donnerais) I should have given ( j'aurais donne*)
I gave, I have given =perfect ( j'ai donne*)
I had given = pluperfect ( J'avais donne*) * acute accents needed.
I was giving, I used to give, I gave = imperfect ( je donnais )

Not to mention the passe* simple/ preterite and all the subjunctives. ( Which you must learn to use after il faut que )

French is all about learning your irregular verbs- they are the most commonly used and if you know them you've largely cracked it. If you don't it'll all be a fog. There's no short cut you just have to pace up and down repeating them ( 30 times each ) until you know them.

Don't you have a full list somewhere ?

Ex Head of Modern Languages.

Reply 12

TeenPolyglot

20

Just as a way to help, I suggest you buy one of the 'dictionaires de conjugaisons'. Fantastic aid for exams, and you notice the patterns.

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Reply 13

username1226161

OP

15

Original post by pickup

I think you need to learn your tenses -

I am giving , I give = present ( je donne)
I shall give = future ( je donnerai) I shall have given = future perfect ( j'aurai donne* )
I should give = conditional ( je donnerais) I should have given ( j'aurais donne*)
I gave, I have given =perfect ( j'ai donne*)
I had given = pluperfect ( J'avais donne*) * acute accents needed.
I was giving, I used to give, I gave = imperfect ( je donnais )

Not to mention the passe* simple/ preterite and all the subjunctives. ( Which you must learn to use after il faut que )

French is all about learning your irregular verbs- they are the most commonly used and if you know them you've largely cracked it. If you don't it'll all be a fog. There's no short cut you just have to pace up and down repeating them ( 30 times each ) until you know them.

Don't you have a full list somewhere ?

Ex Head of Modern Languages.

I know my tenses and how to form the rest of the sentence, just wanted some clarification on the "as" bit.