Howard
What meaning does "été" have in French other than "summer?"

I see the word été often in French when the meaning is obviously not summer. Is it a conjugated verb form or something?

Mar 31, 2015 8:33 AM
Comments · 4
2

It is also the past participle of the verb to be. The equivalent of " been " . So it is used very often.

 

J'ai été : I have been

March 31, 2015
1

I probably wouldn't translate "J'ai été" as "I was"

 

J'ai été en Australie: I have been in Australia

J'étais en Australie: I was in Australia

 

J'ai été malade: I have been ill. 

J'étais malade: I was ill

 

J'ai été travailler: I have been working.

April 8, 2015
1

Something more, an other reason for which you will often see it is beacause there no simple past in french, so we only use the present perfect (at least in the usual language).

 

So every time you want to say either " I was " or " I have been ", you must say " J'ai été "

March 31, 2015

Uhmm... it's better to translate "J'ai été" as "I was".  "I have been" is a word-for-word translation, but the grammatical function of the two phrases is quite different.

March 31, 2015