What's the difference between these two sentences? What's the difference between: 1) J'ai été chercher du pain là. 2) Je cherchais du pain là. How can you translate them into English and what is the

Heeyoung

Professional Teacher

What's the difference between these two sentences? What's the difference between: 1) J'ai été chercher du pain là. 2) Je cherchais du pain là. How can you translate them into English and what is the difference in the meaning?I'm guessing it's something like 1) I have been looking for some bread here. 2) I was looking for some bread here. Can I use both of them then for something that I was doing before?

Jul 27, 2015 2:18 PM

Answers · 5

For the first one: The correct form would rather be: 1) J'étais en train de chercher du pain ici/par ici/là Être en train de: to be in the process of (progressive tense) PS: J'ai été cherché, is like I was searched (passive voice) On the other hand the second sentence is correct :)

July 27, 2015

The first sentence would be for an actual event, say in a story. -- yesterday, I have been looking for bread. The second one would describe something--- I was looking for bread when I went to the store. Going to the store is the main event while looking for bread would be the description.

July 27, 2015

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