French in Story of a Soul

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When St. Therese was writing her autobiography, which tense did she use? It wasn’t a novel, so Idk about the passe sample (or however you spell it.) I think probably l’imparfait. Wasn’t she amazing to speak so much French?

I dreamed I was trying to read her book in french last night, and it was all written in the passe compose.Then I couldn’t understand some of it so she was angry. She ripped it up and gave me an english version.:confused: Anyway, which tense did she really use?

Also, just to remind you, today is the anniversary of the day she had that special dream. I wonder if she’s celebrating. I’m not sure which anniversary, but now that she’s in Heaven, she really does know venerable mother Anne, so I bet she’s having a great time.I g2g and write her a hymn.
 
I have not read it but, most things involving recounting a story (such as an autobiography) would use both l’imparfait and the passe compose. L’imparfait is used to describe a scene or to tell about something that did not happen at a specific time. Passe Compose is used to tell something specific that happened. It is a mixture of both. Read the following (sorry, I don’t know how to insert accents):

Je suis alle dans l’eglise hier soir. Quand j’y priais, Notre Pere a parle.

I used passe compose to say that I went to the church, but then l’imparfait to set the scene by saying “while I was praying there.” I then used passe compose to say that God talked.
 
Thanks a lot, I find that very helpful! 🙂

Also, I was half asleep when I asked that question, and reconsidering,maybe CAF isn’t such an appropriate place to ask about french grammar.(even though it was about St. Therese, I hope she doesn’t mind.)
 
SawGodThere said:
(sorry, I don’t know how to insert accents)
Click to expand...
If you’re using Windows, click on the Start menu in the lower left corner, mouse up to “programs,” to “accessories,” to “system tools,” to “character map.” Click on that, and you can copy and paste the accented characters in the font of your choice. You can set a shortcut to your desktop if you use it a lot; that’s what I have done. 🙂
 
She used a combination of tenses, just like you do when you carry on a conversation. In addition to l’imparfait and passé composé, she made frequent use of the passé simple (a tense frequently used when relating historical events).

If you know French, you can read it here: clerus.org/clerus/dati/1999-06/01-6/ManuscritsABC.rtf.html . No way she can rip up an online version!
 
Teeliumtrozzle said:
When St. Therese was writing her autobiography, which tense did she use? It wasn’t a novel, so Idk about the passe sample (or however you spell it.) I think probably l’imparfait. Wasn’t she amazing to speak so much French?

I dreamed I was trying to read her book in french last night, and it was all written in the passe compose.Then I couldn’t understand some of it so she was angry. She ripped it up and gave me an english version.:confused: Anyway, which tense did she really use?

Also, just to remind you, today is the anniversary of the day she had that special dream. I wonder if she’s celebrating. I’m not sure which anniversary, but now that she’s in Heaven, she really does know venerable mother Anne, so I bet she’s having a great time.I g2g and write her a hymn.
Click to expand...
um. what dream did St.Therese have? :confused:
I dont know much about her
 
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