 | French  | English | |
 | qn./qc. était | 4 sb./sth. was | |
| 2 Words: Others |
| cuis. VocVoy. C'était bon ? [fam.] [le repas] | Did you enjoy your meal? | |
| 3 Words: Others |
| C'était écrit ! | It was bound to happen! | |
| C'était juste ! | That was close! | |
| C'était juste ! | That was a close one! [idiom] | |
| C'était pas triste. [loc.] | It was quite something. | |
| C'était perdu d'avance. [loc.] | It wasn't to be. [idiom] | |
| C'était perdu d'avance. [loc.] | It wasn't meant to be. [idiom] | |
| C'était pour rire. [fam.] | It was just for the fun of it. | |
| C'était rare que ... [+subj.] | It was rare that ... | |
| C'était très bon. | It was very good. | |
| C'était trop tard. | It was too late. | |
| 4 Words: Others |
| C'était en l'an 1999. | It was in 1999. | |
| C'était la cata ! [fam.] [catastrophe] | It was a disaster! | |
| C'était noir de monde. | It was teeming with people. | |
| C'était sans compter sur qn./qc. | This was without reckoning with sb./sth. | |
| C'était un vrai cauchemar. | It was a living nightmare. | |
| C'était une belle époque. | It was a wonderful time. | |
| Elle était toute triste. | She was very sad. | |
| Il était une fois ... | Once upon a time ... | |
| Il était une fois ... | Once upon a time there was ... | |
| L'addition était soignée ! | The bill was astronomical! [Br.] | |
| L'addition était soignée ! | The check was astronomical! [Am.] | |
| La salle était comble. | The place was packed. | |
| cuis. VocVoy. Le repas était fameux. | The meal was excellent. | |
| 5+ Words: Others |
| bible relig. Au commencement était le Verbe, et le Verbe était auprès de Dieu, et le Verbe était Dieu. [l'évangile selon Jean] | In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [Gospel according to John] | |
| C'est comme si c'était fait. [loc.] | It's as good as done. [idiom] | |
| C'était à se rouler par terre ! | It was hilarious! | |
| C'était à se rouler par terre. [de douleur] | It was so painful. | |
| C'était à se rouler par terre. [de rire] | It was hysterically funny. | |
| C'était à se taper le cul par terre ! [fam.] [vulg.] [de rire] | It was a scream! [hysterically funny] | |
| C'était à se taper le derrière par terre ! [fam.] [de rire] | It was a scream! [hysterically funny] | |
| C'était bien la peine ! | What was the point! | |
| C'était bien la peine ! [fam.] [loc.] [un peu ironique] | That was really worth it! [coll.] [idiom] [a little ironic] | |
| C'était bien la peine que je me donne tant de mal ! [loc.] | I went to all that trouble for nothing! [idiom] | |
| C'était le bon temps ! [loc.] | Good times, (they were.)! [idiom] | |
| C'était le bon temps ! [loc.] | Those were the days! [idiom] | |
| C'était sympa que tu sois venu(e). | It was nice of you to come. | |
| C'était trop pénible à supporter. | It was too painful to bear. | |
| C'était un sale coup ! | That was a dirty trick! | |
| C'était une soirée plutôt réussie par rapport à la moyenne. | It wasn't a bad party, as parties go. | |
| auto Ce à quoi je pensais, c'était d'acheter une nouvelle auto. | What I was thinking about was buying a new car. | |
| Ce n'était pas ce lundi mais celui d'avant. | It was not this Monday but the previous one. | |
| Ce n'était pas joli à voir. | It wasn't a pretty sight. | |
| Ce n'était pas moi, vous devez confondre. | It wasn't me, you must be confusing me with somebody else. | |
| Ce n'était pas très marrant. [fam.] | It was a barrel of fun. [coll.] [ironic] | |
| Ce n'était pas très marrant. [fam.] | It was a barrel of laughs. [coll.] [ironic] | |
| Cela m'était totalement sorti de l'esprit. | It completely slipped my mind. | |
| Cela n'était pas dans nos conventions. | That was not part of our agreement. | |
| comme si de rien n'était {adv} [loc.] | as if nothing was the matter [idiom] | |
| Je n'ai plus pensé que c'était lundi. | I forgot it was Monday. | |
| La salle de concert était pleine à craquer. | The concert hall was packed. | |
| La somme qu'elle aurait due était de 100 euros. | The amount she would have owed was 100 euros. | |
| Ladite accusée était en fait innocente. | The aforementioned defendant was in fact innocent. | |
| Le coucher était à neuf heures. | Curfew was at nine o'clock. | |
| Le geste était très éloquent. | The gesture said it all. | |
| Le tiroir était ouvert, j'ai pris l'argent dedans. | The drawer was open, I took the money out of it. | |
| N'était-ce pas à en perdre la tête ? [loc.] | Wasn't it enough to make you lose your head? [idiom] | |
| Personne ne savait ce qu'elle était devenue. | Nobody knew what had become of her. | |
| Son idée était destinée à l'échec dès le départ. | His idea was bound to fail from the very start. | |
| Son idée était destinée à l'échec dès le départ. | His idea was doomed (to failure) from the very start. | |
| 5+ Words: Verbs |
| vivre chaque jour comme si c'était le dernier [loc.] | to live like there was no tomorrow [idiom] | |
| Fiction (Literature and Film) |
| film F Don Juan 73 ou si Don Juan était une femme [Roger Vadim (1973)] | Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman | |
| film F Il était une fois dans l'Ouest | Once Upon a Time in the West [Sergio Leone (1968)] | |
| film F Le crime était presque parfait [Alfred Hitchcock] | Dial M for Murder [Alfred Hitchcock] | |
| film F Le crime était presque parfait [Michael Curtiz] | The Unsuspected [Michael Curtiz] | |
