c'etait

it was

→ ce

phrase Rare #34,427

it was Usually written c'était, with an accent. This is the imperfect tense of être, used to describe what something was like or what was happening in the past. In informal speech, ne is often omitted in negative sentences, as in c'etait pas.

FR: C'etait notre approche.

EN: It was our approach.

C'etait notre approche.

That was our approach.

— L'Expérience (2001)

Bosch, c'etait pas violent.

Bosch wasn’t violent.

— L'Expérience (2001)

C'etait pas si dur.

It wasn't that hard.

— L'Expérience (2001)

Vous avez dit que c'etait volontaire !

You said it was intentional!

— L'Expérience (2001)

C'etait pas un peu trop dur ?

Wasn't it a bit too difficult?

— L'Expérience (2001)

C'etait bien pire qu'ici.

It was much worse than here.

— L'Expérience (2001)

J'croyais que c'etait une prison !

I thought it was a prison!

— L'Expérience (2001)

J'ai grandi ici, c'etait un orphelinat avant.

I grew up here; it used to be an orphanage.

— L'Orphelinat (2007)