c'étaient

they were

→ ce
phrase Uncommon #9,959
they were A form of être used with plural nouns, often meaning “they were” or “those were.”
FR: C'étaient mes meilleurs amis.
EN: They were my best friends.

C'étaient des amis.

They were friends.

— La Cité des hommes (2007)

C'étaient des voix calmes.

They were calm voices.

— Anatomie d'une chute (2023)

C'étaient peut-être des appels en direct.

They may have been live calls.

— Scream 7 (2026)

Mais c'étaient les mensonges qu'ils voulaient entendre.

But those were the lies they wanted to hear.

— Wicked : Partie II (2025)

Avant, c'étaient mes amis.

They used to be my friends.

— Dune : Deuxième partie (2024)

C'étaient des Elfes.

They were Elves.

— Le Seigneur des anneaux : La Communauté de l'anneau (2001)

C'étaient des manuels.

They were manuals.

— Les Affranchis (1990)

C'étaient leurs noms.

Those were their names.

— Mystic River (2003)

Je me suis cru mort, mais au bruit, j'ai su que c'étaient des flics.

I thought I was dead, but from the sound of it, I knew they were cops.

— Les Affranchis (1990)

C'étaient Meghna et Meeta, des amies de Amar.

They were Meghna and Meeta, friends of Amar.

— De tout cœur (1998)

C'étaient des enfants.

They were children.

C'étaient les mots de ma demande en mariage.

Those were the words I used when I proposed.

— Departures (2008)

C'étaient vos dernières paroles.

Those were your last words.

— Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Et c'étaient les meilleurs!

And they were the best!

— Andreï Roublev (1966)

C'étaient des clients.

They were customers.

— Les Bonnes étoiles (2022)

C'étaient les célèbres femmes de la rivière Huai Qin.

They were the famous women of the Huai Qin River.

— Sacrifices of War (2011)

C'étaient pourtant de simples rochers.

Yet they were just simple rocks.

— Le Château dans le ciel (1986)

C'étaient des Hommes autrefois.

They were men once.

— Le Seigneur des anneaux : La Communauté de l'anneau (2001)

C'étaient des révolutionnaires.

They were revolutionaries.

— La La Land (2016)

C'étaient leurs paroles exactes.

Those were their exact words.

— Le vent se lève (2006)

C'étaient de bons amis.

They were good friends.

— Dune : Deuxième partie (2024)

C'étaient des extraterrestres.

They were aliens.

C'étaient les mêmes anciens endroits je devais vivre ma vie.

They were the same old places where I had to live my life.

— Les Enfants du temps (2019)

Vendredi, au Copa, c'étaient les petites amies.

On Friday at the Copa, it was the girlfriends.

— Les Affranchis (1990)

C'étaient vraiment des jeunes mariés?

Were they really newlyweds?

— Voyage à Tokyo (1953)

C'étaient des connards de hippies.

They were a bunch of fucking hippies.

— Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

C'étaient les dollars de Chika.

Those were Chika's dollars.

— La petite Véra (1988)

C'étaient ses fleurs préférées.

They were her favorite flowers.

C'étaient des amis de votre mari.

They were friends of your husband.

— Le Miroir (1975)

Mais il savait d'une manière ou d'une autre que c'étaient des fausses, non?

But he somehow knew they were fake, didn’t he?

— Crime 101 (2026)

C'étaient des soldats.

They were soldiers.

C'étaient pas mes affaires.

It wasn’t my business.

— Manon des sources (1986)

Mais c'étaient des amateurs.

But they were amateurs.

— La Cité de Dieu (2002)

C'étaient de fausses informations.

They were false reports.

C'étaient des gens ordinaires.

They were ordinary people.

— Il est de retour (2015)

C'étaient les personnages de mon film.

They were the characters in my film.

— Rang de Basanti (2006)

C'étaient des conneries, hein?

That was bullshit, right?

— Rushmore (1998)

C'étaient les hommes de Nishad.

They were Nishad's men.

— Article 15 (2019)

Nos maris, c'étaient pas des grands patrons.

Our husbands weren’t big bosses.

— Les Affranchis (1990)

C'étaient tous des monstres?

Were they all monsters?

— Il est de retour (2015)