concernait

Concernait is the imperfect indicative form of the French verb concerner, meaning to concern, to be relevant to, or to affect. Used with a subject in the third person singular, it denotes a past state or ongoing relevance: “il concernait” translates roughly as “it concerned” or “it was of concern to.”

Concerner is a transitive -er verb. Its present tense forms are regular: je concerne, tu concerns, il concerne, nous concernons, vous concernez, ils concernent. The imperfect, exemplified by concernait, indicates an ongoing or repeated situation in the past. The verb can take a direct object or clause, as in “Cette question concernait les employés” (This question concerned the employees).

Etymology traces concerne from Old French, derived from Latin roots associated with togetherness or discernment, via cernere. Over time, the sense evolved from a literal notion of bringing together to the more common meaning of affecting or involving someone or something.

Usage notes:

- Concernait is commonly used in narrative or formal writing to indicate what was at issue or relevant at a previous time.

- It is distinct from the preposition concernant, which means “regarding” and is used to introduce topics or matters in writing (e.g., “concernant ce dossier”). Concerns and regarding are related but serve different grammatical roles.

Examples:

- Cette règle concernait tous les employés.

- À l’époque, ce problème concernait surtout le département financier.

- Le dossier concernait plusieurs sujets, notamment la sécurité et l’éthique.