furent

Furent is the third-person plural form of the French verb être in the passé simple, the literary past tense. In modern everyday use, the passé simple is largely confined to written, formal, or historical texts; furent appears most often in novels, historical accounts, or religious writings to narrate events in the past.

Etymology and development: furent derives from the Latin perfect tense of esse, fuerunt, through the evolution of Old and Middle French into the modern passé simple. The form contrasts with other tenses of être, such as fut (third-person singular) and furent’s gender-neutral plural form, and it is distinct from the imperfect or compound past forms used in speech.

Usage and style: As a literary past tense marker, furent signals a narrative, ceremonial, or elevated tone. It is not used in contemporary spoken French; rather, it conveys distance, formality, or a historical setting. Writers may use furent to place actions in a distant past or to maintain a consistent historical voice.

Examples: Ils furent ravis d’apprendre la nouvelle. Ils furent les premiers à franchir la ligne d’arrivée. In modern equivalents, these sentences would commonly use ils ont été or ils étaient in speech or contemporary writing.

See also: French verb être, passé simple, tense usage in literary French, and the contrast between passé simple and passé composé.