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How to Say ‘And before, where did you work?’ in French

Et avant, vous travailliez où ?

eh a-VAHN voo trah-vah-YEE-ay OO

[eh a-VAHN voo trah-vah-YEE-ay OO]

🇫🇷 In France: Asking about a newcomer's previous job is a standard, friendly opener at a French workplace, not nosiness.

Phrase Breakdown

Et avant,

eh a-VAHN

And before,

This introduces the past. Link the words: 'é a-van'. Pause at the comma.

Example

Et avant, tu étais où ?

And before, where were you?

Words in this phrase

[eh]

and

Joins two thoughts or questions together.

Example

Et vous êtes venu aussi?

And did you come too?

avant

[a-VAHN]

before

Means earlier in time, previously.

Example

Avant, je tombais beaucoup.

Before, I fell a lot.

vous travailliez où ?

voo trah-vah-YEE-ay OO

where did you work?

This uses the imperfect tense for an ongoing past job. 'Où' at the end makes it a question.

Example

Vous travailliez où l'année dernière ?

Where did you work last year?

Words in this phrase

vous

[voo]

you

Used to refer to the person or people being addressed.

Example

Vous aimez le film?

Do you like the movie?

travailliez

[trah-vah-YEE-ay]

were working / used to work

Imperfect tense of 'travailler' for 'vous', describing an ongoing past situation.

Example

Vous travailliez à Paris ?

Did you use to work in Paris?

où

[OO]

where

Question word asking about place or location.

Example

Où habites-tu ?

Where do you live?

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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