Depuis + tenses

Question

In the sentence 'Depuis la Révolution Française à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, l'architecture de Paris était restée essentiellement inchangée' why is the pluperfect 'était restée' used rather than the imperfect 'restait' ?

Accepted Answer

This is passive voice: "...Paris was left essentially unchanged".

Answer

Thank you Chris ! :)

Answer

The English text is also in the pluperfect: "had remained essentially unchanged".I don't think this is an ongoing event, so depuis doesn't imply a different tense in French compared to English.

Answer

"...Paris was left essentially unchanged" is the passive voice, indeed, but that doesn't mean that the French sentence was in the passive voice. The basic meaning of "rester" is "to remain", which is the opposite of "leave" - that's why the voice changes from active to passive. I think you have to interpret the French sentence as being in the pluperfect.