Translated

From the French for Beginners forum:

My question:
I note that Google Translate renders "I was happy" as J'ai été heureux.

I break that down into "I have been happy" -- but I wonder why they use été, which I understand as ''summer''.

Is this an error on GT's part, or am I incorrect?


And the rapid resonse:

été, the verb, is the past participle of être. Un été, the noun, is summer. French has more than one past tense, so google translator picked one, the passé composé.


This mountain may be higher than I thought.