The question is on these sentence.
From Perrault's Le Petit Poucet:
Il était une fois un bûcheron et une bûcheronne qui avaient sept enfants, tous garçons.
From Flaubert's L’Éducation sentimentale:
À part quelques bourgeois, aux Premières, c’étaient des ouvriers, des gens de boutique avec leurs femmes et leurs enfants.
Questions
Does the Perrault sentence mean there were...?
What is the subject of the Perrault sentence? Is it Il or un bûcheron et une bûcheronne? (I don't care if you want to throw in the qui clause as well.)
In a sentence of the form il était + substantive, does the verb always agree in number with il and not with the substantive?
Does the Flaubert clause mean there were...? In other words I am asking whether il était and c’étaient mean the same thing? Or maybe c’étaient means it was?
What is the subject of the Flaubert sentence? Is it ce or des ouvriers, des gens? (Again, I don't care if de boutique etc. have to be included.)
In a sentence of the form c'était + substantive, does the verb always agree in number with the substantive and not with ce?