The plus- que- parfait is the compound form of the imperfect and is formed by using the imperfect of the appropriate helping verb ( avoir or être) + the past participle of the verb. The plus- que- parfait (the pluperfect) indicates that an action had taken place and had been completed before another past action took place. (Because of the concordance des temps, it can be used with any past tense. It's about an event in the past that took place before another past event. Plus- que- parfait is made if an auxiliaire (Etre or Avoir) conjugated in Imparfait tense + a participe passé.
Keeping this in view, how do you use plus que parfait passe compose and Imparfait? Most verbs take avoir in the perfect tense. The perfect tense is formed with the present tense of avoir or être and a past participle. It is not used for things that happened regularly or in descriptions. What does perfect tense mean in French? The perfect tense describes things that happened and were completed in the past. When using the auxiliary avoir, the past participle doesn't agree with the subject of the sentence, unless there is a direct object pronoun placed before the verb. The plus- que- parfait is used to talk about actions/events that took place before a specific point in the past. Moreover, why do we use plus que parfait? Its English equivalent is “had” and the past participle.
(He had just had lunch when I arrived.'Le Plus- Que- Parfait' The plus- que- parfait is the compound form of the imparfait (imperfect) and is formed by using the imperfect of the appropriate helping verb, avoir or être (have or be) and the participe passé (past participle) of the verb. (P) Alissa tattend dans le jardin, me dit mon oncle, aprs mavoir embrass paternellement lorsque, la fin davril, jarrivai Fongueusemare. Il venait de déjeuner quand je suis arrivée. Note that Recent past constructions, when used in the imperfect, have the meaning of a pluperfect: See Si constructions for more information. (I would not have come if I had known he was ill.) Je ne serais pas venue si j’avais su qu’il était malade. The plus-que-parfait is also commonly used in si clauses, with the past conditional: Sometimes the action the plus-que-parfait precedes will not be explicit, but will be implied in the sentence:Įlle avait déjà pensé à cela. (The children ate all the cookies that their father had bought.) Les enfants ont mangé tous les gâteaux que leur père avait achetés. (When I got home, I had already heard the bad news.) Quand je suis rentré, j’avais déjà appris la mauvaise nouvelle. Frequently its use will be signaled by adverbs (such as déjà) which can heighten the sense of opposition between actions: The plus-que-parfait is used when the speaker needs to position one action with respect to another. In both sentences certain actions precede others however, only the second sentence seeks to emphasize the precedence of one action. (The alarm rang, I got up, and I had breakfast.) Compare these two sentences:ġ) Le réveil a sonné, je me suis levé, et j’ai pris mon déjeuner. However, the plus-que-parfait is not always used when one action precedes another for example, a list of actions in chronological order may well be put in the passé composé alone. The term “ plus-que-parfait” suggests “more in the past than the perfect.” The tense is used to indicate actions which took place before another action in the past, which is usually (though not always) described in the perfect ( passé composé). (See Past participle agreement for rules on agreement.) Use (I bought the book that Corinne had recommended to me.) J’ai acheté le roman que Corinne m’avait recommandé. (She had already left when Philippe arrived.)
(He had always wanted to travel in Africa.)Įlle était déjà partie quand Philippe est arrivé. Il avait toujours voulu voyager en Afrique. The plus-que-parfait is a compound tense formed with the imperfect tense of the auxiliary ( avoir or être, see Auxiliaries) and the past participle: Back to INDEX Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) Formation