
What is the plus-que-parfait in French?
The plus-que-parfait is used to talk about actions/events that took place before a specific point in the past. The plus-que-parfait is made up of an auxiliary (être or avoir) conjugated in the imparfait and the past participle of a verb.
How do you conjugate le plus que parfait in French?
Conjugating the French le plus-que-parfait (the past perfect or pluperfect) requires knowing when to use avoir, être, or a pronominal, as the table demonstrates for the verbs aimer (to love), devenir (to become), and lavar (to wash). Aimer (auxiliary verb is avoir) j'. avais aimé. nous.
What is the pluperfect tense in French?
The pluperfect tense ( plus-que-parfait or past perfect is used to indicate actions that occurred prior to other past actions. It would equate to “had happened” in English. For verbs conjugated avoir in the passé composé, it’s formed by combining avoir in the imparfait with the past participle.
What is the French past perfect?
The French past perfect, or pluperfect—known in French as le plus-que-parfait—is used to indicate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past.

What is plus-que-parfait in French examples?
'Le Plus-Que-Parfait'French PluperfectEnglish TranslationJ'ai fait du shopping ce matin. J'avais déjà fait la lessive.I went shopping this morning. I had already done the laundry.J'étais déjà sorti (quand tu as téléphoné).I had already left (when you called).2 more rows•Jan 28, 2019
Is plus-que-parfait used in spoken French?
Just like in English, the plus que parfait is used in French when expressing hypothetical situations.
Does plus-que-parfait agree in gender?
The plus-que-parfait is made up of an auxiliary (être or avoir) conjugated in the imparfait and the past participle of a verb. When using the auxiliary être, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject of the sentence.
Where can I use plus-que-parfait?
The plus-que-parfait is used when the speaker needs to position one action with respect to another. Frequently its use will be signaled by adverbs (such as déjà) which can heighten the sense of opposition between actions: Quand je suis rentré, j'avais déjà appris la mauvaise nouvelle.
How do I learn plus-que-parfait?
1:256:00French pluperfect - Past Perfect - Plus-que-parfait - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd the verb to be jet a q8 a la da la da omelette a newsie Gian Luigi is ETA L is ETA.MoreAnd the verb to be jet a q8 a la da la da omelette a newsie Gian Luigi is ETA L is ETA.
What is the passé Anterieur?
The passé antérieur is used after conjunctions of time — aussitôt que and dès que (as soon as), quand and lorsque (when), and après que (after) — to show that an action was completed before another action (expressed by the passé simple) took place.
What is the past tense of faire?
faitThe passé composé of the verb faire is conjugated using the auxiliary verb avoir followed by the past participle of faire – fait.
How do I choose between être and Avoir?
DR MRS VANDERTRAMP is an acronym to help learners remember which verbs take être as their auxiliary. These are also sometimes called the “verbs of the house” (les verbes de la maison). In short, it's said that these verbs must use être when there is no direct object and avoir when there is a direct object.
A Past Action That Preceded Another Past Action
"Il n'avait pas mangé (avant de faire ses devoirs)." He hadn't eaten (before doing his homework). Daniel Grill / Getty Images
Expressing Hypotheticals
The pluperfect is also used in si clauses to express a hypothetical situation in the past contrary to what actually happened. Si clauses or conditionals produce conditional sentences, with one clause stating a condition or possibility and a second clause naming a result produced by that condition.
Other Plus-Que-Parfait Information
The French past perfect is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:
French Past Perfect Conjugations
Conjugating the French le plus-que-parfait (the past perfect or pluperfect) requires knowing when to use avoir , être, or a pronominal, as the table demonstrates for the verbs aimer (to love), devenir (to become), and lavar (to wash).
The Use of Plus-Que-Parfait
Two couples are having Sunday lunch together in a restaurant and talk about their children. One of the women says:
The Conjugation of Plus-Que-Parfait
If we observe the examples j'avais travaillé and elle avait étudié, we notice that the plus-que-parfait is made up of two elements: an auxiliary (in both examples, we have the auxiliary avoir: avais and avait) and a past participle ( travaillé and étudié ).
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
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:
Formation
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:
Example Sentences on When to use the Plus-Que-Parfait
The final section of this lesson on when to use the plus-que-parfait is about seeing the plus-que-parfait in action.
How to Practice With Flashcards for This Lesson
Using flashcards is an absolute necessity when it comes to learning a language!
