B1 · The past
The past before the past
«had eaten», almost word for word.
When two things happened in the past and one of them came first, the earlier one goes in the plus-que-parfait: quand je suis arrivé, il était déjà parti — «when I arrived, he had already left». English builds its past perfect the same way and uses it in the same places, so this is the least foreign page in the section.
It is the imparfait of the auxiliary plus the participle: j'avais mangé, j'étais allé. Which auxiliary is decided by the same rule as in the passé composé, and the agreement after être comes along with it.
The word that almost always keeps it company is déjà, «already». In reported speech it replaces the passé composé, exactly as English shifts «I forgot» to «he had forgotten»: il a dit qu'il avait oublié.
It also stands in the unreal condition about the past: si j'avais su, j'aurais téléphoné — «if I had known, I would have phoned». Again the same shape in the same slot.
Die Form
| I had eaten | j’avais mangé |
| you had left | tu étais parti |
| she had gone out | elle était sortie |
| we had finished | nous avions fini |
| they had arrived | ils étaient arrivés |
| if I had known | si j’avais su |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
Imparfait of the auxiliary plus the participle.
Quand je suis arrivé, il était déjà parti.When I arrived, he had already left.
With être the participle agrees.
Les filles étaient déjà parties.The girls had already left.
In reported speech it replaces the passé composé.
Il a dit qu’il avait oublié la clé.He said he had forgotten the key.
After si in an unreal statement about the past.
Si j’avais su, j’aurais téléphoné.If I had known, I would have phoned.
Woran man es erkennt
- avais
- étais
- avions
- étaient
- déjà
Beispielsätze
Quand nous sommes entrés, le film avait déjà commencé.When we went in, the film had already started.
Elle a dit qu’elle n’était jamais allée à Paris.She said she had never been to Paris.
Nous avions réservé pour huit heures, pas neuf.We had booked for eight, not nine.
Il était déjà sorti quand tu as appelé.He had already gone out when you called.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The auxiliary goes into the imparfait and not into the passé composé. For «I had eaten» it is j'avais mangé. Since the English is «had» — a past of «have» — the mapping is direct, and the mistake comes from the auxiliary rather than the tense: with a verb from the être group it is j'étais allé and never j'avais allé, because English has one auxiliary here and offers no warning.
«Had done» maps straight onto avais fait.
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