B1 · The past
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
«had eaten», almost word for word.
At a glance
- Remember
- «Had done» maps straight onto avais fait.
- When
- Before the past
- The past
- Past linked to the present
- The present
- The future
- Completed in the future
Before the past — What was already over by the time the story got there.
- Form
- j’avais mangéI had eaten
- Signal words
- avais
- étais
- avions
- étaient
- déjà
- Trap
- Wrong:Si j’ai su, j’aurais téléphoné.Right:Si j’avais su, j’aurais téléphoné.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending auxiliary verb
| I had eaten | j’avais mangé |
| you had forgotten | tu avais oublié |
| he, she had understood | il, elle avait compris |
| we had finished | nous avions fini |
| you had seen (plural, polite) | vous aviez vu |
| they had slept | ils, elles avaient dormi |
| I had come back | j’étais rentré, rentrée |
| you had left | tu étais parti |
| she had gone out | elle était sortie |
| we had stayed | nous étions restés, restées |
| you had gone up (plural) | vous étiez montés, montées |
| they had arrived | ils étaient arrivés |
| if I had known | si j’avais su |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
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.
Example sentences
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.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
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.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
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.
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