{"id":118260,"date":"2016-07-11T14:31:36","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T18:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-pluperfect\/"},"modified":"2025-01-20T23:24:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T04:24:34","slug":"french-pluperfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-pluperfect\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Form and Use the French Pluperfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

In French, the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)<\/em> indicates an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past.\u00a0<\/strong>The second past action may or may not be explicitly expressed. If it is, it’s usually expressed in the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9<\/em><\/a> or the imparfait<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In English, the pluperfect is like saying “had already” or “was already.” In affirmative sentences, the pluperfect is often\u2014but not always\u2014accompanied by the adverb d\u00e9j\u00e0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(already). P<\/strong>as encore<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(not yet) is often used in negative sentences.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How is the Pluperfect Formed?<\/h2>\n

The formula for conjugating the French pluperfect is:<\/p>\n

Auxiliary verb (avoir<\/em> or \u00eatre<\/em>) in the imperfect tense + past participle of the main verb<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0pluperfect is a compound tense, which means it has an auxiliary verb and a past participle.<\/p>\n

In the pluperfect, the auxiliary verb is conjugated in the imparfait, <\/i>which can describe events in the past that happened for an undetermined amount of time.<\/p>\n

Here’s a chart of avoir<\/em> and \u00eatre<\/em> in their imperfect forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Pronoun<\/th>Avoir<\/i><\/th>\u00catre<\/i><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Je<\/i><\/td>Avais<\/i><\/td>\u00c9tais<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tu<\/i><\/td>Avais<\/i><\/td>\u00c9tais<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Il\/Elle\/On<\/i><\/td>Avait<\/i><\/td>\u00c9tait<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nous<\/i><\/td>Avions<\/i><\/td>\u00c9tions<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vous<\/i><\/td>Aviez<\/i><\/td>\u00c9tiez<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ils\/Elles<\/i><\/td>Avaient<\/i><\/td>\u00c9taient<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Because the pluperfect is a compound tense, certain rules regarding agreement apply.\u00a0When the auxiliary verb is\u00a0\u00eatre\u00a0<\/i><\/strong>(to be), the past participle must agree with the subject.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the auxiliary verb is avoir<\/i><\/strong>\u00a0(to have), the past participle often agrees with its direct object.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the negative construction of the pluperfect, the\u00a0negative structure\u00a0(<\/em>ne … pas,\u00a0<\/i>for example) always\u00a0goes\u00a0around the auxiliary verb and immediately before the past participle.<\/p>\n

So the formula for negative sentences would be:<\/p>\n

Ne<\/em> + Auxiliary verb (imperfect) + pas<\/em> + Past participle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at some examples, shall we?<\/p>\n

Here are some cases where the second action is explicitly mentioned:<\/p>\n

J’avais d\u00e9j\u00e0 mang\u00e9 q<\/i>uand tu m’as invit\u00e9 au\u00a0restaurant.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>(I had already eaten when you invited me to the restaurant.)<\/p>\n

Le film commen\u00e7ait \u00e0 18h mais j’\u00e9tais arriv\u00e9 \u00e0 16h pour avoir une bonne place.<\/em><\/strong> (The film started at 6 p.m. but I had arrived at 4 p.m. to have a good seat.)<\/p>\n

Now let’s take a look at the negative constructions:<\/p>\n

Je n’avais pas encor<\/em>e\u00a0mang\u00e9 quand tu m’<\/i>as invit\u00e9 au\u00a0restaurant.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>(I had not yet eaten when you invited me to the restaurant.)<\/p>\n

Nous voulions t’appeler parce que nous ne t’avions pas vu hier.<\/strong> <\/i>(We wanted to call you because we didn’t see you yesterday.)<\/p>\n

Here’s an example where the latter action is implied:<\/p>\n

J’\u00e9tais d\u00e9j\u00e0 sorti.<\/strong> <\/i>(I had already left.)<\/p>\n

A sentence like this relies heavily on context. It could be a response to the question, “Why didn’t you pick up the phone?”\u00a0and the implied action that happened after this would be the telephone call.<\/p>\n

If the action were to be explicitly stated, we could write a sentence like this:<\/p>\n

J’\u00e9tais d\u00e9j\u00e0 sorti<\/i>\u00a0quand tu as t\u00e9l\u00e9phon\u00e9.<\/i><\/strong> (I had already left when you called.)<\/p>\n

When to Use the French Pluperfect<\/h2>\n

1. When an action happened before another action<\/h3>\n

We use the French pluperfect to talk about something that happened in the past before another action happened after. The action that happened first is in the pluperfect. It’s like saying “had happened” in English, like in the examples we just saw above:<\/p>\n

J’\u00e9tais d\u00e9j\u00e0 sorti<\/i>\u00a0quand tu as t\u00e9l\u00e9phon\u00e9.<\/i><\/strong> (I had already left when you called.)<\/p>\n

Je n’avais pas encor<\/em>e\u00a0mang\u00e9 quand tu m’<\/i>as invit\u00e9 au\u00a0restaurant.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>(I had not yet eaten when you invited me to the restaurant.)<\/p>\n

2. In\u00a0si<\/em> clauses<\/h3>\n

The pluperfect is also used in\u00a0si<\/i>\u00a0(if)\u00a0<\/i>clauses\u00a0<\/i>to express\u00a0a hypothetical situation in the past whose result is contrary to what has actually happened.\u00a0Using the pluperfect with si<\/em>\u00a0clauses can also convey\u00a0a sense of regret or the wish that something had happened, but didn’t.<\/p>\n

When used in si<\/em> clauses, the pluperfect is always paired with the past conditional<\/a>. It’s important to note that the conditional clause never\u2014I mean never\u2014is preceded by si\u00a0<\/em>(if). The structure is always si<\/em> + pluperfect, past conditional:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Si tu m’avais demand\u00e9, je serais venu.<\/strong> <\/em>(If you had asked me, I would have come.)<\/p>\n

Si j’avais su, je l’aurais aid\u00e9.<\/strong> <\/em>(If I had known, I would have helped.)<\/p>\n

When to Not Use the French Pluperfect<\/h2>\n

In most cases, the pluperfect in English and French overlap. Unfortunately, though, this is not always the case. Here are two cases where they don’t.<\/p>\n

1. With depuis<\/em><\/h3>\n

In\u00a0French,\u00a0depuis<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(since)\u00a0is usually used with the imperfect (and not\u00a0the pluperfect).\u00a0In its English translation, the pluperfect would be used.<\/p>\n

Les lecteurs\u00a0attendaient<\/strong>\u00a0depuis deux ans\u00a0le nouveau livre de David Foenkinos. <\/em>(The readers had been waiting for two years for David Foenkinos’ new book.)<\/p>\n

The construction avait<\/em> attendu\u00a0<\/i>would not work here.<\/p>\n

2. With venir de<\/em><\/h3>\n

The expression “had\u00a0just\u00a0done something” is generally translated in French as\u00a0venir de<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>in the\u00a0imperfect.<\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lie\u00a0venait de<\/strong> s’allonger quand\u00a0Michel lui\u00a0a t\u00e9l\u00e9phon\u00e9.<\/em> (Aur\u00e9lie had just laid down when Michel called her.)<\/p>\n

Again, the pluperfect construction\u00a0<\/em>would not be used here.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this sentence and the David Foenkino sentence, think about the temporal dimension.<\/p>\n

The actions in the first clause (the readers’ waiting for Foenkinos’ new book and Aur\u00e9lie’s lying down) are not necessarily completed, but rather ongoing. The first sentence implies that David Foenkinos’ book is not yet out. In the second sentence, there’s a bit of ambiguity regarding whether Aur\u00e9lie answered Michel’s call or not.<\/p>\n

If Aur\u00e9lie had\u00a0already laid down (and then gotten up, as in a nap), when Michel\u00a0called, we would use the pluperfect and the sentence would be:<\/p>\n

Aur\u00e9lie s’\u00e9tait d\u00e9j\u00e0\u00a0allong\u00e9e quand\u00a0Michel lui a\u00a0t\u00e9l\u00e9phon\u00e9.<\/em><\/strong> (Aur\u00e9lie had already laid down when Michel called her.)<\/p>\n

How to Practice the French Pluperfect<\/h2>\n

Checking out reference guides, listening to podcasts and doing quizzes are surefire active ways to perfect your pluperfect skills. Here are a few good resources to use.<\/p>\n

Grammar books<\/h3>\n

\"French<\/a><\/p>\n

“French Grammar the Easy Way”<\/a>\u00a0by Fabienne-Sophie Chauderlot has a really great chapter on the pluperfect complete with a diagram detailing the chronology of le pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9<\/em>, l’imparfait<\/em>\u00a0and our friend\u00a0le\u00a0<\/em>plus-que-parfait<\/em>, making it ideal for those of you who are visual learners.<\/p>\n

Another great resource is “The Everything French Grammar Book: All the Rules You Need to Master Fran\u00e7ais”<\/em><\/a> by\u00a0Laura K. Lawless, an oldie but goodie.<\/p>\n

What’s great about this book is that it’s written by a non-native French speaker, which means she’s aware of the difficulties English speakers may encounter when learning French grammar such as the pluperfect.<\/p>\n

Podcasts<\/h3>\n

Once you’ve got the pluperfect down pat in theory, it’s important to get comfortable with it in action. Listening to native French podcasts<\/a> is a great way to do this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with picking out instances of when the pluperfect is used, another good exercise is to listen to a podcast all the way through while taking notes on the chronology of events mentioned.<\/strong> Afterward, imagine you’re summarizing what you’ve heard, using the pluperfect when applicable. Not only will your listening skills improve, but you’ll also improve your cultural literacy.<\/p>\n

Authentic media<\/h3>\n

Similar to podcasts, spending time in authentic media made for native speakers is one of the best ways to hear the pluperfect in action. I recommend using a resource like FluentU<\/a>, which lets you click on grammar structures and words in the subtitles to study them.<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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