Plus-que-parfait Flashcards

1
Q

When to use the pluperfect or plus que parfait?

A

The French past perfect, or pluperfect, is used to indicate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past. The latter can be either mentioned in the same sentence or implied.

Il n’avait pas mangé (avant de faire ses devoirs).
He hadn’t eaten (before doing his homework).

J’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).

Nous voulions te parler parce que nous ne t’avions pas vu hier.
We wanted to talk to you because we didn’t see you yesterday.

The pluperfect is also used in si clauses to express a hypothetical situation in the past contrary to what actually happened:

Si tu m’avais demandé, j’aurais répondu.
If you had asked me, I would have answered.

Nous y serions allés si nous avions su.
We would have gone if we had known.

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2
Q

How do you form it?

A

The French past perfect is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:

imperfect of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) 
past participle of the main verb

Note: Like all French compound conjugations, the past perfect may be subject to grammatical agreement:

When the auxiliary verb is être, the past participle must agree with the subject
When the auxiliary verb is avoir, the past participle may have to agree with its direct object
AIMER (auxiliary verb is avoir)
j'	avais aimé	 	nous	avions aimé
tu	avais aimé	 	vous	aviez aimé
il,
elle 	avait aimé	 	ils,
elles 	avaient aimé

DEVENIR (être verb)
j’ étais devenu(e) nous étions devenu(e)s
tu étais devenu(e) vous étiez devenu(e)(s)
il était devenu ils étaient devenus
elle était devenue elles étaient devenues

SE LAVER (pronominal verb)
je m’étais lavé(e) nous nous étions lavé(e)s
tu t’étais lavé(e) vous vous étiez lavé(e)(s)
il s’était lavé ils s’étaient lavés
elle s’était lavée elles s’étaient lavées

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