Plus-que-parfait

Summary

The plus-que-parfait is the 'past before the past' (English 'had done'), formed with the imperfect of avoir or être plus the past participle, and it marks the earlier of two past events.

Explanation

The plus-que-parfait is a compound tense formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary avoir or être + the past participle: j'avais mangé, tu avais mangé, il avait mangé, nous avions mangé, vous aviez mangé, ils avaient mangé; and with être, j'étais parti(e), tu étais parti(e), il était parti, nous étions parti(e)s, ils étaient partis. The auxiliary always carries the imperfect endings (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient), and only the participle changes from verb to verb.

Choosing the auxiliary and agreeing the participle work exactly as in the passé composé. The same handful of verbs of movement and change of state take être (aller, venir, partir, arriver, naître, mourir, devenir…), and so do all pronominal verbs (je m'étais levé); their participle agrees with the subject. With avoir there is no agreement with the subject, but the participle agrees with a preceding direct object: la lettre qu'elle avait écrite.

Its core job is anteriority: it expresses the earlier of two past actions, the 'past before the past'. When one past event is already complete before another begins, that earlier event goes in the plus-que-parfait while the later one stays in the passé composé or imparfait: Quand je suis arrivé, il était déjà parti. It is also the tense of the si-clause in past hypotheticals (Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venu), of backshift in reported speech (Il a dit qu'il avait fini), and of regret introduced by si seulement (Si seulement j'avais su !).

The chief pitfall is putting the auxiliary in the present or the passé composé instead of the imperfect: *il est déjà parti or *il a été parti for il était déjà parti — the present auxiliary just produces a passé composé and loses the 'earlier-than' meaning. Learners also forget participle agreement (la lettre qu'elle avait écrite, not écrit). In a past hypothesis, remember that the si-clause takes the plus-que-parfait and the result clause the conditionnel passé — never a conditional inside the si-clause (*si j'aurais su is wrong).

Rule of thumb: imperfect of the auxiliary + past participle = 'had done'. Use it for the earlier of two past actions, keep the auxiliary in the imparfait, agree the participle as in the passé composé, and pair it with a conditionnel passé in the construction Si + plus-que-parfait, conditionnel passé.

Examples

Quand je suis arrivé, il était déjà parti. — When I arrived, he had already left. (était parti (plus-que-parfait) happened before suis arrivé (passé composé).)

Elle a relu la lettre qu'elle avait écrite. — She reread the letter she had written. (écrite agrees with the preceding direct object la lettre (avoir agreement).)

Si j'avais su, je ne serais pas venu. — If I had known, I would not have come. (Past hypothesis: si + plus-que-parfait in the if-clause, conditionnel passé in the result.)

Il a dit qu'il avait fini son travail. — He said that he had finished his work. (Backshift in reported speech: the prior action becomes the plus-que-parfait.)

Si seulement j'avais su ! — If only I had known! (si seulement + plus-que-parfait expresses regret about the past.)

Common mistakes

Prerequisites

• Imparfait
• Passé composé

Related rules

• Passé composé
• Imparfait
• Conditionnel passé
• Past participle formation