Tex had not (yet) finished his poem when his editor called. Tex n'avait pas ( encore) fini son poème quand son éditeur a téléphoné. Just as 'already' is replaced by 'yet' in English. Remember that the opposite of déjà is the negative expression pas encore, Tex had begun his poem when his publisher called. Tex avait (déjà) commencé son poème quand son éditeur a téléphoné. In fact, Tex had just started a new poem when his editor called.Ĭontrast the plus-que-parfait in this sentence with the examples above: The literary public had been waiting for years for new poetry from Tex when at last he found his inspiration again.Įn fait, Tex venait de commencer un nouveau poème quand son éditeur a téléphoné. Le public littéraire attendait depuis des années la nouvelle poésie de Tex quand il a enfin retrouvé son inspiration. Not all instances of had + past participle in English are translated into plus-que-parfait in French.įor example, in French depuis is usually used with the imperfect ( not the pluperfect) and 'had just done something' is generally translated by venir de in the imparfait. She adored the innocent poems that Tex had written during his youth. But he changed his mind when he read the poems to Tammy.Įlle a adoré les poèmes innocents que Tex avait écrits pendant sa jeunesse. Mais il a changé d'avis quand il a lu les poèmes à Tammy.Ī few years later, he had abandoned all hope of literary fame. Quelques années plus tard, il avait abandonné tout espoir de gloire littéraire. In affirmative sentences in French, it is often, but not always, accompanied by the adverb déjà (already).Ī l'âge de sept ans, Tex avait déjà rédigé dix poèmes.Īt the age of seven, Tex had already composed ten poems. In English the plus-que-parfait is indicated by had + past participle. In other words, the action in the plus-que-parfait is prior to another past action or moment. In past narration, the plus-que-parfait is used to express an action which precedes another past action or moment. Je n'avais pas mangé (I had not eaten), Je n'étais pas allé (I had not gone), etc.

pas around the conjugated verb, which in this case is the auxiliary: The negation is formed in the usual manner by placing ne. Ils / elles étaient allé(e)s, they had gone Il, elle / on était allé(e), he, she (it) / one had gone Ils / elles avaient mangé, they had eaten Il, elle / on avait mangé, he, she (it) / one had eaten Plus-que-parfait = auxiliary in the imparfait + past participle of verb The choice of auxiliary, être or avoir, is the same as for the passé composé (the Alamo of être applies). The pluperfect ( le plus-que-parfait) is formed with the auxiliary in the imparfait followed by the past participle of the verb.

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