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.
Passé composé imparfait plus que parfait exercices plus#
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). Place an exclamation point at the end of each sentence.The pluperfect ( le plus-que-parfait) is formed with the auxiliary in the imparfait followed by the past participle of the verb. The imparfait also occurs in idiomatic uses with depuis and venir de.įormulate wishes by using 'si' plus the imparfait and the subject indicated in parentheses. Tex: Si seulement je pouvais avoir une moto!įor other uses of si + imparfait, see si clauses + conditional. Listen to the difference in intonation between these two sentences: In spoken French, however, you have to rely on context and intonation to distinguish between wish and suggestion. Note that the question mark at the end of the sentence indicates a suggestion, and the exclamation mark a wish. Tammy: If only my parents would lend us some money! Tammy: Ah, si (seulement) mes parents nous prêtaient de l'argent! Tex: Si (seulement) on avait plus d'argent! This week!' The French equivalent structure, si + imparfait, may, or may not, contain the adverb seulement: The imparfait is used to express wishes such as ' If only we didn't have a test Tex: What about buying a Harley Davidson? (note: 'on' is often used in the sense of 'nous') Tammy: Si on achetait une grosse Suburban? The imparfait is used to suggest an action in phrases beginning with Si on. The imparfait also has several idiomatic uses found in the following contexts: The imperfect tense ( l'imparfait) has two primary uses: to describe on-going actions or states of being in the past, and to state habitual actions in the past.