What tense?

HeatherC1Kwiziq community member

What tense?

Après qu’il fut parti, tu détruisis toutes ses affaires. 

What tense is “il fut parti”?  It appears to be a compound tense with the auxiliary verb in passé simple. 

Asked 3 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Heather,

It is indeed the 'passé antérieur' past perfect /indicative ), mainly used in literature. 

Here is a link for a conjugation table of partir :

https://bescherelle.com/conjugueur.php

N. B. the indicative mood after 'après que' unlike 'avant que' which is followed by a subjunctive.

Bonne Continuation!

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Je suis parti. -- I left. (passé simple)
J'étais parti. -- I had left. (plus-que parfait)
Je fut parti. -- I had left. (passé anterieur)

The passé antérieur is, as Alan pointed out, a literary equivalent to the more mainstream plus-que-parfait. It isn't normally used in spoken French.

Note that parti is not the participle, so it's deceptive but the last line is NOT a strange Frankenstein tense of passé simple and participle.

AlanC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

You're thinking of "faire partie", Chris.

There is indeed a strange Frankenstein tense of passé simple + participle - it's called the "passé antérieur".  It's the literary equivalent of the plus-que-parfait.

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Thanks, Alan. That's what you get when you don't pay close attention. I'll edit my answer to reflect that.

What tense?

Après qu’il fut parti, tu détruisis toutes ses affaires. 

What tense is “il fut parti”?  It appears to be a compound tense with the auxiliary verb in passé simple. 

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