Le Plus-que-parfait in French is the direct equivalent of the Pluperfect in English. It could be described as "the past of the past":

e.g. After I had eaten my dinner, I went for a walk.

Of course, English speakers are likely to make contractions: I'd eaten, etc.

Look at these regular verbs conjugated in the Plus-que-parfait:

J'avais mangé tous les biscuits, et il n'en restait aucun pour les invités !
I had eaten all the biscuits, and there was none left for the guests!

Si nous l'avions choisi, nous l'aurions regretté.
If we'd chosen him, we would have regretted it.

Après qu'elle lui avait avoué ce qu'elle ressentait, elle avait rougi.
After she'd confessed to him how she felt, she'd blushed.

Vous aviez aimé ce concert.
You had liked that concert.

Aviez-vous répondu à sa lettre à l'époque ?
Had you answered her letter at the time?

Ils avaient tous entendu ce bruit.
They had all heard this noise.

The Plus-que-parfait is formed on the same model as the Passé Composé, except avoir (or être) are here conjugated in the Imparfait.

For -ER verbs, you form the past participle by replacing the -er ending with -é.

For -IR verbs, you form the past participle by replacing the -ir ending with -i.

For -RE verbs, you form the past participle by replacing the -dre ending with -du.

Note: the exceptions of verbs with être instead of avoir are the same as in the Passé Composé.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Plus-que-parfait

Examples and resources

aimer

Vous aviez aimé ce concert.
You had liked that concert.

applaudir

Ce soir-là, ils avaient applaudi comme jamais auparavant.
That evening, they'd applauded like never before.

choisir

Si nous l'avions choisi, nous l'aurions regretté.
If we'd chosen him, we would have regretted it.

danser

Il avait dansé
He had danced

écouter

Nous avions écouté
We had listened

entendre

Ils avaient tous entendu ce bruit.
They had all heard this noise.

jouer

Ils avaient joué toute la nuit.
They had played all night.

manger

J'avais mangé tous les biscuits, et il n'en restait aucun pour les invités !
I had eaten all the biscuits, and there was none left for the guests!

répondre

Aviez-vous répondu à sa lettre à l'époque ?
Had you answered her letter at the time?

réussir

J'avais réussi à les convaincre.
I had managed to convince them.

rougir

Après qu'elle lui avait avoué ce qu'elle ressentait, elle avait rougi.
After she'd confessed to him how she felt, she'd blushed.

vendre

J'avais vendu ma vieille voiture.
I had sold my old car.

Q&A Forum 5 questions, 8 answers

JamesC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

The use of the word `tout` is in question,; see test question below.In the tutorial `tous` is used? `Ils avaient tous entendu ce bruit`.

Asked 5 months ago

Like0Answer2

ChiomaA1Kwiziq community memberCorrect answer

Hello James,

Ils avaient tout entendu is correct because it is a complete sentence that means 'They had heard everything'. Here, tout is the object representing what they heard; i.e., everything).

Ils avaient tous entendu would not be correct because it requires an object. It means 'They had all heard'. Heard what? The sentence is incomplete.

On the other hand, Ils avaient tous entendu ce bruit is correct, meaning 'They had all heard the noise'. Here, ce bruit is the object and gives the sentence full meaning.

Best,

Lillian

Kwiziq community member (Learning French)

Like15 months ago

JamesC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Thank You Lillian

Like04 months ago

James asked:View original

The use of the word `tout` is in question,; see test question below.In the tutorial `tous` is used? `Ils avaient tous entendu ce bruit`.

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FionaB2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

'La lettre que j'ai écrite'

Hi Aurélie,

This question is not related to this lesson per se, but I am not sure I understand this correctly, it is in my quiz tests.

'La lettre que j'ai ecrite (cannot type the accent here) which translates to the letter that I wrote. Why is 'ecrite without the accent to show that it is in the past tense? What am I being taught here?

Another question: Is there something wrong with the bot? He is making me loose time.

Thank you.

Asked 6 months ago

Like0Answer2

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Fiona,

The past participle of the verbe écrire is

écrit (masculine)

écrite (feminine)

no accent on the final -e

Le document que j'ai écrit est très long = The document that I wrote is very long

La lettre que j'ai écrite est en anglais = The letter that I wrote is in English

Hope this helps!

Like02 months ago

ToddA1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

It seems your question is directed at someone specific, but I can help with the first part.

Not all past tense conjugations have an é at the end. It depends on the infinitive (unconjugated) verb ending, and even then, there are exceptions. The best way to go about learning is to commit them to memory.

Also, just because a verb conjugated in the past tense ends with an e, that does not mean it requires an accent. If the noun in your example were masculine, the past tense spelling would be écrit without the final e.

Like06 months ago

Fiona asked:View original

'La lettre que j'ai écrite'

Hi Aurélie,

This question is not related to this lesson per se, but I am not sure I understand this correctly, it is in my quiz tests.

Another question: Is there something wrong with the bot? He is making me loose time.

Thank you.

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ReemA1Kwiziq community member

Is the plus-ques parfait the same as Passé composé?

In the sense that in être verbs, additions such as e, s, es are made when nscessary? For example:

Passé Composé:

Je suis sortie ( I am a girl)

would Plus-que parfait be:

J'étais sortie or J'étais sorti?

Asked 11 months ago

Like0Answer1

CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Reem,

You are correct...

With verbs that take the auxiliary être, the past participle will agree in gender and number with the subject just as in the passé composé and other compound tenses of the indicative mood...

So it would be -

J'étais sorti/e = I had gone out

Hope this helps!

Like011 months ago

Reem asked:View original

Is the plus-ques parfait the same as Passé composé?

In the sense that in être verbs, additions such as e, s, es are made when nscessary? For example:

Passé Composé:

Je suis sortie ( I am a girl)

would Plus-que parfait be:

J'étais sortie or J'étais sorti?

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PaulC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Plus-que-parfait vs imparfait

Why is "She had been dreaming" (in the writing exercise) translated with the imparfait "Elle rêvait" instead of the plus-que-parfait "Elle avait rêvé"?

Asked 1 year ago

Like0Answer2

CécileKwiziq team member

Hi Paul,

Could you let me know which writing exercise this refers to or the context ?

Like01 year ago

PaulC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Hi Cécile, It is the May 25 Writing Challenge, Level B1: Trip to Paris

Kwiziq does not allow me to do the challenge more than once so I cannot show you the English sentence, but I think it was "She'd been dreaming of it (the trip) for ever, and the given translation is "Elle en rêvait depuis toujours."

Thanks, Paul

Like01 year ago

Paul asked:View original

Plus-que-parfait vs imparfait

Why is "She had been dreaming" (in the writing exercise) translated with the imparfait "Elle rêvait" instead of the plus-que-parfait "Elle avait rêvé"?

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AndrewC1Kwiziq community member

Past perfect: sequential events

Hi, I have a question about he following sentence in the lesson: "Après qu'elle lui avait avoué ce qu'elle ressentait, elle avait rougi." Seems logical to me that she would have blushed AFTER she confessed her feelings, hence "elle a rougi" makes more sense, no? Would appreciate your thoughts, thanks in advance!

Asked 2 years ago

Like0Answer1

RonC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Bonjour Andrew, I think that your phrase «elle a rougi» is appropriate with usage of le Plus-que-Parfait in the après qu'elle lui avait avoué. . . (see the lesson below in the link). Après que + L'Indicatif = After + verb However, because this lesson was about le Plus-que-parfait singularly, I can see the reasoning for both verbs being in le PQP in the example given in the lesson. Bonne chance et bonne continuation dans vos études en français.

Like02 years ago

Andrew asked:View original