Learn to conjugate verbs in the past perfect tense of the indicative
Le passé antérieur (littéraire) de l'indicatif
When to use
The indicative past perfect tense in French is used to express that an action was completed before or after another action in the past. The past perfect tense is used for whichever action happened first, while a regular perfect or imperfect tense is used for the second. The past perfect tense is the literary equivalent of the plus-que-parfait tense. This means, this tense is only to be used when writing. The past perfect is normally preceded by the following conjunctions: quand (when), lorsque (when), après que (after), aussitôt que (as soon as), dès que (as soon as). Its English equivalents are as follows:
Past perfect tense
The tense that is composed as had plus the past participle when writing.
Eg. As soon as Napoleon had entered the castle, people screamed his name.
Examples of use
Eg. 1)
Aussitôt que l'empereur le traité, la guerre se termina.
As soon as the emperor the treaty, the war ended.
Eg. 2)
Après que son mari , elle alla rencontrer son avocat.
After her husband , she went to see her lawyer.
Eg. 3)
Lorsque la lettre , il courut jusqu'à la porte.
When the letter , he ran for the door.
How to conjugate
Conjugate the verb avoir (to have) in the indicative simple past tense and use the past participle.
J'
eus + PP
I
Tu
eus + PP
you (s.)
Il
eut + PP
he, she, it
Nous
eûmes + PP
we
Vous
eûtes + PP
you (p., pol.)
Ils
eurent + PP
they
With some verbs you will need to conjugate the verb être (to be), instead of avoir (to have), in the indicative simple past tense and use the past participle. There are only a small handfull of these verbs, find all être verbs and more information here.
Je
fus + PP
I
Tu
fus + PP
you (s.)
Il
fut + PP
he, she, it
Nous
fûmes + PP
we
Vous
fûtes + PP
you (p., pol.)
Ils
furent + PP
they
Examples of conjugation
-er verb
parler
J'
eus parlé
Tu
eus parlé
Il
eut parlé
Nous
eûmes parlé
Vous
eûtes parlé
Ils
eurent parlé
-ir verb
choissir
J'
eus choisi
Tu
eus choisi
Il
eut choisi
Nous
eûmes choisi
Vous
eûtes choisi
Ils
eurent choisi
-re verb
vendre
J'
eus vendu
Tu
eus vendu
Il
eut vendu
Nous
eûmes vendu
Vous
eûtes vendu
Ils
eurent vendu
Requiring être
aller
Je
fus allé(e)
Tu
fus allé(e)
Il
fut allé(e)
Nous
fûmes allé(e)s
Vous
fûtes allé(e)(s)
Ils
furent allé(e)s
Notable points
Literary tensesThere are 5 literary tenses in French which all have spoken equivalents and the indicative past perfect is one of them. It is also important to note that written tenses are used in literature, journalism, historical texts and narration. The following is a table of literary and spoken equivalents:
Literary
Spoken
IND. simple past
IND passé composé
IND. past perfect
IND. plus-que-parfait
SUBJ. imperfect*
SUBJ. present
SUBJ. plus-que-parfait**
SUBJ. past
COND. 2nd past
COND. past
* The subjunctive imperfect tense is only the literary form when main clause is in the past tense and the subjunctive clause, the subordinate, didn't happen first.
** The subjunctive plus-que-parfait tense is only the literary form when the main clause is in the past tense and the subjunctive clause happened before the main clause.
Overuse in U.S. American EnglishThe past perfect is used in French the same as the past perfect is used in English. The past perfect is to be used in English and French when two actions are linked in the past that have both been completed. You do not use the past perfect when listing unrelated actions. There is a tendancy in the U.S. to overuse the had construction. A U.S. American may say: 'I had been in pain. I had gone to the doctor. The doctor had said to me that it was nothing. So I had decided to go home'. This is an overuse of the had construction and is not needed in French or English. The past perfect is only used when linking actions that happened simultaneously in a main clause and a subordinate clause. The only exception to this rule is when the verbs are link by a conditional, would.
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