Le Passé Antérieur in French Grammar
The passé antérieur is rarely used today – we mostly find it in literary texts. It is the literary equivalent of the plus-que-parfait and is used in relation to the passé simple to indicate that an action occurred before another action in the past.
Literary_title
Example Label
Example_text
Immediate_past
How to conjugate the passé antérieur
Formula_text
| Person_label | Avoir_ps_label | Etre_ps_label |
|---|---|---|
| je | eus ...lu | fus ...parti(e) |
| tu | eus ...lu | fus ...parti(e) |
| il/elle | eut ...lu | fut ...parti(e) |
| nous | eûmes ...lu | fûmes ...parti(e) |
| vous | eûtes ...lu | fûtes ...parti(e) |
| ils/elles | eurent ...lu | furent ...parti(e) |
Logic_title
• Logic_conjunctions
• Logic_sequence
Literary_warning_title
Literary_warning_desc
How to form the negative with the passé antérieur
Ne + Aux + PasClassic complex conjugation negation.
Nous ne fûmes pas partis.