PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
Also known as: French pluperfect · past perfect · le plus-que-parfait
The plus-que-parfait is the French past perfect tense used for an action that happened before another past action. It is formed with the imparfait of avoir or être plus the past participle, as in j'avais fini or elle était partie.
It expresses anteriority in past narration and appears in Type 3 si-clauses for unreal past conditions: si j'avais su, je serais venu.
Plus-que-parfait improves chronology in written narratives and lets advanced candidates express regret, explanation, and past hypotheticals clearly.
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