plus-que-parfait

Question 1

plus-que-parfait purpose and formation

Answer 1

The French past perfect, or pluperfect, is used to indicate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past. The latter can be either mentioned in the same sentence or implied.

Il n’avait pas mangé (avant de faire ses devoirs).
He hadn’t eaten (before doing his homework).

The pluperfect is also used in si clauses to express a hypothetical situation in the past contrary to what actually happened:

Si tu m’avais demandé, j’aurais répondu.
If you had asked me, I would have answered.

The French past perfect is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:

imperfect of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être)

past participle of the main verb

Note: Like all French compound conjugations, the past perfect may be subject to grammatical agreement:
When the auxiliary verb is être, the past participle must agree with the subject

Question 2

I went shopping this morning; I had already done the laundry

Answer 2

J’ai fait du shopping ce matin ; j’avais déjà fait la lessive.

Question 3

I had already left (when you called).

Answer 3

J’étais déjà sorti (quand tu as téléphoné).

Question 4

We wanted to talk to you because we didn’t see you yesterday.

Answer 4

Nous voulions te parler parce que nous ne t’avions pas vu hier.

Question 5

If you had asked me, I would have answered.

Answer 5

Si tu m’avais demandé, j’aurais répondu.

Question 6

We would have gone if we had known.

Answer 6

Nous y serions allés si nous avions su.