The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple Flashcards
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple How the pluperfect is formed?
Use the imperfect tense of ‘‘avoir’’ or ‘‘être’’ and add the past participle of the verb in question. In the pluperfect the verb takes the same auxiliary as in the passé composé. The agreement of the past participle in the pluperfect follows the same rules as in the passé composé.
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple When is the pluperfect used?
- To express an action, event or situation which happened before another past action, event or situation which may or may not be mentioned in the same sentence.
Elle était déjà partie quand je suis arrivé. - After ‘‘si’’ to express a regret about something that cannot be changed any more.
Si seulement j’avais su cela! - To express a habitual action which happened before another habitual action (expressed by the imperfect tense) in clauses introduced by a conjunction of time such as ‘‘quand’’, ‘‘lorsque’’ (when), ‘‘dès que’’, ‘‘ausiitôt que’’ (as soon as), ‘‘après que’’ (after), ‘‘une fois que’’ (once).
Quand Paul avait fini de travailler, il faisait la sieste. - With ‘‘depuis’’ (ça faisait…que, il y avait…que) in a negative statement for an action which started in the past and continued up to a certain point in the past.
Je n’avais pas vu Pascal depuis trois mois quand je l’ai rencontré.
Ça faisait trois mois que je n’avais pas vu Pascal quand je l’ai rencontré.
Il y avait trois mois que je n’avais pas vu Pascal quand je l’ai rencontré.
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple He had been working in Boston for five months when they offered him a job.
Il travaillait à Boston depuis cinq mois quand on lui a offert un poste à Paris.
(French uses the imperfect tense in an affirmative statement after ‘‘depuis’’, ‘‘il y avait’‘+time+que and ‘‘faisait’‘+time+que to refer to an action that had been going on for a certain time in the past prior to another action that interrupted it.)
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple He had just left.
Il venait de partir.
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple How are formed the regular verbs in the passé simple?
1.The passé simple of all ‘‘-er’’ ending verbs (including the irregular verb ‘‘aller’’) is formed by adding the endings -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent to the stem of the infinitive.
Verbs ending in ‘‘-cer’’ add a cédille to the ‘‘c’’ before ‘‘a’’ (i.e., in all persons except the third person plural).
Verbs ending in ‘‘-ger’’ insert ‘‘e’’ after ‘‘g’’ before ‘‘a’’ (i.e., in all persons except the third person plural).
2. The passé simple of both ‘‘-ir’’ and ‘‘-re’’ ending vehe infinitive.em of trbs is formed by adding the endings -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent to the st
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple When is the passé simple used?
- The passé simple is used instead of the passé composé in literary and historical texts, as well as in quality newspaper articles and formal speeches, to state momentary or completed actions in the past.
Napoléon naquit à Ajaccio en 1769 et il mourut à Saint-Hélène en 1821.
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple How is the passé antérieur formed?
The passé antérieur consists of the passé simple of the auxiliary (‘‘avoir’’ or ‘‘être’’) and the past participle of the verb in question. It is translated into English with pluperfect.
The Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait) and the Passé Simple When is the passé antérieur used?
The passé antérieur is a literary tense like the passé simple and therefore not used in conversation or in informal writing, whereit is replaced by the pluperfect. One uses the passé antérieur after the conjunctions ‘‘après que’’, ‘‘aussitôt que’’, ‘‘dès que’’, ‘‘quand’’ and ‘‘lorsque’’ to describe an action that happened before another past action if this action is expressed by the passé simple.
Quand j’eus reconnu le danger, je pris ma décision.
