Tu aurais réussi à l’examen si tu avais étudié. If I had finished the work, I would have left early. Par exemple… Si j’avais fini le travail, je serais parti tôt. The past perfect is used without a subsequent action in hypothetical si clauses – when something could or would have happened if a condition, stated with the past perfect, had been met. I did the laundry and Ana mowed the lawn. J’ai fait la lessive et Ana a tondu le gazon. J’ai fini tout le travail et puis je suis parti. If you’re just making a list of two things that occurred, either one after the other or at the same time, you don’t need the past perfect. It’s important to understand that the past perfect is used when there is a relationship between the two verbs: the one in the past perfect led to or had some bearing on the one that came second.

I had finished all the work before leaving. Par exemple… J’avais fini tout le travail avant de partir. The second action may be stated with avant de + infinitive or avant que + subjunctive, or the verb can even be implied with avant + noun, as long as that noun refers to something in the past. – Tu n’as pas répondu à la porte hier soir. She had finished all the work when I left.

The sun had already started to set when I arrived.Įlle avait fini tout le travail quand je suis parti. Par exemple… Le soleil avait déjà commencé à se coucher quand je suis arrivé. The action that occurred second is usually stated with another past tense, such as the passé composé or imperfect. The past perfect is used for the verb that happened first, the one that is further in the past. The use of the past perfect is very similar in French and English. The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a verb tense that distinguishes between two related things that happened in the past, indicating which one occurred before the other.

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