Plus-Que-Parfait dans le Récit (PQP in Narrative)

What You'll LearnSpot the Pluperfect tense in a text.Correctly form the Pluperfect tense with the helping verbs 'avoir' (to have) [a-VWAR] and 'être' (to be) [ET-ruh].Use the Pluperfect to talk about something that happened before another past action.Tell the difference between the Pluperfect, the Passé Composé, and the Imperfect tenses.Picture this: You arrive at a birthday party 🎂, but everyone is already eating the cake. You're surprised! To explain what happened, you would say: « Quand je suis arrivé (When I arrived) [kahn zhuh swee za-ree-VAY], ils avaient déjà coupé (they had already cut) [eel za-VAY day-ZHA koo-PAY] le gâteau (the cake) [luh ga-TOH]. » The Pluperfect tense helps us tell stories in the right order. It's like saying "had done" something in English. When You'll Use Th...

The Pluperfect is a compound tense, which means it uses a helping verb. There's no new vocabulary in this lesson, but we'll review the structure with verbs you might already know.Pluperfect VerbWhat it MeansExample in a Sentencej'avais mangé (I had eaten) [zhay-VAY mahn-ZHAY]The action of eating was finished before another moment in the past.Je n'avais plus faim (I wasn't hungry anymore) [zhuh na-VAY ploo fan] parce que (because) [par-suh-KUH] j'avais mangé (I had eaten) [zhay-VAY mahn-ZHAY] une grosse poutine (a big poutine) [oon grohs poo-TEEN].il était parti (he had left) [eel ay-TAY par-TEE]The action of leaving was finished before another moment in the past.Quand j'ai téléphoné (When I called) [kahn zhay tay-lay-fo-NAY], il était déjà parti (he had already left) [eel ay-TAY day-ZHA pa...

1. How to Form the Pluperfect (PQP)Rule: You form the Pluperfect with the helping verb avoir (to have) [a-VWAR] or être (to be) [ET-ruh] in the Imperfect tense, followed by the past participle of the main verb.Formula: Subject + helping verb (in Imperfect) + past participle.Example with avoir: J'avais parlé (I had spoken) [zhay-VAY par-LAY], tu avais parlé (you had spoken) [too a-VAY par-LAY], il avait parlé (he had spoken) [eel a-VAY par-LAY], nous avions parlé (we had spoken) [noo za-VYOHN par-LAY], vous aviez parlé (you had spoken) [voo za-VYAY par-LAY], ils avaient parlé (they had spoken) [eel za-VAY par-LAY].Example with être: J'étais allé(e) (I had gone) [zhay-TAY za-LAY], tu étais allé(e) (you had gone) [too ay-TAY za-LAY], il était allé (he had gone) [eel ay-TAY za-LAY], nous étion...