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Conjugation
Objective: Form the pluperfect with avoir and être in the imperfect, apply participle agreement, and sequence past events with the pluperfect, passé composé, and imparfait.
| Auxiliary | Imperfect form | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| avoir | j'avais | J'avais mangé. | I had eaten. |
| avoir | tu avais | Tu avais fini. | You had finished. |
| avoir | il avait | Il avait vu. | He had seen. |
| être | j'étais | J'étais parti. | I had left. |
| être | elle était | Elle était née. | She had been born. |
| être | ils étaient | Ils étaient arrivés. | They had arrived. |
The departure happened before the arrival, so it takes the pluperfect était parti. The auxiliary appears in the imparfait, not in the present as in the passé composé.
Partir already takes être as its auxiliary, so the form avait été parti doubles the auxiliary. The pluperfect is était parti.
The departure precedes the arrival, so it takes the pluperfect était parti. The participle parti agrees with the masculine singular subject il.
Avoir in the imperfect precedes the participle mangé. The meal happened before the arrival of the group.
Partir takes être, and the participle partis agrees with the plural subject nous.
The reflexive verb takes être, and the participle levée agrees with the feminine subject elle.
Avoir in the imperfect precedes the participle oublié. The participle does not agree with the subject.
7 exercises · about 11 minutes
Aller takes the auxiliary être in the pluperfect, and the participle allés agrees with the subject in gender and number. The auxiliary avoir belongs to the second verb.
Both events preceded the moment being described, so both take the pluperfect. Mixing the pluperfect with the passé composé would place the second event after the first.
The pluperfect étions venus places the earlier visit before the moment he did not know about it.
The completion of the work precedes the phone call, so it takes the pluperfect avais fini.
The lie precedes the moment of understanding, so the subordinate clause takes the pluperfect avait menti.