FlexiLingoIn one line
The auxiliary in the
imparfait+ the past participle. It means "before that past".
This is the English past perfect, and the match is exact. "I had spoken" →
j'avais parlé; "she had gone" →elle était allée. Same idea, same job, same position in a narrative — the only French addition is choosing betweenavoirandêtre, which you already do for the passé composé.
The table
How it is built
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
j'avais + parlé | I had spoken | /ʒa.vɛ/ · /paʁ.le/ |
j'étais + allé | I had gone | /ʒe.tɛ/ · /a.le/ |
je m'étais + lavé | I had washed | /ʒə me.tɛ/ · /la.ve/ |
The same auxiliary you used in the passé composé, but this time in the imparfait.
| Verb | Passé composé | Pluperfect |
|---|---|---|
parler /paʁ.le/ | j'ai parlé /ʒe paʁ.le/ | j'avais parlé /ʒa.vɛ paʁ.le/ |
aller /a.le/ | je suis allé /ʒə sɥi a.le/ | j'étais allé /ʒe.tɛ.z‿a.le/ |
voir /vwaʁ/ | j'ai vu /ʒe vy/ | j'avais vu /ʒa.vɛ vy/ |
se laver /sə la.ve/ | je me suis lavé /ʒə mə sɥi la.ve/ | je m'étais lavé /ʒə me.tɛ la.ve/ |
When it is used
| Use | Example | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| sequencing two past events | Quand je suis arrivé, il était déjà parti. when I arrived, he had already left | /kɑ̃ ʒə sɥi a.ʁi.ve il e.tɛ de.ʒa paʁ.ti/ |
| the cause of a past event | J'avais oublié mon livre, alors je suis rentré. | /ʒa.vɛ.z‿u.bli.e mɔ̃ livʁ a.lɔʁ ʒə sɥi ʁɑ̃.tʁe/ |
| a type-3 condition | Si j'avais su, je serais venu. if I had known, I would have come | /si ʒa.vɛ sy ʒə sə.ʁɛ və.ny/ |
| reported speech | Il a dit qu'il avait fini. | /i.la di ki.la.vɛ fi.ni/ |
Three pasts, side by side
| Tense | Example | English | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| further past | j'avais mangé | I had eaten | /ʒa.vɛ mɑ̃.ʒe/ |
| passé composé | j'ai mangé | I ate / I have eaten | /ʒe mɑ̃.ʒe/ |
| imperfect | je mangeais | I was eating / I used to eat | /ʒə mɑ̃.ʒɛ/ |
English has all three too, and the pluperfect is the one where the two languages agree most closely — so this is the cheapest of the three to learn.
Exceptions
| Exception | What happens | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| The same auxiliary as the passé composé | if the verb takes être there, it takes être here | /ɛtʁ/ |
| The same agreement rules | Elle était allée. | /ɛl e.tɛ.t‿a.le/ |
| In the negative, around the auxiliary | Je n'avais pas parlé. | /ʒə na.vɛ pa paʁ.le/ |
With déjà and jamais | between the auxiliary and the participle: J'avais déjà mangé. | /ʒa.vɛ de.ʒa mɑ̃.ʒe/ |
That last one matches English exactly — "I had already eaten", "I had never seen it" — the adverb sits between the two parts in both languages.
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| When I arrived, he had left | Quand je suis arrivé, il était parti. | /kɑ̃ ʒə sɥi.z‿a.ʁi.ve il e.tɛ paʁ.ti/ |
| I had forgotten my book | J'avais oublié mon livre. | /ʒa.vɛ.zu.bli.je mɔ̃ livʁ/ |
| We had already eaten | Nous avions déjà mangé. | /nu.za.vjɔ̃ de.ʒa mɑ̃.ʒe/ |
| He said he had finished | Il a dit qu'il avait fini. | /i.la di ki.la.vɛ fi.ni/ |
| I had never seen him | Je ne l'avais jamais vu. | /ʒə nə la.vɛ ʒa.mɛ vy/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
j'ai avais parlé | j'avais parlé | Only one auxiliary |
j'étais parlé | j'avais parlé | parler takes avoir |
Elle était allé. | Elle était allée. | Agreement with être |
Quand je suis arrivé, il est parti. (meaning "had left") | … il était parti. | With the passé composé it means he left after I arrived |
The difference that changes the meaning
one sentence, two completely different situations
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
Quand je suis arrivé, il est parti. | /kɑ̃ ʒə sɥi.z‿a.ʁi.ve il ɛ paʁ.ti/ | when I arrived, he left — after I got there |
Quand je suis arrivé, il était parti. | /kɑ̃ ʒə sɥi.z‿a.ʁi.ve il e.tɛ paʁ.ti/ | when I arrived, he had left — before I got there |
In the first they met. In the second they did not.
English marks exactly this difference with exactly this device — "he left" versus "he had left" — so you already own the concept and only need the French forms.
One warning, though: English is much lazier about it than French. In casual English "when I arrived he already left" passes without comment, because already carries the sequence. French will not let the tense slide: if the second event precedes the first, the pluperfect is required, and using the passé composé produces a different, wrong meaning rather than a slightly informal one.