Avant (before) and après (after) are the workhorse temporal prepositions. With nouns they look symmetrical: avant le repas, après le repas. With verbs and clauses, the symmetry breaks down in two important ways. First, avant needs de before an infinitive (avant de partir), while après takes a compound infinitive directly (après être parti). Second, avant que takes the subjunctive but après que takes the indicative — a textbook asymmetry that even native speakers sometimes get wrong. This page works through the four constructions (with nouns, with infinitives, with clauses, in idioms) and pays close attention to the mood split.
Avant and après with nouns
The simplest case: avant and après take nouns directly, with no preposition between them.
On se voit avant le déjeuner ?
Shall we meet before lunch?
Je rentre après le travail.
I'm going home after work.
Avant la guerre, ma grand-mère habitait à Strasbourg.
Before the war, my grandmother lived in Strasbourg.
Après le film, on est allés boire un verre.
After the film, we went for a drink.
The constructions also work with abstract nouns and time references:
Je voudrais finir ce projet avant la fin du mois.
I'd like to finish this project before the end of the month.
Après cette expérience, j'ai changé d'avis.
After that experience, I changed my mind.
Avant 18h, après 18h: with clock times
For specific times of day, avant and après attach directly:
Appelle-moi avant 18h.
Call me before 6pm.
Le magasin ferme après 20h.
The shop closes after 8pm.
Tu peux passer après 14h ?
Can you come by after 2pm?
These are everyday usage — exactly what you would say in a text message or a quick conversation. Note that French uses 24-hour time in writing more often than English does (18h, 20h, 14h), though spoken French still uses 12-hour forms (six heures, huit heures) in casual contexts.
Avant de + infinitive: same subject
When the subject of the main clause and the action that comes before are the same person, French uses avant de + infinitive — note the obligatory de.
Lave-toi les mains avant de manger.
Wash your hands before eating.
Réfléchis avant de parler !
Think before you speak!
J'éteins toujours les lumières avant de partir.
I always turn the lights off before leaving.
The de here is not optional and not negotiable. Avant manger is not French. The reason is structural: avant is a preposition, and French prepositions cannot take an infinitive directly except for a small group (pour, sans, à, de and a few others). To bridge to an infinitive, avant recruits the helper preposition de.
Après + infinitif passé: same subject
The corresponding construction with après takes a compound infinitive — the past infinitive — formed with the auxiliary infinitive (avoir or être) plus the past participle. There is no de.
Après avoir mangé, on est sortis se promener.
After eating, we went out for a walk.
Il s'est endormi après avoir lu trois pages.
He fell asleep after reading three pages.
Après être arrivés à Paris, ils ont cherché un hôtel.
After arriving in Paris, they looked for a hotel.
Elle s'est sentie mieux après s'être reposée.
She felt better after resting.
The auxiliary follows the regular rules: avoir for most verbs, être for the maison d'être verbs (motion and change of state) and for all reflexive verbs. Past participle agreement also follows the regular rules — note arrivés, reposée in the examples above, agreeing with the subject of the main clause.
This construction is a textbook stumbling block for English speakers, who often try to translate after eating literally with après mangeant (using the present participle). That is wrong on two counts: French does not put the present participle after most prepositions, and après specifically signals anteriority — something that has already happened — which is exactly what the compound infinitive expresses.
❌ Après mangeant, on est sortis.
Incorrect — *après* + present participle is not French. The required form is *après avoir mangé*.
✅ Après avoir mangé, on est sortis.
After eating, we went out.
Avant que + subjunctive: different subject
When the before clause has a different subject from the main clause, you cannot use the infinitive — you need a full clause with avant que + subjunctive.
Je veux te parler avant que tu partes.
I want to talk to you before you leave.
Finis tes devoirs avant qu'il fasse nuit.
Finish your homework before it gets dark.
Réserve la table avant qu'il soit trop tard.
Book the table before it's too late.
The subjunctive is required here. The reason is logical: at the moment of saying avant que tu partes, your departure has not yet happened — it exists in the realm of the not-yet-real, which is exactly the domain the subjunctive covers. Avant que always points to an event that has not yet occurred relative to the main clause, so the subjunctive is the appropriate mood.
In careful French, avant que is sometimes accompanied by a so-called expletive ne — a ne that does not negate, included for stylistic reasons:
Pars avant qu'il ne soit trop tard.
Leave before it's too late.
This ne is optional and slightly formal. In everyday speech, most speakers omit it. You should recognize it but you do not need to produce it.
Après que + indicative: different subject
Here is the asymmetry that catches almost every learner. Après que takes the indicative, not the subjunctive.
Je suis rentré après qu'il a fini son travail.
I went home after he finished his work.
On a appelé la police après qu'ils sont partis.
We called the police after they left.
Elle s'est endormie après que le film s'est terminé.
She fell asleep after the film ended.
The reasoning mirrors avant que. By the time the main clause happens, the after event has already taken place — it is a fact, an established reality, which is exactly what the indicative covers. Après que ils sont partis (they have left) is reporting a completed fact.
In practice, many native speakers use the subjunctive after après que by analogy with avant que — and this is widely heard, even on television and in print. Prescriptively this is wrong. The Académie française and every grammar book maintain that après que takes the indicative. For learners aiming at correct French, especially in writing, use the indicative.
❌ Après qu'il soit parti, j'ai appelé.
Incorrect (prescriptively) — *après que* takes the indicative. Many speakers use the subjunctive by analogy with *avant que*, but it is not standard.
✅ Après qu'il est parti, j'ai appelé.
After he left, I called.
D'après: according to
A separate but closely related preposition is d'après, which means according to — quoting a source.
D'après moi, c'est une mauvaise idée.
In my opinion, it's a bad idea.
D'après le journal, il va pleuvoir demain.
According to the newspaper, it's going to rain tomorrow.
D'après ce qu'on m'a dit, le restaurant est fermé.
From what I've been told, the restaurant is closed.
The literal sense — coming after, derived from — is preserved in the secondary meaning based on or adapted from: un film d'après un roman (a film based on a novel).
Time-related compounds
Avant and après form a small family of compound time expressions, all hyphenated.
Je l'ai vu avant-hier.
I saw him the day before yesterday.
On part en vacances après-demain.
We're going on holiday the day after tomorrow.
Je travaille tous les après-midis.
I work every afternoon.
Avant-hier (the day before yesterday) and après-demain (the day after tomorrow) are everyday vocabulary. L'après-midi (the afternoon) is a single hyphenated noun, masculine, and unlike English it does not take a separate preposition for in the afternoon — the article alone or l'après-midi is enough: je travaille l'après-midi (I work in the afternoon).
Avant tout: above all
A handful of fixed expressions extend avant into figurative space.
Avant tout, je voudrais te remercier.
Above all, I'd like to thank you.
Pour lui, la famille passe avant tout.
For him, family comes first.
Avant peu, on saura la vérité.
Before long, we'll know the truth.
Avant tout (above all, first and foremost) is everyday register; avant peu (before long) is slightly literary.
Common Mistakes
❌ Lave-toi les mains avant manger.
Incorrect — *avant* takes *de* before an infinitive: *avant de manger*.
✅ Lave-toi les mains avant de manger.
Wash your hands before eating.
❌ Après manger, on est sortis.
Incorrect — *après* takes the compound infinitive (*avoir* or *être* + past participle), not a bare infinitive.
✅ Après avoir mangé, on est sortis.
After eating, we went out.
❌ Je t'appelle avant que tu pars.
Incorrect — *avant que* triggers the subjunctive: *avant que tu partes*.
✅ Je t'appelle avant que tu partes.
I'll call you before you leave.
❌ Après qu'il soit arrivé, on a commencé.
Incorrect (prescriptively) — *après que* takes the indicative because the event is already accomplished: *après qu'il est arrivé*.
✅ Après qu'il est arrivé, on a commencé.
After he arrived, we started.
❌ Selon à mon avis, c'est faux.
Incorrect — *according to my opinion* combines two equivalent expressions. Use *à mon avis* alone or *d'après moi*.
✅ D'après moi, c'est faux.
In my opinion, that's wrong.
The avant que / après que mood split is the most-tested point on this page. The simplest mnemonic: avant que points to the future-from-now, the not-yet, which is the home of the subjunctive; après que points to the past-from-now, the already-done, which belongs to the indicative.
Key takeaways
- With nouns, avant and après are symmetrical: avant le repas, après le repas.
- With same-subject infinitives, the constructions diverge: avant DE + infinitif (with de), après + infinitif passé (no de, compound form).
- With different-subject clauses, the mood split is decisive: avant que
- subjunctive, après que
- indicative.
- subjunctive, après que
- Compound time expressions: avant-hier, après-demain, l'après-midi. All hyphenated, all common.
- D'après (according to) is a useful secondary preposition meaning in the opinion of or based on: d'après moi, un film d'après un roman.
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