The plus-que-parfait is a compound tense — two verb forms working together — and once you can build the passé composé, you already know almost everything you need to build the plus-que-parfait. The only new piece is the tense of the auxiliary: instead of avoir or être in the present, you use them in the imparfait. The past participle is the same. The auxiliary choice is the same. The agreement rules are the same. What changes is only the time-anchor of the auxiliary, which moves the whole construction one step further into the past.
This page walks through the formula, gives you the full paradigms with both auxiliaries and a reflexive verb, and covers negation, questions, and past-participle agreement — the four mechanical pieces that turn an isolated form into a usable tense.
The formula
The plus-que-parfait is built like this:
Imparfait of avoir or être + past participle of the main verb
That is exactly the structure of the passé composé, with one substitution. Compare:
| Tense | Auxiliary tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Passé composé | présent | j'ai mangé (I ate / I have eaten) |
| Plus-que-parfait | imparfait | j'avais mangé (I had eaten) |
In English, the corresponding construction is had + past participle: I had eaten, you had gone, she had finished. There is a one-to-one mapping between the English past perfect and the French plus-que-parfait, which makes this one of the easier French tenses for English speakers to recognise — the hard part isn't the form, it's remembering to use it (see uses: anteriority).
Conjugation with avoir
Most verbs in French take avoir as their auxiliary, including all transitive verbs and the vast majority of intransitive ones. Here is the plus-que-parfait of manger (to eat) — a regular -er verb whose past participle is mangé:
| Person | Auxiliary (imparfait) | Past participle | Full form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | avais | mangé | j'avais mangé | /ʒavɛ mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| tu | avais | mangé | tu avais mangé | /ty avɛ mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| il / elle / on | avait | mangé | il avait mangé | /il avɛ mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| nous | avions | mangé | nous avions mangé | /nu‿zavjɔ̃ mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| vous | aviez | mangé | vous aviez mangé | /vu‿zavje mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| ils / elles | avaient | mangé | ils avaient mangé | /il‿zavɛ mɑ̃ʒe/ |
A few things to notice. First, the elision j'avais (never je avais) is mandatory. Second, the nous and vous forms trigger liaison: /nu‿zavjɔ̃/, /vu‿zavje/ — the silent s of the pronoun links to the vowel-initial auxiliary. Third, four of the six forms (j'avais, tu avais, il avait, ils avaient) are pronounced identically in casual speech, all ending in /ɛ/, with only the subject pronoun distinguishing person.
J'avais déjà fini mes devoirs quand mes parents sont rentrés.
I had already finished my homework by the time my parents got home.
Tu avais oublié ton parapluie chez nous, je l'ai retrouvé hier.
You'd left your umbrella at our place — I found it yesterday.
Ils n'avaient pas prévu qu'il pleuve autant ce week-end-là.
They hadn't expected that it would rain so much that weekend.
The same pattern works with any verb whose passé composé takes avoir. The past participle is whatever participle the verb uses in the passé composé:
| Infinitive | Past participle | Plus-que-parfait (1sg) |
|---|---|---|
| parler | parlé | j'avais parlé |
| finir | fini | j'avais fini |
| vendre | vendu | j'avais vendu |
| faire | fait | j'avais fait |
| prendre | pris | j'avais pris |
| voir | vu | j'avais vu |
| écrire | écrit | j'avais écrit |
| dire | dit | j'avais dit |
| boire | bu | j'avais bu |
| devoir | dû | j'avais dû |
Conjugation with être
The same set of verbs that take être in the passé composé also take être in the plus-que-parfait. That means: the seventeen verbs of motion and change of state on the maison d'être list (aller, venir, partir, arriver, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, retourner, rentrer, revenir, devenir, naître, mourir, passer), plus every pronominal (reflexive) verb.
Here is the plus-que-parfait of partir (to leave). Note the mandatory subject agreement on the past participle:
| Person | Auxiliary (imparfait) | Past participle | Full form |
|---|---|---|---|
| je (m.) | étais | parti | j'étais parti |
| je (f.) | étais | partie | j'étais partie |
| tu (m.) | étais | parti | tu étais parti |
| tu (f.) | étais | partie | tu étais partie |
| il | était | parti | il était parti |
| elle | était | partie | elle était partie |
| nous (m. or mixed) | étions | partis | nous étions partis |
| nous (f.) | étions | parties | nous étions parties |
| vous | étiez | parti(e)(s) | vous étiez parti(e)(s) |
| ils | étaient | partis | ils étaient partis |
| elles | étaient | parties | elles étaient parties |
The four written forms of the participle (parti, partie, partis, parties) are all pronounced /paʁti/ — the agreement is silent in speech but mandatory in writing. The same is true for every verb on the maison d'être list.
Quand je suis arrivée à la gare, le train était déjà parti depuis dix minutes.
When I got to the station, the train had already left ten minutes earlier.
Mes grands-parents étaient venus me chercher à l'aéroport, mais j'avais raté mon vol.
My grandparents had come to pick me up at the airport, but I'd missed my flight.
Elle était née à Marseille, mais sa famille était rentrée en Algérie quand elle avait trois ans.
She had been born in Marseille, but her family had gone back to Algeria when she was three.
Conjugation with reflexive verbs
Pronominal verbs always take être. The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) sits between the subject pronoun and the auxiliary. Here is the plus-que-parfait of se laver (to wash oneself):
| Person | Reflexive | Auxiliary | Past participle | Full form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je (m.) | m' | étais | lavé | je m'étais lavé |
| je (f.) | m' | étais | lavée | je m'étais lavée |
| tu (m.) | t' | étais | lavé | tu t'étais lavé |
| tu (f.) | t' | étais | lavée | tu t'étais lavée |
| il | s' | était | lavé | il s'était lavé |
| elle | s' | était | lavée | elle s'était lavée |
| nous (m. or mixed) | nous | étions | lavés | nous nous étions lavés |
| nous (f.) | nous | étions | lavées | nous nous étions lavées |
| vous | vous | étiez | lavé(e)(s) | vous vous étiez lavé(e)(s) |
| ils | s' | étaient | lavés | ils s'étaient lavés |
| elles | s' | étaient | lavées | elles s'étaient lavées |
The first-person plural form nous nous étions lavés contains nous twice — first as a subject pronoun, then as the reflexive pronoun — and that doubling is mandatory in writing. The same goes for vous vous étiez levés.
Quand le réveil a sonné, je m'étais déjà levée et j'avais préparé le café.
When the alarm went off, I had already gotten up and made coffee.
Elles s'étaient couchées tard la veille, donc elles dormaient encore à midi.
They had gone to bed late the night before, so they were still asleep at noon.
Nous nous étions perdus dans la vieille ville avant de retrouver le restaurant.
We had got lost in the old town before finding the restaurant.
Past participle agreement
Agreement in the plus-que-parfait works exactly the same way as in the passé composé — same auxiliary, same rule. There are three cases.
With être (maison d'être verbs): agree with the subject
The past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number, like an adjective:
Marie était partie avant la fin du film.
Marie had left before the end of the film. (feminine singular: partie)
Mes sœurs étaient rentrées à minuit.
My sisters had come home at midnight. (feminine plural: rentrées)
Les invités étaient arrivés en avance.
The guests had arrived early. (masculine plural: arrivés)
With avoir: agree only with a preceding direct object
The default is no agreement — the participle stays in its base masculine-singular form. Agreement only kicks in when a direct object appears before the verb (via a pronoun, a que relative clause, or a fronted quel(le)(s) question):
J'avais mangé les pommes.
I had eaten the apples. — direct object follows, no agreement.
Les pommes que j'avais mangées étaient délicieuses.
The apples I had eaten were delicious. — relative pronoun que (= les pommes) precedes, agreement appears.
Ces lettres ? Je les avais écrites en mai.
Those letters? I had written them in May. — pronoun les precedes, feminine plural agreement.
This rule is silent in pronunciation for most participles ending in -é (mangé/mangée/mangées are all /mɑ̃ʒe/), but it is audible for participles ending in a consonant: écrit /ekʁi/ vs. écrite /ekʁit/, pris /pʁi/ vs. prise /pʁiz/. Native speakers hear the missing t or s immediately.
With pronominal verbs: agree with the reflexive if it's a direct object
Most reflexive verbs use the reflexive as a direct object, so the participle agrees with the subject in practice:
Elle s'était lavée avant de partir.
She had washed before leaving. — se = direct object, agreement.
But when the reflexive is an indirect object (typically because there's another direct object in the sentence), agreement disappears:
Elle s'était lavé les mains.
She had washed her hands. — les mains is the direct object, se is indirect, no agreement.
The agreement rule is the same as in the passé composé — see agreement with être for the full treatment.
Negation
Just like the passé composé, ne ... pas wraps around the auxiliary, never the past participle:
Subject + ne + auxiliary (imparfait) + pas + past participle
Je n'avais pas mangé depuis le matin.
I hadn't eaten since the morning.
Tu n'étais pas venu à la dernière réunion.
You hadn't come to the last meeting.
Elle ne s'était pas rendu compte de l'heure.
She hadn't realised what time it was.
The other negative pairs work the same way: ne ... jamais (never), ne ... rien (nothing), ne ... plus (no longer), ne ... pas encore (not yet):
Je n'avais jamais visité la Bretagne avant cet été-là.
I had never visited Brittany before that summer.
Il n'avait rien dit de toute la soirée.
He hadn't said anything all evening.
On n'avait pas encore reçu la réponse quand on a dû partir.
We hadn't received the reply yet when we had to leave.
The negatives personne and nulle part go after the past participle:
Je n'avais vu personne au bureau ce matin-là.
I hadn't seen anyone at the office that morning.
Questions
Three ways to ask a question in the plus-que-parfait, identical to the passé composé.
1. Rising intonation (informal): same word order as a statement.
Tu avais déjà mangé ?
Had you already eaten? (informal, just intonation)
2. Est-ce que (neutral): fronted, then normal word order.
Est-ce que tu avais déjà mangé ?
Had you already eaten?
3. Inversion (formal): the auxiliary and subject pronoun swap places, joined by a hyphen. The past participle stays at the end.
Avait-il mangé avant de partir ?
Had he eaten before leaving?
Aviez-vous fini votre rapport quand le directeur est arrivé ?
Had you finished your report when the director arrived?
Étaient-ils rentrés à temps pour le dîner ?
Had they got home in time for dinner?
For 3sg with avoir, no -t- is needed because avait already ends in t: avait-il, avait-elle, avait-on are pronounced /avɛ til, avɛ tɛl, avɛ tɔ̃/ with the t of avait serving as the liaison consonant. With être, the linking t of était does the same: était-il /etɛ til/.
N'avais-tu pas dit que tu viendrais ?
Hadn't you said you'd come? (formal inversion + negation)
Comparison with English
The English past perfect (had + past participle) maps almost perfectly onto the French plus-que-parfait. I had eaten = j'avais mangé; they had gone = ils étaient allés; she had washed her hands = elle s'était lavé les mains. The grammatical concept — a past event that occurred before another past reference point — is shared.
Three places where the systems differ:
- Auxiliary choice. English uses had for everything; French splits between avoir (most verbs) and être (motion/change-of-state verbs and all pronominals). The choice is determined by the verb, not by the speaker's intent.
- Past participle agreement. English participles never change form. French requires written agreement with the subject (être) or with a preceding direct object (avoir).
- Plus-que-parfait survives in spoken French. The English past perfect is fading slightly in casual speech (by the time I got there, they ate already is increasingly heard); the plus-que-parfait is still robust in spoken French and is the expected form when anteriority needs to be expressed.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using the wrong auxiliary tense (passé composé instead of plus-que-parfait).
❌ Quand je suis arrivé, ils ont déjà mangé.
Incorrect — anteriority requires plus-que-parfait, not passé composé. Both events would otherwise be in the same time-zone.
✅ Quand je suis arrivé, ils avaient déjà mangé.
When I arrived, they had already eaten.
Mistake 2: Using avoir with a maison d'être verb.
❌ J'avais allé au marché avant de venir te voir.
Incorrect — aller is on the maison d'être list, so the auxiliary must be être.
✅ J'étais allé(e) au marché avant de venir te voir.
I had gone to the market before coming to see you.
Mistake 3: Using avoir with a pronominal verb.
❌ Elle s'avait levée tôt ce matin-là.
Incorrect — every pronominal verb takes être. The correct form is elle s'était levée.
✅ Elle s'était levée tôt ce matin-là.
She had gotten up early that morning.
Mistake 4: Forgetting subject agreement with être.
❌ Marie était parti avant la fin du film.
Incorrect — with être, the past participle agrees with the subject. Feminine singular requires partie.
✅ Marie était partie avant la fin du film.
Marie had left before the end of the film.
Mistake 5: Putting pas after the past participle.
❌ Je n'avais mangé pas depuis le matin.
Incorrect — pas wraps around the auxiliary, just like in the passé composé.
✅ Je n'avais pas mangé depuis le matin.
I hadn't eaten since the morning.
Mistake 6: Doubling the reflexive pronoun in nous / vous forms incorrectly, or omitting it.
❌ Nous étions perdus dans la vieille ville.
Incorrect for the reflexive verb se perdre — needs the reflexive nous between subject and auxiliary.
✅ Nous nous étions perdus dans la vieille ville.
We had got lost in the old town.
Key takeaways
The plus-que-parfait is a compound tense built on a simple substitution: take the passé composé and put the auxiliary into the imparfait. The past participle, the choice between avoir and être, the agreement rules, the position of ne ... pas, and the question patterns all stay exactly the same.
Verbs that take avoir in the passé composé take avoir (imparfait) in the plus-que-parfait — that's the majority. The seventeen maison d'être verbs and all pronominal verbs take être. With être, the past participle agrees with the subject; with avoir, only with a preceding direct object.
If you can build j'ai mangé, je suis allé(e), je me suis levé(e), you can already build j'avais mangé, j'étais allé(e), je m'étais levé(e). The form is easy. The harder question — when to actually reach for this tense — is covered in uses: anteriority and uses: si-clauses.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Le Plus-que-parfait: OverviewB1 — The plus-que-parfait is the workhorse French past-anterior tense — for an action completed before another past action. It maps almost perfectly onto English 'had + past participle' (I had eaten, I had gone) and is essential for reported speech, sequential past, hypothetical regret, and si-clauses about past.
- Plus-que-parfait: The Past of the PastB1 — The plus-que-parfait marks an action that happened before another past action. Triggered by sequencing adverbs (déjà, encore, jamais), required in reported speech to back-shift the passé composé, and the modern replacement for the literary passé antérieur.
- Imparfait of être and avoir: The Two WorkhorsesA2 — Master the imparfait of être (j'étais) and avoir (j'avais) — the most-used verbs in French past description and the foundation of the plus-que-parfait. The only irregular imparfait stem in the language and one of its most regular.
- Le Passé Composé: OverviewA1 — The passé composé is French's main spoken past tense — used for completed past events, formed with avoir or être plus a past participle. It does the work that English splits between simple past (I ate) and present perfect (I have eaten).
- Past participle agreement with avoirA2 — The rule that French native speakers themselves struggle with: when avoir-conjugated participles agree with a preceding direct object, and when they don't.
- L'Accord du Participe Passé avec ÊtreA2 — How to make the past participle agree with the subject when the auxiliary is être — gender, number, the masculine-default for mixed groups, the on-puzzle, and where the agreement is silent vs. audible.