Breakdown of Quand elles sont arrivées, il avait déjà gâché la surprise.
être
to be
il
he
elle
she
avoir
to have
Questions & Answers about Quand elles sont arrivées, il avait déjà gâché la surprise.
Why is the verb avait gâché instead of a gâché?
This is the Plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense, meaning he had ruined it. We use it to show that this action happened further back in the past, before another past action (their arrival). It is formed using the imparfait of the auxiliary verb, which is avait here, plus the past participle gâché.
Why does déjà go in the middle of avait and gâché?
In French compound tenses like the Plus-que-parfait, short or common adverbs such as déjà (already), toujours (always), or bien (well) are placed between the auxiliary verb (avait) and the past participle (gâché).
Why does arrivées have an extra -es at the end, but gâché does not?
Is gâcher the most natural verb to use for ruining a surprise?