Breakdown of Il aurait témoigné si le jury avait été plus patient.
être
to be
il
he
patient
patient
avoir
to have
plus
more
si
if
témoigner
to testify
le jury
the jury
Questions & Answers about Il aurait témoigné si le jury avait été plus patient.
Why do we use 'avait été' and 'aurait témoigné' in this sentence?
This sentence uses the third conditional to talk about a hypothetical past (something that didn't happen). The rule is si + plus-que-parfait (the 'if' part: si le jury avait été) + conditionnel passé (the result: il aurait témoigné). It maps perfectly to English: 'if X had happened, Y would have happened'.
Why is the auxiliary for 'été' (been) 'avait' instead of a form of 'être'?
Even though été is the past participle of être (to be), the verb être itself always uses avoir as its helping verb in compound tenses. Because of this, 'had been' translates to avait été, never an être + été combination.
In English we sometimes say 'the jury were', but French uses 'avait' instead of the plural 'avaient'. Why?
Should I pronounce the 't' between 'avait' and 'été'?
Yes, making the liaison here is strongly recommended. You pronounce the 't' at the end of avait, linking it directly to the next word. In French, liaisons between an auxiliary verb (like avait) and the past participle that follows it are generally required in careful speech.
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