Breakdown of L'arbitre a sifflé après que le joueur a marqué.
avoir
to have
le joueur
the player
siffler
to whistle
après que
after (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about L'arbitre a sifflé après que le joueur a marqué.
Wait, shouldn't it be après que le joueur ait marqué using the subjunctive?
No, although even native French speakers often make this mistake! Après que (after) requires the indicative mood. This is because the action has already occurred—it is a fact, not a doubt or a possibility. Since the player actually scored, we use the indicative a marqué. In contrast, avant que (before) takes the subjunctive because the action hasn't happened yet.
Both verbs are in the passé composé (a sifflé, a marqué). Shouldn't the earlier action be in the plus-que-parfait (avait marqué)?
You could absolutely use the plus-que-parfait here to emphasize that the scoring happened further in the past. However, in everyday French, it is very common to use the passé composé for both verbs when the actions happen in quick, immediate succession, like a referee blowing a whistle the moment a goal is scored.
Why is it just a sifflé? Don't we need to translate "the whistle"?
Can marquer be used on its own like this without saying what was scored?