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L'épreuve avait déjà commencé dans la forêt.

L'épreuve avait déjà commencé dans la forêt.
The ordeal had already begun in the forest.
From Lesson 438:Verbs that change meaning when reflexive·French

Questions & Answers about L'épreuve avait déjà commencé dans la forêt.

I learned that épreuve means a test or an exam. Why is it translated as ordeal here?
While une épreuve is commonly used for a school test or a sports trial, it comes from the verb éprouver (to put to the test). In everyday French, it frequently takes on the heavier meaning of a painful life experience, hardship, or ordeal.
Why is déjà placed between avait and commencé rather than after the verb?
In French compound tenses like the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) used here, short adverbs of time or degree like déjà, souvent, or bien must go directly between the auxiliary verb (avait) and the past participle (commencé).
Why does this sentence use avait commencé instead of a commencé?
The sentence uses the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense to mean had begun. It is formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary verb (avait) plus the past participle (commencé). You use this tense to describe an action that happened further back in the past, usually before another past event.
Could I use les bois instead of la forêt here?
You could, but they carry slightly different nuances. Un bois (a wood) is generally smaller, whereas une forêt implies a vast, dense, and potentially wilder area. This makes la forêt a much more fitting setting for an épreuve (ordeal).

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