French Verbs and Grammar Le Passé Antérieur

French Verbs and Grammar Le Passé Antérieur Sign up successful In English, this tense corresponds pretty closely to the past perfect, which in other words describes the past of the past. In English, it looks like this: 1) When I reached the end of the path, the sun had already set. 2) When the child began kindergarten, she had already studied cello for a year. The formation of this verb tense  bears some similarities to both the futur antérieur and the passé composé. As with both these tenses, the verb form will use an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and a past participle. Select the auxiliary verb in the same way you would for the futur antérieur or passé composé. Conjugate this verb using the imparfait. As a review, here are their conjugations: Avoir Être J avais J étais Tu avais Tu étais Il / elle / on avait Il / elle / on était Nous avions Nous étions Vous aviez Vous étiez Ils / elles avaient Ils / elles étaient Now form the past participle of the main verb in the same way you would for the passé composé. So the full passé antérieur for one -er reflexive verb, one -ir verb, and one -re verb might look like this: se coucher â€" to go to bed or, for the sun, to set Je métais couché(e) Tu tétais couché(e) Il / elle / on sétait couché(e) Nous nous étions couché(e)(s) Vous vous étiez couché(e)(s) Ils / elles sétaient déja couché(e)s finir â€" to finish Javais fini Tu avais fini Il / elle / on avait fini Nous avions fini Vous aviez fini Ils / elles avaient fini rendre â€" to return Javais rendu Tu avais rendu Il / elle / on avait rendu Nous avions rendu Vous aviez rendu Ils / elles avaient rendu So how would the previous examples in English look in French? 1) Quand je suis arrivé(e) à la fin de la rue, la soleil sétait déjà couchée. (The extra “e” in arrivé(e) would depend on whether the speaker is male or female.) 2) Quand lenfant a commencé la maternelle, elle avait déjà étudié le violoncelle depuis un an. Try conjugating the verbs in the examples below in the passé antérieur. 1) Quand je suis venu à la fête, mon frère ______________________ (partir). 2) Quand elle sest couchée, la fille ______________________ (finir) ses devoirs. 3) Quand la bibliothèquaire a appellé, j ______________________ (rendre) le livre. 4) Quand tu es rentré, nous ______________________ (se coucher). Now check your answers below: 1) était parti 2) avait fini 3) avais rendu 4) nous sommes couché(e)s (Add the extra “e” only if all the people included by “nous” are female.) How did you do? Either way, keep practicing and checking yourself! Keep an eye out also for uses by other people, and for opportunities to use it in conversation. Correct repetitions, practice, and listening to others use it correctly will help you learn to use this conjugation naturally. Of course, having the right teacher will propel your success in French even farther! Post Author:  Carol Beth L. Carol Beth teaches  French lessons in San Francisco, CA. She has her Masters in French language education from the Sorbonne University in Paris and has been teaching since 2009.  Learn more about Carol Beth here! Photo by Dennis Jarvis Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher