How to Teach the French Plus-Que-Parfait – A French Teacher’s Guide

When I teach the French plus-que-parfait, I start with the meaning before I get into the formation. Students need to understand that this tense describes something that had already happened before something else happened in the past.

In English, this is called the past perfect or pluperfect. The good news is that once students understand the passé composé, the imperfect, and the passé composé and the imperfect together, the formation of the French plus-que-parfait is actually quite straightforward.

I also keep my examples short and simple when I first introduce this tense. That way, students can concentrate on recognizing and forming the new tense rather than trying to understand a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary.

French Plus-que-parfait – Formation, Agreement & Usage – Foldable Handout Book

Looking for resources to help you teach the French plus-que-parfait? Scroll down to the section at the end of this post to see my ready-to-use resources for this topic.

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Start with When to Use the Plus-Que-Parfait

I begin with the most important question:

When do we use the plus-que-parfait?

We use it when an action happened before another action in the past.

I want students to think of it as the past before the past.

For example:

J’avais fini.
I had finished.

Tu avais parlé.
You had spoken.

Il avait répondu.
He had responded.

Nous avions choisi.
We had chosen.

Vous aviez mangé.
You had eaten.

Ils avaient attendu.
They had waited.

At this point, I don’t worry about giving students complicated sentences. I want them to recognize the basic idea of had + past participle.

Make the Connection with English

I point out something very useful for English-speaking students.

In English, the past perfect uses:

had + past participle

For example:

I had finished.

She had eaten.

They had waited.

French works in a very similar way. The difference is that French uses an auxiliary verb conjugated in the imperfect, followed by a past participle.

This gives students a helpful connection with something they already know.

Compare the Passé Composé and Plus-Que-Parfait

I also use the English translation to help students distinguish the passé composé from the plus-que-parfait.

When they see:

J’ai fini.

they can think:

I finished / I have finished.

When they see:

J’avais fini.

they can think:

I had finished.

That little word had is an important clue.

I tell students that when they’re trying to decide whether they need the passé composé or the plus-que-parfait, they should pay attention to whether they are talking about an action that happened before another past event.

Teach the Plus-Que-Parfait with AVOIR First

I start with avoir because this is the helping verb students will use with most verbs.

The formula is very simple:

AVOIR in the imperfect + past participle

Students already know the imperfect of avoir:

j’avais
tu avais
il / elle / on avait
nous avions
vous aviez
ils / elles avaient

All I have to do is add the past participle.

For example:

j’avais + regardé = j’avais regardé

tu avais + grossi = tu avais grossi

il avait + entendu = il avait entendu

nous avions + grossi = nous avions grossi

vous aviez + entendu = vous aviez entendu

ils avaient + perdu = ils avaient perdu

I tell students that once they know the imperfect of avoir and they know how to form a past participle, they already know most of what they need to form the plus-que-parfait.

Practice with Regular -ER, -IR and -RE Verbs

I like to use regular verbs here so students can see the formation clearly.

For example:

regarder = regardé

grossir = grossi

entendre = entendu

perdre = perdu

Then we simply put the correct form of avoir in front:

J’avais regardé.

Tu avais grossi.

Il avait entendu.

Nous avions grossi.

Vous aviez entendu.

Ils avaient perdu.

This lets students concentrate on the structure instead of getting distracted by irregular verbs.

Add Negation

Once students understand the affirmative formation, I introduce negation.

The negative is formed around the helping verb, just as students have already seen with other compound tenses.

For example:

Je n’avais pas mangé.
I had not eaten.

Tu n’avais pas appris tes leçons.
You had not learned your lessons.

Elle n’avait pas gagné d’argent.
She had not earned any money.

Nous n’avions pas rangé la cuisine.
We had not cleaned up the kitchen.

Vous n’aviez pas acheté de lait.
You had not bought any milk.

Ils n’avaient pas fait leur lit.
They had not made their bed.

I have students pay attention to where ne…pas goes:

ne + helping verb + pas + past participle

For example:

Je n’avais pas mangé.

The helping verb is avais, so that’s where the negation goes.

Add DÉJÀ and BIEN

Once students are comfortable with the basic formation, I introduce a few familiar adverbs.

Two useful ones are déjà and bien.

For example:

J’avais déjà vendu ma voiture.
I had already sold my car.

Tu avais déjà sorti le fromage.
You had already taken out the cheese.

Il avait déjà donné son avis.
He had already given his opinion.

And:

Nous avions bien compris la leçon.
We had understood the lesson well.

Vous aviez bien lavé les légumes.
You had washed the vegetables well.

Ils avaient bien fait leurs devoirs.
They had done their homework well.

I point out that these short, common adverbs go after the first conjugated verb.

In the plus-que-parfait, the first conjugated verb is the helping verb.

So:

J’avais déjà vendu…

Nous avions bien compris…

This is a nice opportunity to reinforce adverb placement at the same time.

Move on to ÊTRE

Once students are comfortable forming the plus-que-parfait with avoir, I introduce être.

The formation is exactly the same basic idea:

ÊTRE in the imperfect + past participle

Students already know the imperfect of être:

j’étais
tu étais
il / elle / on était
nous étions
vous étiez
ils / elles étaient

We simply add the past participle.

For example:

J’étais rentré(e).
I had gone home.

Tu étais sorti(e).
You had gone out.

Il était mort.
He had died.

Nous étions revenu(e)s.
We had come back.

Vous étiez parti(e)(s).
You had left.

Ils étaient tombés.
They had fallen.

Point Out That ÊTRE Still Means HAD

This is something I make very clear because students sometimes get confused when they see étais, était, étaient.

Even though the helping verb is être, we still translate the plus-que-parfait as had in English.

For example:

J’étais rentré(e).

does not mean:

I was gone home.

It means:

I had gone home.

The imperfect form of être is functioning as the helping verb in the plus-que-parfait.

This is the same basic idea students already know from compound past tenses.

Practice Negation with ÊTRE

Next, I have students practice the negative form with être.

For example:

Je n’étais pas devenu(e) actrice.
I had not become an actress.

Tu n’étais pas resté(e) longtemps.
You had not stayed a long time.

Il n’était pas monté.
He had not gone upstairs.

Nous n’étions pas passé(e)s chez eux.
We had not stopped by their house.

Vous n’étiez pas arrivé(e)(s) tôt.
You had not arrived early.

Ils n’étaient pas entrés dans la salle.
They had not entered the room.

Again, I have students look for the helping verb first.

n’étais pas + past participle

n’était pas + past participle

n’étions pas + past participle

That makes the structure easier to recognize.

Include Reflexive and Reciprocal Verbs

Once students understand the two helping verbs, I introduce reflexive and reciprocal verbs.

These use être as the helping verb in the plus-que-parfait.

For example:

Je m’étais déjà couché(e).
I had already gone to bed.

Tu t’étais bien lavé les cheveux.
You had washed your hair well.

Il s’était déjà regardé dans la glace.
He had already looked at himself in the mirror.

Nous nous étions bien lavé les mains.
We had washed our hands well.

Vous vous étiez déjà rencontré(e)s.
You had already met each other.

Ils s’étaient bien coupé les ongles.
They had cut their fingernails well.

I like this practice because students can see several things they’ve already learned coming together: reflexive pronouns, the imperfect, être as a helping verb, past participles, and adverb placement.

Review the Formation with ÊTRE

I then have students build the tense themselves.

The formula is:

ÊTRE in the imperfect + past participle

For example:

venir = venu

j’étais + venu(e) = j’étais venu(e)

descendre = descendu

tu étais + descendu(e) = tu étais descendu(e)

aller = allé

il était + allé = il était allé

retourner = retourné

nous étions + retourné(e)s = nous étions retourné(e)s

rester = resté

vous étiez + resté(e)(s) = vous étiez resté(e)(s)

sortir = sorti

ils étaient + sortis = ils étaient sortis

I have students focus on the fact that the helping verb changes according to the subject, while the past participle follows the usual rules.

Bring the Two Helping Verbs Together

Once students have practiced both forms, I have them identify which helping verb they need.

The two basic formulas are:

AVOIR in the imperfect + past participle

ÊTRE in the imperfect + past participle

The important thing is that students don’t need to learn an entirely new tense from scratch.

They already know:

the imperfect of avoir
the imperfect of être
how to form past participles
which verbs use être as a helping verb

The plus-que-parfait simply brings those pieces together.

Practice Recognizing the Tense

At the end of the lesson, I like to have students look at different forms and identify the plus-que-parfait before asking them to translate or produce it.

For example:

J’avais fini.

Nous n’avions pas rangé la cuisine.

Elle avait déjà vendu sa voiture.

Vous étiez parti(e)(s).

Ils n’étaient pas entrés dans la salle.

Je m’étais déjà couché(e).

I ask students to find the helping verb first.

Then I have them identify whether it is avoir or être in the imperfect.

Finally, they identify the past participle.

This gives them a simple process for recognizing the tense.