📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 2 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 1 · Les trois passés, en contraste
Le passé avant le passé
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 2 of 30: . On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 2.
The words
French
English
Say it
ils avaient déjà commencé
they had already started
eel zah-veh day-zhah koh-mah(n)-SAY
commencer
to start
koh-mah(n)-SAY
la troisième couche
the third layer
lah trwah-zyehm KOOSH
avec modération
sparingly
ah-vehk moh-day-rah-SYOH(n)
le début
the beginning
luh day-BEW
hésiter
to hesitate
ay-zee-TAY
clair
clear
klehr
la chronologie
the time line
lah kroh-noh-loh-ZHEE
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
The plus-que-parfait is the third layer and it answers one question: what was ALREADY true when the story started? Quand je suis arrivé, ils avaient déjà commencé.
Et aussi · And also
Use it sparingly. A paragraph with a pluperfect in every sentence reads as though the writer cannot decide where the story begins — which is usually exactly what has happened.
Attention · Watch out
The plus-que-parfait answers one question — what was ALREADY true when the story started — and is used sparingly. A pluperfect in every sentence loses the story's beginning.
parler, plus-que-parfait — the table
je avais parlé · tu avais parlé · il/elle avait parlé · nous avions parlé · vous aviez parlé · ils/elles avaient parlé
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with ils avaient déjà commencé.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out parler, plus-que-parfait in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.