📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 2 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 1 · Raconter — telling the past
Le plus-que-parfait — the past before the past
Module 6 of the free French course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 2 of 30: Some things happened BEFORE the story started. 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
déjà
already
day-ZHAH
j'avais déjà mangé
I had already eaten
zhah-veh day-zhah mah(n)-ZHAY
il avait fini
he had finished
eel ah-veh fee-NEE
avant de partir
before leaving
ah-vah(n) duh pahr-TEER
le repas
the meal
luh ruh-PAH
la veille
the day before
lah VEHY
oublier
to forget
oo-blee-YAY
j'avais oublié
I had forgotten
zhah-veh zoo-blee-YAY
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
Some things happened BEFORE the story started. French gives them their own tense: the plus-que-parfait — the imparfait of avoir plus the participle. J'avais mangé: I had eaten.
Et aussi · And also
Quand il est arrivé, j'avais déjà mangé. Two pasts, clearly ordered: the eating came first. Déjà (already) is this tense's favorite companion.
Attention · Watch out
The plus-que-parfait is the imparfait of avoir plus the participle: j'avais mangé. Never j'ai eu mangé, and never j'étais mangé for an avoir verb.
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 déjà.
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.