Tense guide

Plus-que-parfait du subjonctif (Subjunctive Pluperfect)

Language: French

Tense:

Person:

Introduction

This verb form is used in very formal and literary writing. It talks about an action that was completed before another action in the past. It almost always appears after verbs that express opinions, feelings, or doubts about that earlier action.

The most common use is to express a feeling, desire, or doubt about an action that happened even earlier in the past. The main sentence is in a past tense, and this verb form describes the event that occurred before it.

Je doutais qu'il eût fini son travail.

(I doubted that he had finished his work.)

Elle était triste que nous fussions partis si tôt.

(She was sad that we had left so early.)

Le professeur ne pensait pas que l'élève eût compris la leçon.

(The teacher did not think that the student had understood the lesson.)

Il regrettait que vous ne l'eussiez pas prévenu.

(He regretted that you had not warned him.)

C'était le seul qui eût vu la scène.

(He was the only one who had seen the scene.)

In formal literature, this form is also used after the expression avant que (before). It sets up an action that had not yet occurred at a specific moment in the past.

Il quitta la salle avant que le directeur n'eût commencé son discours.

(He left the room before the director had started his speech.)

Elle voulait finir avant que ses amis ne fussent arrivés.

(She wanted to finish before her friends had arrived.)

This verb form is extremely rare in modern French. You will almost never hear it in conversation or see it in modern writing. It is mostly found in classic literature and historical documents. In everyday language, other past tenses are used instead.