Indicative pluperfect
The indicative pluperfect is a past tense which allows the expression of accomplished facts of indefinite duration and which is situated before another action generally expressed in the imperfect, the present perfect tense or the simple past tense. One can clearly see the anteriority of the action of receiving the message before being able to read it in the sentences below.
Il a lu les messages qu'il avait reçus de sa fiancée.
Il lisait les messages qu'il avait reçus de sa fiancée.
Il lut les messages qu'il avait reçus de sa fiancée.
The pluperfect can also express a habit or repeated action. When preceded by "if", it expresses a fact that has not occurred in the past.
Pendant de longs mois, il avait cherché la solution sans jamais la trouver.
Si tu étais venu, nous aurions visité la ville.
In order to form the indicative pluperfect, it is necessary to know how to conjugate the auxiliaries "avoir" and "être" in the indicative imperfect and to know how to form the past participle. The main difficulty of the indicative pluperfect comes from the agreements with the past participle.
Here is an example of a verb conjugated in the indicative pluperfect with auxiliaries "avoir" and "être":
| Subject | Auxiliary (avoir) | Past participle (finir) |
|---|---|---|
| J' | avais | fini |
| Tu | avais | fini |
| Il | avait | fini |
| Nous | avions | fini |
| Vous | aviez | fini |
| Ils | avaient | fini |
| Subject | Auxiliary (être) | Past participle (venir) |
|---|---|---|
| J' | étais | venu |
| Tu | étais | venu |
| Il | était | venu |
| Nous | étions | venus |
| Vous | étiez | venus |
| Ils | étaient | venus |
- It is immediately apparent that the question of the agreement arises. With the auxiliary "être", the agreement is made with the subject from where the "s" came because the subject is put for several people. If it is a woman speaking, an "e" is also added to indicate the feminine: "j'étais venue".
- The agreement is more delicate with the auxiliary "avoir" because it is necessary to make the agreement with the direct object complement when it is placed in front and not with the subject.
- The pluperfect tense is formed from the auxiliaries "avoir" and "être" conjugated to the imperfect tense to which the past participle is added.
- With the auxiliary "être", we agree the past participle with the subject.
- With the auxiliary "avoir", the agreement of the past participle is done with the direct object complement when it is placed in front of it.