Ten things to remember 1 The pluperfect tense corresponds almost always to the use of the same tense in English: J’avais déjà acheté un ordinateur. (I had already bought a computer.) It helps you to keep track of when past events happened in relation to one another. 2 Make a list in your notebook of the time conjunctions you will need to use with the pluperfect: après que, pendant que … 3 Check that you are comfortable with the present passive and the rules for agreements (Unit 10 The next stage 2) before learning how to use the passive in the perfect: La visite aux champs de bataille a été organisée par une agence de voyage. … a été organisée par une agence de voyages. Other tenses can also be used in the passive voice: La visite sera organisée (the visit will be organised). La visite aura été organisée (the visit will have been organised) … 4 This is a good opportunity to make sure that you can use all the tenses of avoir and être you have learned so far. They are the main building blocks of the verb system. 5 It is also a good moment to revise the formation of past participles. Remember that the past participles of avoir verbs agree with the preceding direct object and that those of être verbs agree with the subject. (See Unit 10 The next stage 2, Unit 13 The main points 1–3, Unit 13 The next stage 1.) 6 Practise making longer and longer sentences, using all the conjunctions you know. This will give you the confidence to write and speak in any situation. 7 As with the other past tenses, to use the pluperfect you need to be able to say how long something had been going on when something else happened. Remember that with depuis, the use of tenses is different in French and English: Ils étaient en
Unit 15 Going back in the past
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