The past anterior in the text
1 USAGE
a The past anterior, like the past historic, is a literary tense not normally used in conversation.b The past anterior is used to indicate an action which immediately precedes that of the main
clause, when the verb in the main clause is in the past historic.
e.g. Quand elle eut couvert ses épaules,... elle éprouva. .. (lines 6–7) (whenshe had covered
her shoulders ...)2 FORMATION
The past anterior is formed by using the past historic of êtreor avoirand the past participle of the
verb.
e.g. Elle eut couvert(line 6)
See Chapter 2 for verbs conjugated with êtreor avoir.Other points to note in the text- Pluperfect: avait jeté(line 2); avait tapé(line 8) (see Chapter 4)
- Pronominal verb: se creusait(lines 8–9) (see Chapter 20)
- Passive: était tuée(line 9) (see Chapter 21)
Discover more about the past anterior
USAGE
a The past anterior can be used in time clauses starting with: quand(see text), lorsque, après que,
aussitôt que, dès que, à peine.
e.g. Aussitôt qu’il eut appris la nouvelle, il lui téléphona
With à peinethere is an inversion of subject and verb, and the main clause starts with que.
e.g. À peine eut-elle cassé le vase qu’elle le regretta
b The past anterior is occasionally used to indicate in a main clause that an action was
completed very quickly.
e.g. Afin de pouvoir sortir, il eut vite terminé son travail.
c Pluperfect and past anterior
There is no difference in meaning between the pluperfect and the past anterior. The difference
is one of register, the past anterior being used only in writing (see past historic) and in specific
cases (see above). Both are translated into English by the pluperfect. Example from the text:24 French Grammar in Context