Done, and straight on to the next
The passé antérieur (il eut fini, elle fut partie) goes with the passé simple like a shadow with its body. It marks an action that is completed at one point just before the next one starts in the passé simple. English usually renders it with the past perfect: when he had finished, as soon as she had left.
Dès qu'il eut signé, il quitta la salle.
As soon as he had signed, he left the room.
Lorsqu'elle fut sortie, on ferma les portes.
When she had gone out, the doors were closed.
Where it appears
The passé antérieur turns up in three places. What they share is a surrounding text in the passé simple.
Three typical settings
| Setting | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| quand, lorsque, dès que, aussitôt que, sitôt que, après que | Aussitôt qu'il eut compris, il rougit. | immediately after |
| à peine … que with inversion | À peine eut-elle raccroché que le téléphone sonna. | no sooner … than |
| Main clause with bientôt, vite, en un instant | En quelques minutes, il eut rédigé sa réponse. | done quickly |
In a main clause the passé antérieur shows how quickly something was done. Without a time phrase such as en un instant or bientôt it hardly ever appears there.
À peine fut-il entré qu'on l'interrogea.
Hardly had he come in when they questioned him.
Après qu'elle eut parlé, personne n'osa répondre.
After she had spoken, nobody dared to reply.
Il eut bientôt oublié cette promesse.
He had soon forgotten that promise.
Passé antérieur or plus-que-parfait?
Both express that something happened earlier, but they look at it differently. The passé antérieur is an event in the chain: done, and the next thing follows at once. The plus-que-parfait describes a background state: it was already done when something else happened, however long before.
Same action, two viewpoints
Passé antérieur
Quand il eut dîné, il sortit.
When he had eaten, he went out.
First one thing, then straight away the other.
Plus-que-parfait
Quand il avait dîné, il sortait.
Whenever he had eaten, he would go out.
A habit, with imparfait in the main clause.
Modern French usually uses the plus-que-parfait or simply the passé composé instead: Quand il a fini, il est sorti. In speech you will also hear the passé surcomposé quand il a eu fini, which carries exactly the meaning of the passé antérieur.
Dès qu'il eut fini, il sortit.
As soon as he had finished, he went out.
Novel
Dès qu'il a eu fini, il est sorti.
As soon as he'd finished, he went out.
Spoken
