Is it the same as the English past perfect?

Very nearly, and the mapping is reliable, had done corresponds to avais fait in almost every case. The one difference is frequency: French uses it slightly more readily in reported speech, where English often lets a past simple stand.

Do I need it if I use avant or après?

Usually not. Those words already state the order, so the passé composé is enough: après avoir mangé, je suis sorti. The plus-que-parfait is required when nothing else in the sentence signals which event came first.

What is the passé antérieur then?

A literary equivalent, quand il eut fini. That belongs with the passé simple in novels and formal history. You will meet it in reading and never need to produce it. In speech and ordinary writing the plus-que-parfait covers everything.

Grammar referenceB1

The plus-que-parfait

The short answer

The plus-que-parfait is the imparfait of avoir or être plus a past participle: j’avais fini, elle était partie. It marks something that happened before another past event, and it is required in the si half of a sentence about a past that did not happen.

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The rule

The plus-que-parfait places one past event before another. It is a compound tense built from the imparfait of the auxiliary plus the past participle, and it uses the same auxiliary as the passé composé, so a verb that takes être there takes être here. It appears whenever the order of events is not the order they are mentioned in, in reported speech where a passé composé shifts back, and in the si clause of a past hypothetical. If events are told in sequence, the passé composé is enough.

Form	Structure	Example
With avoir	`avoir in the imparfaitparticiple`	J’avais déjà mangé.
With être	`être in the imparfaitparticipleagreeing`	Elle était déjà partie.
Reflexive	`pronounêtre in the imparfaitparticiple`	Il s’était levé tôt.
Negative	`neauxiliarypasparticiple`	Je n’avais pas compris.
Si clause	`siplus-que-parfaitthen past conditional`	Si j’avais su, je serais venu.

Part 1 of 3

A past before the past

The plus-que-parfait earns its place when a sentence mentions two past events out of chronological order. Quand je suis arrivé, elle était déjà partie: the leaving happened first and is mentioned second, and the tense is what marks that.

If the events are told in the order they happened, you do not need it. Je suis arrivé et elle est partie is perfectly clear with two passé composés, and inserting a plus-que-parfait there would be odd rather than more precise.

Il m’a dit qu’il avait déjà réservé.

He told me he’d already booked.

Quand nous sommes rentrés, quelqu’un était passé.

When we got home, someone had been round.

Je me suis rendu compte que j’avais oublié mon passeport.

I realised I’d forgotten my passport.

NBThe forgetting came first; the realising is the anchor point.

Part 2 of 3

Si clauses about the past

The third and last si pattern uses the plus-que-parfait: si j’avais su, je serais venu. It talks about a past that did not happen, and the result half takes the past conditional.

The three si patterns are worth holding together. Si + présent gives a future result; si + imparfait gives a conditionnel; si + plus-que-parfait gives a conditionnel passé. Each step moves both halves one tense further back.

Si tu m’avais prévenu, j’aurais attendu.

If you’d told me, I’d have waited.

Si nous étions partis plus tôt, nous aurions eu le train.

If we’d left earlier, we’d have caught the train.

Si j’avais eu le choix, j’aurais fait autrement.

If I’d had the choice, I’d have done it differently.

NBBoth halves are unreal, and the tenses are what say so.

Part 3 of 3

Regret, and reported speech

After si seulement the plus-que-parfait expresses regret on its own, with no second clause: si seulement j’avais su. The same works after je regrette que with the past subjunctive, but si seulement is the more common everyday form.

In reported speech, a passé composé in the original shifts to the plus-que-parfait: “j’ai fini” becomes il a dit qu’il avait fini. This is the same one-step-back movement English makes, so if you know the English rule it transfers directly.

Si seulement j’avais écouté.

If only I’d listened.

Elle a expliqué qu’elle n’avait pas reçu le message.

She explained she hadn’t received the message.

On croyait qu’ils étaient déjà arrivés.

We thought they’d already arrived.

Mistakes to avoid

What learners actually get wrong

Si j’aurais su, je serais venu.
Si j’avais su, je serais venu.
Si never takes a conditional in any of the three patterns. This particular sentence is a well-known error among French speakers too, which is why it sounds acceptable and is still wrong.
J’avais mangé et puis j’avais fait la vaisselle.
J’ai mangé et puis j’ai fait la vaisselle.
Events told in order need only the passé composé. Over-using the plus-que-parfait is far commoner than omitting it, and it makes narration sound heavy.
Elle avait partie avant midi.
Elle était partie avant midi.
Partir takes être, here as everywhere else. The auxiliary is inherited from the passé composé, so any verb that takes être there takes it in every compound tense.
Il a dit qu’il a fini.
Il a dit qu’il avait fini.
After a past reporting verb, a passé composé shifts back to the plus-que-parfait. Keeping the original tense is understandable in speech and is marked as an error in writing.

Now use it

Futur proche & plus-que-parfait

The near future and the past-before-the-past, side by side. Reading a rule and being able to apply it are different skills, and only one of them shows up when you speak.

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Questions

Asked and answered

Is it the same as the English past perfect?: Very nearly, and the mapping is reliable, had done corresponds to avais fait in almost every case. The one difference is frequency: French uses it slightly more readily in reported speech, where English often lets a past simple stand.
Do I need it if I use avant or après?: Usually not. Those words already state the order, so the passé composé is enough: après avoir mangé, je suis sorti. The plus-que-parfait is required when nothing else in the sentence signals which event came first.
What is the passé antérieur then?: A literary equivalent, quand il eut fini. That belongs with the passé simple in novels and formal history. You will meet it in reading and never need to produce it. In speech and ordinary writing the plus-que-parfait covers everything.

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