Le passé antérieur
« Quand ils eurent revêtu leurs habits, on les mena à l’autre coin du préau. » (Victor Hugo, Le Dernier Jour d’un condamné) Once they had put on their clothes, they were taken to the other corner of the (prison) yard. (Victor Hugo, Le Dernier Jour d’un condamné)
manger → j’eus mangé manger, passé antérieur to eat → I had eaten
finir → ils eurent fini finir, passé antérieur to finish → they had finished
aller → nous fûmes allés aller, passé antérieur to go → we had gone
se coucher → vous vous fûtes couchés se coucher, passé antérieur to go to bed → you had gone to bed
• after terms like quand, après que, dès que, lorsque, etc. (when / once, after which, as soon as, etc).
« Quand ma mère eut bordé le petit Paul, elle vint me donner le baiser du soir. » Once my mother had tucked in little Paul, she came and gave me my evening kiss.
« Lorsque j'eus fait vingt mètres, je m'arrêtai. » (Marcel Pagnol, La Gloire de mon père) Once I had gone twenty meters, I stopped.
Marcel sortit précipitamment de chez lui une fois que son frère l'eut appelé (= d'abord son frère l'appelle et puis Marcel sort de chez lui). Marcel left his place immediately once his brother had called him (his brother called, then Marcel left his place).
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