Past of the past - Le Plus-que-parfait

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Past of the past - Le Plus-que-parfait

Bonjour ! 

J’avais dû en racheter un nouveau après que Patrick avait cassé le mien.

This sentence is an example from the lesson. Here, plus-que-parfait has been used in both the verbs. Though the action of breaking took place first and then came the necessity to buy a new one.

Would you like to explain how these two cases can be both Le plus-que-parfait ?

Merci d’avance !

Asked 5 years ago
SteveB2 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I guess the answer is that by using the word "après", we are explicitly indicating that one of those actions happened before the other one (although they both happened in the past).

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

So if one action precedes the other , then one action should be in Passé Composé and other in Plus-que-Parfait ? I hope a native expert will help.

ShreyA1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Answered 

Past of the past - Le Plus-que-parfait

Bonjour ! 

J’avais dû en racheter un nouveau après que Patrick avait cassé le mien.

This sentence is an example from the lesson. Here, plus-que-parfait has been used in both the verbs. Though the action of breaking took place first and then came the necessity to buy a new one.

Would you like to explain how these two cases can be both Le plus-que-parfait ?

Merci d’avance !

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