She had eaten all the cake

Simple past: she ate all the cake
Perfect tense: she has eaten all the cake
Past perfect tense: she had eaten all the cake

The French sentence is in passé composé, which corresponds to either simple past or perfect tense in English. You wrote past perfect tense, which is incorrect.

Hi Mark,

"Why is She HAD eaten all the cake! wrong for Elle A mangé tout le gâteau!"..

Is it not just a matter of "has" v "had"? The French translates to "She has eaten all the cake".

Jim

No, I didn't write the past perfect tense, I wrote in english which is entirely flexible on this matter..  has or had do not necessarliy imply a different tense, just a different usage.  I specifically said that in my question.

Nevertheless, it is wrong as Chris has pointed out.

"She has eaten all the cake" translates from "Elle a mangé tout le gâteau" perfect tense.

The English usage, flexible or not is immaterial. Chris's answer has been judged "Correct"

Sorry, that is schoolastic English, not English as she is spoke.. not the English I grew up with and the English I speak.

Hi Mark, English has tenses and they are used in specific ways, as does French. There is a proper way to use them, whether one is aware of it or not. Most English native speakers use them without really being aware of the grammatical reasoning behind it. But that doesn't mean there isn't one.

Hi Mark,

You say that this is an event which does not demand the past perfect and that is correct, but the past perfect is exactly what you are using when you write "she had eaten."  You should re-read the other answers above.

Has is present tense and had is past.

No, has and had are NOT interchangeable here.  "She ate"  is passé composé and "she has eaten" is perfect.  You used past perfect.  In addition, you mentioned  "scholastic English, as she is spoke...."

I don't know where you  might live but that is not correct.