Pluperfect Tense - Irregular Être
French: AQA GCSE (2025 Exams), topic 5.2.6
Irregular Être Verbs in the Pluperfect Tense
'Venir' has an irregular past participle. It uses 'être' as an auxiliary verb. Any verb that has 'venir' in it follows the same pattern. Here are the irregular 'venir' verbs in the pluperfect tense:
Venir - to come
- J'étais venu(e) - I had come.
- Tu étais venu(e) - you had come.
- Il/elle/on était venu(e) - he/she/one had come.
- Nous étions venu(e)s - we had come.
- Vous étiez venu(e)(s) - you had come.
- Ils/elles étaient venu(e)s - they had come.
Devenir - to become
- J'étais devenu(e) - I had become.
- Tu étais devenu(e) - you had become.
- Il/elle/on était devenu(e) - he/she/one had become.
- Nous étions devenu(e)s - we had become.
- Vous étiez devenu(e)(s) - you had become.
- Ils/elles étaient devenu(e)s - they had become.
Revenir - to come back
- J'étais revenu(e) - I had come back.
- Tu étais revenu(e) - you had come back.
- Il/elle/one était revenu(e) - he/she/one had come back.
- Nous étions revenu(e)s - we had come back.
- Vous étiez revenu(e)(s) - you had come back.
- Ils/elles étaient revenu(e)s - they had come back.
Irregular Être Verbs in the Pluperfect Tense
'Naître' and 'mourir' use 'être' in the perfect tense. They have irregular past participles.
Naître - to be born
- J'étais né(e) - I had been born.
- Tu étais né(e) - you had been born.
- Il/elle/on était né(e) - he/she/one had been born.
- Nous étions né(e)s - we had been born.
- Vous étiez né(e)(s) - you had been born.
- Ils/elles étaient né(e)s - they had been born.
Mourir - to die
- J'étais mort(e) - I had died.
- Tu étais mort(e) - you had died.
- Il/elle/on était mort(e) - he/she/one had died.
- Nous étions mort(e)s - we had died.
- Vous étiez mort(e)(s) - you had died.
- Ils/elles étaient mort(e)s - they had died.
Test yourself on Pluperfect Tense - Irregular Être
How do you say 'they had come'?
Which of these are the correct forms of these irregular être verbs?
How do you say 'we had come back' in French?
How do you say 'they had been born'?
Which of these are the correct forms of these irregular être verbs?