French Past Infinitive
Infinitif passé
The French past infinitive indicates an action that occurred before the action of the main verb, but only when the subject of both verbs is the same. The past infinitive sounds awkward in English - we usually change it to another tense or reword the sentence completely, as you can see in the following examples:
| Je veux avoir terminé avant midi. | I want to finish (to have finished) by noon. |
| Il regrette d'être venu. | He regrets coming (having come). |
The past infinitive is a compound verb. It is formed with the infinitive of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) plus the past participle of the main verb.
| AIMER | avoir aimé |
| DEVENIR (être verb) | être devenu(e)(s) |
| SE LEVER (pronominal verb) | s'être levé(e)(s) |
Since the infinitive auxiliary verb is unconjugated, the past infinitive is the same conjugation for all subjects.
| Je veux avoir terminé... | I want to have finished... |
| Il veut avoir terminé... | He wants to have finished... |
| Nous voulons avoir terminé... | We want to have finished... |
However, you do need to follow the normal rules of agreement:
| Après être allés, nous... | After having gone, we... |
| J'ai téléphoné à Anne après l'avoir vue. | I called Anne after having seen her. |
And pronominal verbs still need a reflexive pronoun:
| Je veux m'être habillé | I want to have gotten dressed |
| Après vous être lavé... | After you've washed up... |
| Using the French Past Infinitive Test |
| The free, twice-weekly About French newsletter keeps you informed about changes
to this site, including new lessons, articles, and forum discussions. Subscribe today!
|
