Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Introduction to the verb conter
The English translation of the French verb conter is “to tell” or “to recount.” It is pronounced as “kohn-tay.”
The origin of the verb conter can be traced back to the Latin word “computare” meaning “to count” or “to calculate.” In French, it evolved to mean “to tell” or “to recount” a story or event.
In everyday French, conter is most often used in the Passé Antérieur tense, which is the literary past tense used to describe an event that occurred before another past event. It is formed by using the auxiliary verb “avoir” or “être” in the Imparfait tense and adding the past participle of the verb.
Three simple examples of conter in the Passé Antérieur tense are:
-
J’ai conté mon voyage en Italie avant de partir en Grèce.
(I had told about my trip to Italy before leaving for Greece.) -
Tu as conté cette histoire mille fois depuis que je te connais.
(You had told that story a thousand times since I’ve known you.) -
Il a conté ses exploits lors de la guerre avant de mourir.
(He had recounted his exploits during the war before dying.)
Table of the Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of conter
Pronoun | Conjugation | Short Example | English Translation |
---|---|---|---|
je | j’eus | J’eus compté | I had counted |
tu | tu eus | Tu eus compté | You had counted |
il | il eut | Il eut compté | He had counted |
elle | elle eut | Elle eut compté | She had counted |
on | on eut | On eut compté | One had counted |
nous | nous eûmes | Nous eûmes compté | We had counted |
vous | vous eûtes | Vous eûtes compté | You had counted |
ils | ils eurent | Ils eurent compté | They had counted |
elles | elles eurent | Elles eurent compté | They had counted |
Other Conjugations for Conter.
Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter (this article)
Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb conter
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Conter – About the French Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense
Formation of the Passé Antérieur
Common Usage Patterns
Literature
Historical Texts
Formal Writing
Interactions with Other Tenses
Passé Composé (Present Perfect)
Imparfait (Imperfect)
Futur Antérieur (Future Perfect)
Summary
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