Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb cliver

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The English translation of the French verb cliver is “to split” or “to cleave.” The infinitive form is pronounced “klee-vay.”

Cliver comes from the Old French word “clivier,” which is derived from the Latin word “clivus” meaning “slope” or “hillside.” In everyday French, cliver is most commonly used in the Passé Antérieur tense, which is a compound past tense used to talk about completed actions in the past.

Examples of cliver in the Passé Antérieur tense:

  1. J’ai clivé le bois pour faire du bois de chauffage. (I split the wood to make firewood.)
  2. Elle avait clivé le morceau de bois en deux avec une hache. (She had cleaved the piece of wood in two with an ax.)
  3. Ils avaient clivé la pierre pour en faire des dalles. (They had split the stone to make slabs.)

English translations:

  1. I split the wood to make firewood.
  2. She had cleaved the piece of wood in two with an ax.
  3. They had split the stone to make slabs.

Table of the Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of cliver

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je j’eus j’eus clivé I split
tu tu eus tu eus clivé you split
il il eut il eut clivé he split
elle elle eut elle eut clivé she split
on on eut on eut clivé one split
nous nous eûmes nous eûmes clivé we split
vous vous eûtes vous eûtes clivé you split
ils ils eurent ils eurent clivé they split
elles elles eurent elles eurent clivé they split

Other Conjugations for Cliver.

   
    Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver (this article)

    Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

    Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

    Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

    Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver
   

    Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

    L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

    L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb cliver

    Struggling with French verbs or the language in general? Why not use our free French Grammar Checker – no registration required!
   

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Cliver – About the French Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense

The French Passé Antérieur tense, often referred to as the “past anterior” in English, is a literary and formal past tense that is not commonly used in everyday spoken French. It is primarily found in written language, particularly in literature, historical texts, and formal writing. This tense is used to express actions that occurred before another action in the past, serving a similar purpose to the past perfect tense (passé composé) in English.

NOTE: To take a deep dive into all the French tenses then see my article on Mastering French Tense Conjugation.

Formation of the Passé Antérieur

The Passé Antérieur is formed by using the third person singular of the passé simple (simple past) tense of the auxiliary verb “avoir” or “être,” followed by the past participle of the main verb. 
The choice between “avoir” and “être” as the auxiliary verb depends on the main verb and its transitivity or intransitivity. Here is the basic structure:
1. For verbs that use “avoir” as the auxiliary verb:
   – J’eus (I had) + past participle (of the main verb)
2. For verbs that use “être” as the auxiliary verb:
   – Je fus (I was) + past participle (of the main verb)

Common Usage Patterns

As mentioned earlier, the Passé Antérieur is primarily used in formal and literary contexts. It is rarely used in everyday spoken French, where the passé composé and imparfait are more commonly used to express past actions. Some common patterns of usage include:

Literature

The Passé Antérieur is frequently used in literature to describe past events in a succinct and formal manner.

Historical Texts

It is used in historical narratives to recount past actions and events.

Formal Writing

In formal and academic writing, the Passé Antérieur can be employed to convey events in the past with a sense of formality and precision.

Interactions with Other Tenses

The Passé Antérieur often interacts with other tenses, especially when narrating past events in a chronological order:

Passé Composé (Present Perfect)

The Passé Antérieur can be used to indicate an action that occurred before another action expressed in the passé composé. For example: “Il eut terminé son travail avant que je ne sois arrivé.” (He had finished his work before I arrived).

Imparfait (Imperfect)

The Passé Antérieur may be used in conjunction with the imparfait to convey a sequence of past actions. For instance: “Elle arriva après que nous eûmes commencé.” (She arrived after we had started).

Futur Antérieur (Future Perfect)

In the context of storytelling or narration, the Passé Antérieur can be used to describe events that happened before a future action expressed in the futur antérieur. For example: “Il partira après qu’il aura fini.” (He will leave after he has finished).

Summary

Passé Antérieur is a formal past tense used in written language and literary contexts to describe actions that occurred before another action in the past. It is not commonly used in everyday spoken French where you should instead use the passé composé and imparfait for discussing past events.

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