By the end of this lesson you'll be able to say when something happened, using words such as "yesterday", "last week" and "two days ago", and say that you've already done something or haven't done it yet.
Yesterday and before
You can already form the past with the lesson on the passé composé with avoir. Time words tell your listener when it happened.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| hier | ee-YEHR | yesterday |
| hier matin / hier soir | ee-yehr mah-TAN / ee-yehr SWAHR | yesterday morning / yesterday evening, last night |
| avant-hier | ah-vahn-tee-YEHR | the day before yesterday |
These words usually go at the very beginning or the very end of a sentence.
Hier, j'ai regardé un match.
Yesterday I watched a match.
Nous avons travaillé hier soir.
We worked last night.
Avant-hier, Léa a acheté un vélo.
The day before yesterday, Léa bought a bike.
Last week, last year
"Last" is dernier, and it's an adjective that matches its noun. With these time phrases, it goes after the noun.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| lundi dernier | luhn-dee dehr-NYAY | last Monday |
| le week-end dernier | luh wee-kend dehr-NYAY | last weekend |
| le mois dernier | luh mwah dehr-NYAY | last month |
| la semaine dernière | lah suh-men dehr-NYEHR | last week |
| l'année dernière | lah-nay dehr-NYEHR | last year |
Le mois dernier, j'ai vendu ma voiture.
Last month I sold my car.
Tu as oublié les clés lundi dernier !
You forgot the keys last Monday!
For years, use en with the numbers from the lesson on numbers over 100, ordinals and years.
En deux mille dix-huit, nous avons habité à Dijon.
In 2018, we lived in Dijon.
Ago
To say "ago", French puts il y a in front of the length of time. For now, treat it as a chunk that you can learn whole. The lesson on depuis, pendant and il y a looks at how it compares with similar words.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| il y a deux jours | eel-yah duh ZHOOR | two days agoLearn il y a + a length of time as a chunk for now. |
| il y a un an | eel-yah uh-NAHN | a year ago |
Il y a trois jours, j'ai perdu mon téléphone.
Three days ago, I lost my phone.
Don't confuse this with the il y a you know that means "there is". The context, and the length of time after it, tell you which one you're looking at.
Already and not yet
Two short adverbs behave differently from the words above. They go in the middle of the passé composé, not at the start or the end.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| déjà | day-ZHAH | already, ever |
| pas encore | pah-zahn-KOR | not yet |
Déjà goes between the auxiliary and the participle.
J'ai déjà fini le travail.
I've already finished the work.
Tu as déjà mangé du poulet aux champignons ?
Have you ever eaten chicken with mushrooms?
As the second example shows, in a question déjà can also mean "ever".
Pas encore means "not yet". The ne goes in front of avoir, as usual, and pas encore takes the place of pas.
Je n'ai pas encore mangé.
I haven't eaten yet.
Elle n'a pas encore choisi.
She hasn't chosen yet.
Using them together
A time word and an adverb can share a sentence. The time word stays at the edge, and the adverb stays in the middle: Hier soir, j'ai déjà fini le travail (Last night, I already finished the work).
En français
- Tu as déjà fini le livre ? (Have you already finished the book?)
- Non, je n'ai pas encore fini. Et toi ? (No, I haven't finished yet. And you?)
- Moi, j'ai fini hier soir. (Me, I finished last night.)
- Et le film ? (And the film?)
- J'ai regardé le film la semaine dernière. (I watched the film last week.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on other negative expressions adds "never", "nothing" and "nobody" to what you can say about the past. Then you'll put it all to use in the lesson on talking about your weekend.