What is the plus-que-parfait and when do you use it?

First of all, these more complex tenses are often very complicated and difficult so do not feel discouraged if you do not understand them initially, but once you do you will be using the plus question parfait left-right-and centre!Simply, the plus que parfait translates to the past perfect (or pluperfect) in English. You use it to talk about when something HAD happened (had + past participle). This is a compound tense, aka formed of the auxiliary verb (the 'imparfait' form of avoir or être) plus the past participle of the main verb. For example, James n'avait pas dormi = James had not sleptOlivia et Michael étaient arrivés en avance = Olivia and Michael had arrived early.There are three key uses of the plus-que-parfait in French. Firstly, when talking about a completed, irreversible action in the past (Michel avait travaillé toute la nuit = Michel had worked all night). Secondly, in a hypothetical or wishful situation of the past (Si j'avais eu une voiture, je serais allé a la France = If I'd had a car, I would have gone to France). Finally, an action that takes place before another one (Quand je me suis réveillée, mon père était déjà parti travailler = When I woke up, my father had already left for work).This is a very simple overview of the use of the plus-que-parfait in French, obviously it can be more complex than this but this is what you need to understand and wrap your head around before moving on to anything else.