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avant de and après avoir

HigherHigher tier onlyAQA

Master avant de and après avoir for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Higher tier exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Avant de takes an infinitive and après avoir takes a past participle.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

This is a Higher tier only topic, so there's no Foundation paper — only the Higher worksheet and mark scheme below.

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Avant de and après have different structures, and the contrast is examined directly. This is a Higher-only topic.

Avant de means before and takes an infinitive: avant de manger means before eating. The de is part of the phrase and cannot be dropped.

Après means after and takes a past infinitive — the infinitive of avoir or être plus a past participle. Après avoir mangé means after eating, literally after having eaten. For verbs taking être, it becomes après être arrivé, with the participle agreeing with the subject. The two structures are deliberately different and must not be mixed.

Revision notes

Avant de

Takes a plain infinitive: avant de manger, avant de partir, avant de commencer.

The de is part of the fixed phrase. Avant manger is wrong. This is the simpler of the two structures.

Après avoir

Takes a past infinitive: après avoir mangé — after eating.

The structure is après, then avoir or être in the infinitive, then a past participle. Literally it means after having eaten.

Après être

Verbs taking être in the perfect tense use être here too.

Après être arrivé — after arriving. The participle agrees with the subject, so après être arrivée for a female speaker. Reflexives follow the same pattern: après s'être levé.

Key points

  • Avant de takes a plain infinitive.
  • The de cannot be dropped.
  • Après takes a past infinitive.
  • Après avoir mangé means after eating.
  • Être verbs use après être.
  • The participle agrees after être.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: before eating. [2 marks]

Working

avant de mangeruse avant de with the infinitive
The de is part of the phrase and cannot be omittedexplain the structure

Example 2

Translate: after eating. [2 marks]

Working

après avoir mangéuse après with the past infinitive
Avoir stays in the infinitive followed by the past participleexplain the structure

Example 3

Translate: after arriving, for a female speaker. [2 marks]

Working

après être arrivéeuse après être because arriver takes être
The participle takes an -e to agree with the female subjectexplain the agreement

Common mistakes

  • Writing avant manger.

    The de is required.

  • Using a plain infinitive after après.

    It needs a past infinitive: après avoir mangé.

  • Using avoir with an être verb.

    Après être arrivé, not après avoir arrivé.

  • Forgetting the agreement after être.

    The participle agrees with the subject.

Exam tips

  • Include the de in avant de.
  • Use a past infinitive after après.
  • Match the auxiliary to the verb.
  • Remember this is a Higher-only topic.

Key terms

Avant de
Before, taking a plain infinitive.
Après avoir
After, taking a past infinitive.
Past infinitive
Avoir or être plus a past participle.
Agreement
Required when après être is used.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.