FR: Je pense qu’il a avait eu raison - plus-que-parfait

[y4girlang]

Je pense qu’il a eu raison VS je pense qu’il avait eu raison VS je pense qu’il eut raison VS je pense qu’il avait raison.

I learned about the plus que parfait at school and now I'm super confused as to when to use it. What are the little nuances between each of these phrases? Are some equivalent to the other? Which one would you use in some cases and not other ones?

 

[Maître Capello]

Contrary to the imparfait and passé composé, which may be more difficult to grasp, the use of the plus-que-parfait should be straightforward because we use it in French wherever you use the pluperfect in English. In other words, it is mainly used to indicate anteriority relative to some other past event.

All the tenses you suggested are possible but the proper choice depends on the exact context. Please provide a specific context.

Anyway, I'm afraid we cannot cover all these tenses in a single thread. It would be too broad. However, let me refer you to some existing discussions:
FR: passé composé / imparfait
FR: passé composé / passé simple
FR: preterit, simple past = passé composé or imparfait ?

Maître Capello
As member and moderator