What is the past infinitive in French?

Avoir or être in the infinitive plus a past participle: avoir mangé, être parti, s'être levé. It presents the action as finished before the main verb, and it is what French uses after après, merci de, sans, and pour when pour gives a reason.

Why is it après avoir mangé and not après manger?

Because après means the eating is over by the time the next thing happens, and French marks that with the past infinitive. Avant de works the other way round and takes the present infinitive: avant de manger, before eating.

Does the participle agree in a past infinitive?

With être, yes: it agrees with the subject the infinitive has borrowed, as in après être arrivée for a woman or après s'être assis for a group. With avoir there is no agreement unless a direct object pronoun precedes: merci de les avoir invités.

How do you say thank you for coming in French?

Merci d'être venu, with the participle agreeing: merci d'être venue to a woman, merci d'être venus to a group. If the person has not arrived yet, use the present infinitive instead: merci de venir.

How do you make a past infinitive negative?

Put ne pas in front of the auxiliary: je regrette de ne pas avoir répondu. Other negatives behave the same way, and rien can move between the two words: elle affirme ne rien avoir entendu.

French grammar · Intermediate

The French Past Infinitive: Après Avoir, Merci D'être, and How It Works

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

The past infinitive is an infinitive that has already happened: avoir or être in the infinitive plus a past participle, as in avoir mangé or être parti. It says the action was finished before the main verb took place, and it is compulsory after après. English usually renders it with -ing or with a perfect: after eating, thanks for coming, for having lied.

Après avoir dîné, nous sommes sortis.

After having dinner, we went out.

What it is

An ordinary infinitive names an action with no time attached. A past infinitive attaches one: it says the action was already over at the moment the main verb happened. Structurally it is the smallest possible compound form, an uninflected avoir or être in front of a past participle, and it is what French uses wherever English says after doing or for having done.

Après avoir fermé la porte, elle est montée. — After closing the door, she went upstairs.

How to spot it

Two verbs with nothing conjugated between them, the first of which is avoir or être. That combination is always a past infinitive.

Merci d'avoir attendu. — Thanks for waiting.
Il est parti sans avoir payé. — He left without paying.
Je regrette d'être venu. — I'm sorry I came.
Elle croit avoir tout compris. — She thinks she's understood everything.

Après is the trigger you will meet most often, and it is the one place French insists on the past infinitive where English is content with a plain -ing.

Past Infinitive Quick Reference

The triggers that call for a past infinitive

Trigger	Structure	Example
après	après avoir / être + participle	après avoir mangé — after eating
merci de	merci d'avoir / d'être	merci d'être venu — thanks for coming
sans	sans avoir / être	sans avoir prévenu — without letting us know
pour, giving a cause	pour avoir / être	puni pour avoir menti — punished for lying
regretter de, s'excuser de	de + past infinitive	je regrette d'avoir dit ça — I'm sorry I said that
croire, penser, espérer	bare past infinitive	je crois avoir compris — I think I've understood
devoir, for a deduction	devoir + past infinitive	il doit avoir oublié — he must have forgotten
avant de	avant d'avoir + participle	avant d'avoir fini — before having finished

Common Past Infinitive Examples in French

The past infinitive in its four usual settings:

After Après

Après avoir mangé, il a fait la vaisselle.: After eating, he did the washing-up.
Après être rentrée, elle a téléphoné.: After getting home, she made a phone call.
Après s'être douchés, ils sont partis.: After showering, they left.
Après avoir lu le contrat, j'ai signé.: After reading the contract, I signed.

Après cannot take a present infinitive in careful French. Après manger survives as a casual fixed phrase meaning after the meal, but it does not generalise.

Thanks, Apologies, and Reproaches

Merci d'être venu si vite.: Thank you for coming so quickly.
Je m'excuse de vous avoir dérangé.: I'm sorry to have disturbed you.
Il a été puni pour avoir triché.: He was punished for cheating.
Je regrette de ne pas avoir insisté.: I'm sorry I didn't insist.

The last example shows where the negative goes: ne pas sits in front of avoir, not in front of the participle.

After Sans and Avant De

Il a répondu sans avoir réfléchi.: He answered without having thought about it.
Elle est partie sans être passée me voir.: She left without dropping in on me.
Ne réponds pas avant d'avoir tout lu.: Don't answer before you've read it all.

Sans plus a past infinitive insists that the action never happened at all, which lands harder than sans plus a present infinitive.

With Thinking and Deduction

Je crois avoir trouvé la solution.: I think I've found the answer.
Il doit avoir oublié notre rendez-vous.: He must have forgotten our meeting.
Elle affirme ne rien avoir entendu.: She claims not to have heard anything.
Nous espérons ne pas vous avoir gênés.: We hope we haven't inconvenienced you.

Croire, penser, espérer, affirmer, and dire all accept a past infinitive in place of a que clause, and the result sounds distinctly more polished.

How the Past Infinitive Is Built

Everything that would normally attach to a conjugated verb attaches to the auxiliary instead.

Avoir or Être in the Infinitive, Plus a Participle

Neither word is conjugated. The auxiliary stays in the infinitive and the participle stays as it is, which makes this the only French compound form with nothing carrying a person.

Je suis content d'avoir accepté.

I'm glad I accepted.

avoir / être + participle, both uninflected.

The Auxiliary Never Changes Sides

Whichever auxiliary a verb takes in the passé composé, it takes here. Arriver and partir are être verbs everywhere, so they are être verbs in the infinitive too.

Après être arrivés, ils ont déballé les valises.

After arriving, they unpacked the cases.

Être verbs stay être verbs.

With Être, the Participle Agrees with the Borrowed Subject

A past infinitive has no subject of its own; it takes the subject of the main verb. When the auxiliary is être, the participle agrees with that subject, so you have to look outside the phrase to get the ending right.

Après être sortie, elle a fermé à clé.

After going out, she locked up.

Find who is doing it, then agree.

Ne Pas Goes in Front of the Auxiliary

The negative words stay together and precede avoir or être. They never split around the auxiliary the way they split around a conjugated verb.

Je m'excuse de ne pas avoir répondu.

I'm sorry I didn't reply.

ne pas avoir, not avoir ne pas.

Object Pronouns Also Precede the Auxiliary

The pronoun belongs to the whole verbal group, so it comes before avoir or être rather than before the participle. This is where merci de m'avoir prévenu gets its shape.

Merci de m'avoir prévenu.

Thanks for letting me know.

de m'avoir, de nous avoir, de l'avoir.

Common Mistakes with Past Infinitive

Incorrect: Après manger, il est sorti. — After eating, he went out.

Correct: Après avoir mangé, il est sorti. — After eating, he went out.

Après needs the past infinitive because the eating is finished before the leaving. English after eating gives no clue that a compound form is required, which is why this is the commonest error with the structure.

Incorrect: Merci pour être venu. — Thanks for coming.

Correct: Merci d'être venu. — Thanks for coming.

Merci takes de in front of a verb and pour in front of a noun. Merci pour ton aide is right; merci pour être venu mixes the two patterns.

Incorrect: Après avoir arrivé, elle a appelé. — After arriving, she called.

Correct: Après être arrivée, elle a appelé. — After arriving, she called.

Arriver takes être in every compound form, the infinitive included, and the participle then agrees with the subject it has borrowed from the main clause.

Incorrect: Je m'excuse d'avoir pas répondu. — I'm sorry I didn't reply.

Correct: Je m'excuse de ne pas avoir répondu. — I'm sorry I didn't reply.

The negative belongs in front of the auxiliary, not between the auxiliary and the participle. Ne pas stays whole and leads the whole group.

Agreement, Negation, and the Borrowed Subject

The past infinitive has no subject of its own, and most of its difficulties come from that one fact.

Agreement with être and with reflexives

When the auxiliary is être, the participle agrees with whoever the main verb's subject is. That subject can sit some distance away, so the agreement has to be worked out deliberately.

Après être arrivée, Marie a défait sa valise.: After arriving, Marie unpacked her case.
Après s'être assis, ils ont commandé.: After sitting down, they ordered.
Nous sommes heureuses d'être venues.: We're glad we came. (two women speaking)

With avoir there is normally no agreement at all, unless a direct object pronoun stands in front: merci de les avoir prévenus.

Both halves need the same subject

Because the infinitive borrows its subject, the two clauses must share one. If the subject changes, French needs a full clause with après que and a conjugated verb.

Après avoir mangé, je suis sorti.: After eating, I went out.
Après que tu es parti, j'ai rangé.: After you left, I tidied up.

Après avoir mangé, ma mère est arrivée says that your mother did the eating, which is unlikely to be what you meant.

Deduction with devoir and pouvoir

Devoir plus a past infinitive is how French says must have; pouvoir plus one gives may have. Both are everyday spoken constructions rather than formal ones.

Il doit avoir raté son train.: He must have missed his train.
Elle peut avoir oublié.: She may have forgotten.
Ils doivent être déjà partis.: They must have left already.

Compare the past conditional: il aurait raté son train reports the missed train as unconfirmed news rather than as your own deduction.

Past Infinitive FAQs

What is the past infinitive in French?: Avoir or être in the infinitive plus a past participle: avoir mangé, être parti, s'être levé. It presents the action as finished before the main verb, and it is what French uses after après, merci de, sans, and pour when pour gives a reason.
Why is it après avoir mangé and not après manger?: Because après means the eating is over by the time the next thing happens, and French marks that with the past infinitive. Avant de works the other way round and takes the present infinitive: avant de manger, before eating.
Does the participle agree in a past infinitive?: With être, yes: it agrees with the subject the infinitive has borrowed, as in après être arrivée for a woman or après s'être assis for a group. With avoir there is no agreement unless a direct object pronoun precedes: merci de les avoir invités.
How do you say thank you for coming in French?: Merci d'être venu, with the participle agreeing: merci d'être venue to a woman, merci d'être venus to a group. If the person has not arrived yet, use the present infinitive instead: merci de venir.
How do you make a past infinitive negative?: Put ne pas in front of the auxiliary: je regrette de ne pas avoir répondu. Other negatives behave the same way, and rien can move between the two words: elle affirme ne rien avoir entendu.