Une fois rentré

The following sentence is form the book 'Easy French Reader':

Une fois rentrée, Julie découvre qu'elle a oublié son parapluis à la consigne.

I am uncertain about the expression 'une fois rentrée'. Does this mean 'upon returning' or 'once she had returned'?

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on December 7, 2012 at 12:04am

I think it is the latter: 'once she had returned' .

If you needed to say 'upon returning' I think you could say "quand elle est revenue" ( or "alors qu'elle est revenue")

To my mind , after 'une fois rentrée' the verb "découvre" applies to the situation after (though perhaps immediately after ) "she had returned" whereas if you used "quand elle est revenue". the "discovery" would be more or less simultaneous with the "returning"