The Pluperfect: Actions in the Deeper Past

The Pluperfect tense (or Pluscuamperfecto de Indicativo) is used to describe an action that happened before another action in the past. Think of it as the 'past of the past'.

How to Form the Pluperfect

It's a compound tense, which means it has two parts:

Imperfect of haber + Past Participle

Here is the conjugation of haber in the imperfect tense:

• yo: había
• tú: habías
• él/ella/usted: había
• nosotros/as: habíamos
• vosotros/as: habíais
• ellos/ellas/ustedes: habían

Then, you add the past participle of the main verb. For regular verbs:

• -ar verbs: add -ado (e.g., hablar -> hablado)
• -er/-ir verbs: add -ido (e.g., comer -> comido, vivir -> vivido)

Example:

• Cuando llegamos a la estación, el tren ya **se había ido**.
• (When we arrived at the station, the train had already left.)

The action of the train leaving (se había ido) happened before the action of arriving (llegamos).

A Note on Irregular Participles

Some common verbs have irregular past participles you'll see often in reading. For example:

• hacer -> hecho (done/made)
• decir -> dicho (said)
• ver -> visto (seen)
• escribir -> escrito (written)
• abrir -> abierto (opened)