Plusperfect Tense

The plusperfect tense (Plusquamperfekt) or past perfect tense is used to describe actions that occurred before another past action.

Function: Expressing actions that happened before another past action

Example: Nachdem ich mein Studium beendet hatte, zog ich nach Berlin. (After I had finished my studies, I moved to Berlin.)

In this example, we use the plusperfect tense beendet hatte because it describes an action (finishing studies) that happened before another past action (moving to Berlin).

Forming the Plusperfect Tense

The plusperfect tense is formed with an auxiliary verb (haben or sein) in the simple past tense plus the past participle of the main verb:

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Plusperfect Tense is formed as:

haben/sein (conjugated in simple past) + past participle

Reminder of how the conjugation of haben/sein looks in the simple past form:

ㅤ	Simple Past Form	Example
haben	hatte, hattest, hatte, hatten, hattet, hatten	Ich hatte gelesen.(I had read.)
sein	war, warst, war, waren, wart, waren	Ich war gefahren.(I had driven.)

Using haben vs sein

The same rules apply as in the perfect tense:

Use sein for:

Verbs that show movement from A to B (gehen, fahren, fliegen).

Example: Ich war nach Hause gegangen. (I had gone home.)

Verbs that show a change of state or condition (aufwachen, sterben).

Example: Sie war eingeschlafen. (She had fallen asleep.)

With these specific verbs: sein (to be), bleiben (to stay), and werden (to become).

Example: Ich war im Kino gewesen. (I had been at the cinema.)

Use haben for:

Almost everything else!

Example: Ich hatte gegessen. (I had eaten.)

Word Order in Plusperfect Tense

In a main clause, the auxiliary verb (hatte/war) is in the second position, and the past participle goes to the end of the clause:

Example: Ich hatte gestern ein Buch gekauft. (I had bought a book yesterday.)

In a subordinate clause, both the auxiliary verb and the past participle go to the end, with the auxiliary verb last:

Example: Ich wusste, dass er das Buch gekauft hatte. (I knew that he had bought the book.)

Using the Plusperfect Tense

To express an action that happened before another past action:

Example: Als ich ankam, hatte er schon gegessen. (When I arrived, he had already eaten.)

Often used with temporal conjunctions like nachdem (after), bevor (before), and als (when):

Example: Nachdem ich meine Hausaufgaben gemacht hatte, ging ich ins Kino. (After I had done my homework, I went to the cinema.)

Can be used in two separate main clauses (when the context makes the sequence clear):

Example: Er war müde. Er hatte den ganzen Tag gearbeitet. (He was tired. He had worked the whole day.)

The first action (work) had happened before the second action (tiredness) in this example.

Can be used together with Perfect or Simple Past (Präteritum) in the same sentence:

Perfect + Plusperfect: Ich habe geschlafen, nachdem ich gegessen hatte.
Präteritum + Plusperfect: Ich schlief, nachdem ich gegessen hatte.

Both mean the same: I slept after I had eaten.