Ch 15 · Lesson 9Spanish · Chapter 15 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
Ya había salido: the past before the past
When to use the pluperfect: the action already over by another past moment. , no, , and reported speech.
The short version
The pluperfect is only for the earlier past
, .
Why?Hide
Reach for plus a participle only when one past action jumps behind another. Two events in plain sequence take two preterites: . Take away the earlier-than relationship and the pluperfect disappears. and no are its natural signposts, marking which side of the 'by then' line you are on.
A past before the past
The pluperfect always looks back from a moment that is itself in the past. Here the arriving is the moment, and the dinner was already over:
mi hermano cenó: the dinner (pluperfect, había cenado)
llegué a casa: the moment (preterite)
Timeline from past to now, with now marked.
, .- When I got home, my brother had already had dinner..- I didn't understand the film because I hadn't read the book.
Take away the "already over by then" and the pluperfect goes. Two past actions one after the other are two preterites:
.- I went in and sat down.
All three past tenses can share one short scene:
| Tense | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| imperfect | . | It was ten o'clock. |
| pluperfect | . | I had worked all day. |
| preterite | . | At last I got home. |
Ya, todavía no, nunca
These words compare a past moment with an earlier one, so they travel with the pluperfect:
| Word | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
, . | When the train left, we had already got on. | |
| no | . | It was ten and he/she still hadn't arrived. |
. | I had never seen the sea. |
In reported speech
When you report in the past what someone said, a past in their words usually moves back to the pluperfect:
| They said | You report | English |
|---|---|---|
. | . | He/she said he/she had finished. |
. | . | He/she said he/she had arrived late. |
In speech a reported preterite often stays as it was ( ), and that is not wrong. The full rules are on reported speech.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| every form has an accent | |
| the participle never changes | |
| the pronoun goes first | |
| irregular participle | |
| , . | , . | already over by then |
Going further: The pluperfect on one screen and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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