3.5: Past Perfect
- Page ID
- 164421
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The past perfect is know in Spanish as "pasado perfecto" or "pluscuamperfecto". This tense is an indicative tense and can also be referred to as past perfect indicative. The sentence structure of the past perfect is the same as the structure used with the present perfect, but the conjugations and meaning are different. The past perfect is used to indicate an action that "had happened" in the past, before an action previously mentioned.
Conjugación
The past perfect requires the verb "haber" to be conjugated in the imperfect tense, followed by a past participle as shown in the table below:
| Infinitivo | Yo | Tú | Usted/él/ella | Nosotros | Vosotros | Ustedes/ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| escuchar | había escuchado | habías escuchado | había escuchado | habíamos escuchado | habíais escuchado | habían escuchado |
| oír | había oído | habías oído | había oído | habíamos oído | habíais oído | habían oído |
| tener | había tenido | habías tenido | había tenido | habíamos tenido | habíais tenido | habían tenido |
| volver | había vuelto | habías vuelto | había vuelto | habíamos vuelto | habíais vuelto | habían vuelto |
Ejemplos
- Cuando llegué a mi clase, los estudiantes ya habían entrado al salón de clase. (When I arrived to my class, the students had already entered the classroom.)
- Antes del año 2020, nunca había estado en mi casa sin salir por tanto tiempo. (Before the year 2020, I had never been in my house without going out for so long.)
- Ayer, a las 8:00 de la noche, Juan todavía no había comido. (Yesterday, at 8:00pm, Juan still had not eaten.)
The past perfect must always have a previous context that refers to an action that happened in the past. The past perfect explains what had happened before the action explained in the context. This past action must be part of the context, but it does not have to be in the same sentence. If using the past perfect in more than one sentence, the past action of reference must only be mentioned at the beginning.
- Cuando la profesora llegó a su clase, los estudiantes ya habían entrado al salón de clase. Una joven ya había hecho el trabajo del día, pero algunos todavía no habían sacado sus libros de la mochila. En la pizarra, unos estudiantes habían escrito "¿dónde está la profesora de español?" (When the professor arrived at her class, the students had already entered the classroom. One young lady had already done her work for the day, but some of others still had not gotten their books out of their backpacks. On the blackboard, some students had written "where is the Spanish professor?")
The example above refers to different things that had happened before the arrival of the professor. The first clause indicates the past action of reference, "cuando la profesora llegó a su clase". The use of the past perfect in the rest of the sentences indicate the relation between the first clause and the rest of the actions.