The Pluperfect Tense

In this Spanish lesson, we will study the Pluperfect Tense. Whether you are studying Spanish online, with CDs, or Learning Spanish software, you will find this lesson helpful in your journey to study how to talk Spanish.

For the most part, the Pluperfect Tense is used to express a recent truth or activeness that occurred earlier different recent activeness took place.

In English, this may be expressed in the following manner:

I had conveived of you when you called.

Although in English we lean to use the preterite to express 2 consecutive activities in the past, in Spanish this is seldom the case. Instead, the Pluperfect Tense is used.

In Spanish, the above sentence is interpreted to:

Yo haba pensado en usted cuando llam.

Notice how the auxiliary verb haber (to have) is a eminent section of this tense, both in Spanish & in English. The primary verb parallels the recent participle.

Let us take a closer appear at the conjugation for the Pluperfect Tense for -ar, -er, & -ir verbs in Spanish.

Trabajar (to work)

yo haba trabajado (I had worked) nosotros habamos trabajado (we had worked)

t habas trabajado (you had worked) ellos haban trabajado (they had worked)

l haba trabajado (he had worked) ellas haban trabajado (they had worked)

ella haba trabajado (she had worked) ustedes haban trabajado (you had worked)

usted haba trabajado (you had worked)

Notice how the conjugation for this tense is easy molded by adding -a to hab–the auxiliary verb haber’s stem. The recent participle for the primary verb is then added to total the conjugation.

This conjugation format is repeated for -er & -ir verbs as well.

Comer (to eat)

yo haba comido (I had eaten) nosotros habamos comido (we had eaten)

t habas comido (you had eaten) ellos haban comido (they had eaten)

l haba comido (he had eaten) ellas haban comido (they had eaten)

ella haba comido (she had eaten) ustedes haban comido (you had eaten)

usted haba comido (you had eaten)

Salir (to go out)

yo haba salido (I had gone out) nosotros habamos salido (we had gone out)

t habas salido (you had gone out) ellos haban salido (they had gone out)

l haba salido (he had gone out) ellas haban salido (they had gone out)

ella haba salido (she had gone out) ustedes haban salido (you had gone out)

usted haba salido (you had gone out)

What follows are a couple of exemplars of the PluPerfect Tense in Spanish:

Yo haba salido cuando el telfono son.

(I had gone out when the telephone rang.)

Juan y yo ya habamos cenado cuando Sra. Patricia nos ofreci comida.

(We had already had lunch when Mrs. Patricia offered up us food.)

Mauricio haba hablado con su pap cuando lleg su mam.

(Mauricio had spoken to his dad when his mom arrived.)

Roberto y Julio haban bebido ron antes de llegar a la fiesta.

(Roberto & Julio had drank rum earlier they arrived at the party.)

Josefina no haba dormido mucho antes de entrarse en el avin.

(Josefina had not napped a lot earlier she came in the airplane.)

Now lets attempt a couple of exercises. Translate the following into Spanish. The replies abide by the exercise.

1. Clara had tidied the home when her mates arrived.

2. I had practiced my Spanish earlier Juan phoned me.

3. We had eaten too much, when the dessert arrived.

4. Paco & Enrique had finished the exam when the bell rang.

5. You had altered your bucks to pesos earlier the camber closed.

6. They had gone to the sands earlier it rained.

7. Marisol & I had eaten breakfast earlier we went to school.

8. We had studied how to dancing salsa earlier we traveled to Puerto Rico.

9. I had met Diego earlier he came here.

10. Humberto had printed to Carmen when he received her letter.

1. Clara haba limpiado la casa cuando llegaron sus amigas.

2. Yo haba practicado mi Espaol antes de Juan llamarme.

3. Habamos comido demasiado cuando lleg el postre.

4. Paco y Enrique haban terminado el examen cuando son la campana.

5. T habas cambiado tus dlares a pesos antes de cerrar el banco.

6. Ellos haban ido a la playa antes de llover.

7. Marisol y yo habamos desayunado antes de ir a la escuela.

8. Habamos aprendido como bailar la salsa antes de viajar a Puerto Rico.

9. Yo haba conocido a Diego antes de venir l aqu.

10. Humberto le haba escrito a Carmen cuando recibi su carta.

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