{"id":3075,"date":"2011-12-19T14:30:55","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T14:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=3075"},"modified":"2013-08-29T08:07:46","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T08:07:46","slug":"german-tenses-in-use-plusquamperfekt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-tenses-in-use-plusquamperfekt\/","title":{"rendered":"German tenses in use: Plusquamperfekt"},"content":{"rendered":"

The German Plusquamperfekt<\/em><\/strong> tense is equivalent to the English Past Perfect<\/em> tenses (both the simple and the progressive form). Thus, you use this tense in order to refer to an action or actions that had happened before another action in the past.<\/p>\n

But the German Plusquamperfekt is seldom used in independent statements. It is rather used for the chronological course of actions that happened in the past.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/p>\n

Er hatte bis 20 Uhr gearbeitet. Dann traf er sich mit seinen Freunden.<\/p>\n

(He had worked till 8 p.m. Then he met up with his friends.)<\/p>\n

Please, note that you would use the Simple Past tense in English here:<\/p>\n

He worked till 8 p.m. Then he met up with his friends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Formation<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

You form active sentences by using the imperfect verb form of the auxiliary \u2018sein\u2019 (to be) or \u2018haben\u2019 (to have) and the past participle of the full verb. Below you can find an overview of all conjugated forms of the auxiliaries:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

haben = to have (hatten \u2013had)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nSingular<\/strong><\/td>\nPlural<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1st<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\nich hatte(I had)<\/td>\nwir hatten(we had)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\ndu hattest \/ Sie hatten(you had)<\/td>\nihr hattet \/ Sie hatten(you had)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3rd<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\ner\/sie\/es hatte(he\/she\/it had)<\/td>\nsie hatten(they had)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

sein = to be (war \u2013 was\/were)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nSingular<\/strong><\/td>\nPlural<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1st<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\nich war(I was)<\/td>\nwir waren(we were)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\ndu warst \/ Sie waren(you were)<\/td>\nihr wart \/ Sie waren(you were)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3rd<\/sup> person<\/strong><\/td>\ner\/sie\/es war(he\/she\/it was)<\/td>\nsie waren(you were)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ich hatte<\/strong> bis 20 Uhr gearbeitet<\/strong>.\u00a0 = I had<\/strong> worked<\/strong> until 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Ich hatte<\/strong> f\u00fcnf Stunden gearbeitet<\/strong>. = I had<\/strong> been<\/strong> working<\/strong> for five hours.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ich hatte<\/strong> bis 20 Uhr eingekauft<\/strong>. = I had<\/strong> shopped<\/strong> till 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Ich hatte<\/strong> f\u00fcnf Stunden eingekauft<\/strong>. = I had been shopping<\/strong> for five hours.<\/p>\n

As you can see, the German language does not distinguish between a Simple and a Progressive form.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additionally, the Plusquamperfekt<\/em> is used in temporal clauses in order to illustrate anteriority.<\/p>\n

Nachdem sie nach Hause gekommen war, h\u00f6rte sie Musik.<\/p>\n

(After she had arrived at home, she listened to music.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Als ich an der Bushaltestelle ankam, war der Bus schon losgefahren.<\/p>\n

(When I arrived at the bus stop, the bus had already departed.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nachdem es aufgeh\u00f6rt hatte zu regnen, gingen wir spazieren.<\/p>\n

(After it had stopped raining, we went for a walk.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The German Plusquamperfekt tense is equivalent to the English Past Perfect tenses (both the simple and the progressive form). Thus, you use this tense in order to refer to an action or actions that had happened before another action in the past. But the German Plusquamperfekt is seldom used in independent statements. It is rather…<\/p>\n

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