The Past Perfect in German (Plusquamperfekt)
The construction of the past perfect in the German language explained in English
Just like in English, the past perfect is used to indicate that an action was already completed in the past.
The use of the past perfect
Just like in English, the past perfect is used to indicate that an action was already completed in the past. Usually it is used together with a phrase in Präteritum or in Perfekt.
Ich hatte den ganzen Tag gearbeitet. Danach habe ich eingekauft
I had worked all day. Afterwards, I went shopping
Conjugation
If the conjugation used for the Perfekt is known, the past perfect is quite simple. It is constructed with the auxiliary verb sein or haben in Präteritum plus the Partizip II (see decision: "sein" or "haben" in the Perfekt article)
Conjugation with the verb "sein"
| Person | Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | war gekommen | I had come |
| du | warst gekommen | you had come |
| er/sie/es | war gekommen | he/she/it had come |
| wir | waren gekommen | we had come |
| ihr | wart gekommen | you had come |
| sie | waren gekommen | they had come |
Conjugation with the verb "haben"
| Person | Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gearbeitet | I had worked |
| du | hattest gearbeitet | you had worked |
| er/sie/es | hatte gearbeitet | he/she/it had worked |
| wir | hatten gearbeitet | we had worked |
| ihr | hattet gearbeitet | you had worked |
| sie | hatten gearbeitet | they had worked |
Examples
Nachdem sie aufgestanden war, hat sie gefrühstückt
She had breakfast after she had gotten up
Ich hatte gekocht
I had cooked
Er war gegangen
He had gone
The passive of the "Plusquamperfekt"
Main Article: German passive
Its construction is:
[verb "sein" in Präteritum] + [Partizip II] + [worden]
Example 1:
in the active voice:
Ich hatte ein Buch gelesen
I had read a book
in the passive:
Ein Buch war gelesen worden
A book had been read
Example 2:
in the active voice:
Jemand hatte das Grab von Tutanchamun entdeckt
Someone had discovered the Tutankhamun's tomb
in the passive:
Das Grab von Tutanchamun war 1922 entdeckt worden
The tomb of Tutankhamun had been discovered in 1922
The Konjunktiv of the "Plusquamperfekt"
Main Article: Konjunktiv II
Starting with the past perfect of the indicative, the construction of the past perfect subjunctive is very simple. You just have to substitute the auxiliary verb forms for their Konjuntiv II forms
Indicative forms:
Ich hatte gegessen / Ich war geflogen
I had eaten / I had flown
"Konjunktiv II" forms:
Ich hätte gegessen / ich wäre geflogen
I would have eaten / I would have flown
Audiovisual Complement
Because not everything is theoretical, we present you a hit song “99 Luftballons” from a famous German pop singer: