Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
Last updated:
Learn how German describes an event completed before another past event. Practise forming the Plusquamperfekt with hatte or war, choosing the auxiliary, and using nachdem clauses.
Explanation
The Plusquamperfekt: an earlier past event
The German Plusquamperfekt shows that an event was completed before another point in the past.
Als der Kurs begann, hatte Nora ihren Kaffee schon getrunken.
Nora had already drunk her coffee when the course began.
Formation
Use:
hatte / war in the simple past + past participle
| Person | haben | sein |
|---|
| ich | hatte | war |
| du | hattest | warst |
| er/sie/es | hatte | war |
| wir | hatten | waren |
| ihr | hattet | wart |
| sie/Sie | hatten | waren |
The participle goes at the end:
- Wir hatten die Tür geschlossen.
- Lea war früh aufgestanden.
Haben or sein?
Choose the same auxiliary as in the Perfekt:
- Most verbs use haben: hatte gearbeitet, hatten gelesen.
- Verbs of movement or change of state often use sein: war gegangen, waren angekommen.
- sein, bleiben, and werden also use sein.
Ordering past events
The Plusquamperfekt marks the earlier event. The later event is usually in the Präteritum or Perfekt.
Der Laden hatte schon geschlossen, als wir ankamen.
Words such as schon, vorher, zuvor, and noch nie can make the sequence clearer, but the time relationship is what matters.
Clauses with nachdem
Nachdem often introduces the earlier event. In the subordinate clause, the conjugated auxiliary is final:
Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, gingen wir spazieren.
If the nachdem-clause comes first, the conjugated verb follows the comma directly in the main clause:
Nachdem Mia angekommen war, rief sie ihren Bruder an.
Remember: first the Plusquamperfekt event, then another past tense.
Exercises
- Complete the missing past-perfect forms. Pay attention to the person and to haben or sein. (3)
- Join the two past events with nachdem. Put the earlier event in the Plusquamperfekt. (10)
- Insert the correct form from the word bank. A form may be used more than once. (3)
B1 · German · Grammar