{"id":1207,"date":"2010-08-25T22:39:06","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T21:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2013-09-14T11:20:57","modified_gmt":"2013-09-14T10:20:57","slug":"german-past-tense-%e2%80%93-the-pluperfect-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/1207\/german-past-tense-%e2%80%93-the-pluperfect-tense","title":{"rendered":"German Past Tense \u2013 The Pluperfect Tense"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluperfect-tense.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1211\" title=\"pluperfect-tense\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluperfect-tense.jpg\" alt=\"German pluperfect tense\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluperfect-tense.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluperfect-tense-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"prep-title\">German Pluperfect Tense<\/h3>\n<p>Previously we introduced you to some German past tense forms like the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/1011\/past-tense-german-how-to-talk-about-the-past-in-german\">perfect tense<\/a><\/strong> and the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/1028\/past-tense-german-the-imperfect-tense\">imperfect tense<\/a><\/strong>. In this article we will be looking at the <strong>pluperfect tense<\/strong>.<br \/>\nThe pluperfect tense sounds complicated but is actually pretty straight forward.<\/p>\n<p>Learn and enjoy the German language with <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">Jabba<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">lab<\/span><\/strong>!<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"prep-title\">When to use the pluperfect tense?<\/h3>\n<p>The pluperfect tense is used to describe something that <strong>had happened<\/strong> or <strong>had been true<\/strong> at some point in the past. In English, you will see the pluperfect used in sentences with a form like &#8220;I had gone&#8221; or &#8220;you&#8217;d given&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For example:<\/strong><br \/>\nHe had come home late. \u21e8 Er war sp\u00e4t nach Hause gekommen.<br \/>\nWe had forgotten his birthday. \u21e8 Wir hatten seinen Geburtstag vergessen.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"prep-title\">Forming a sentence in the pluperfect tense<\/h3>\n<p>The pluperfect tense is formed in a similar way to the perfect tense in that it has two parts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The first part is the imperfect tense of either <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/1567\/the-german-verb-haben-to-have\"><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">haben<\/span><\/strong><\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/1480\/the-german-verb-sein-to-be\"><strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">sein<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>The second part is the <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">past participle<\/span><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some verbs are built with sein and others with haben. Which verb to use follows the same rule we discussed in our <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/1011\/past-tense-german-how-to-talk-about-the-past-in-german\">perfect tense<\/a><\/strong> post. The majority of German past tense sentences are constructed using the verb haben, however when talking about something movement related, you would use the verb sein.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Pluperfect tense with haben<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The table below shows how a basic sentence is formed using the verb haben. You will see that haben is shown in the imperfect tense.<\/p>\n<table class=\"grammar-table\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th width=\"150\"><strong>Pronoun<\/th>\n<th width=\"150\"><strong>haben<\/th>\n<th width=\"200\"><strong>Past Participle<\/th>\n<th width=\"200\"><strong>Meaning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>ich<\/td>\n<td>hatte<\/td>\n<td>gelesen<\/td>\n<td>I had read<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>du<\/td>\n<td>hattest<\/td>\n<td>gelesen<\/td>\n<td>you had read<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>er \/ sie \/ es<\/td>\n<td>hatte<\/td>\n<td>gelesen<\/td>\n<td>he \/ she \/ it had read<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>wir<\/td>\n<td>hatten<\/td>\n<td>gelesen<\/td>\n<td>we had read<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>ihr<\/td>\n<td>hattet<\/td>\n<td>gelesen<\/td>\n<td>you had read<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>sie \/ Sie<\/td>\n<td>hatten<\/td>\n<td>gelesen<\/td>\n<td>they \/ you had read<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Example sentences:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I had forgotten my wallet. \u21e8 Ich <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">hatte<\/span><\/strong> meinen Geldbeutel <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">vergessen<\/span><\/strong>. (Literal: I had my wallet forgotten.)<\/p>\n<p>He had lent me \u20ac100. \u21e8 Er <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">hatte<\/span><\/strong> mir 100\u20ac <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">geliehen<\/span><\/strong>. (Literal: He had me \u20ac100 lent.)<\/p>\n<p>We had bought him a car. \u21e8 Wir <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">hatten<\/span><\/strong> ihm ein Auto <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">gekauft<\/span><\/strong>. (Literal: We had him a car bought.)<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Pluperfect Tense with sein<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The table below shows how a basic sentence is formed using the verb sein. You will see that sein is shown in the imperfect tense.<\/p>\n<table class=\"grammar-table\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<th width=\"150\"><strong>Pronoun<\/th>\n<th width=\"150\"><strong>sein<\/th>\n<th width=\"200\"><strong>Past Participle<\/th>\n<th width=\"200\"><strong>Meaning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>ich<\/td>\n<td>war<\/td>\n<td>gefahren<\/td>\n<td>I had driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>du<\/td>\n<td>warst<\/td>\n<td>gefahren<\/td>\n<td>you had driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>er \/ sie \/ es<\/td>\n<td>war<\/td>\n<td>gefahren<\/td>\n<td>he \/ she \/ it had driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>wir<\/td>\n<td>waren<\/td>\n<td>gefahren<\/td>\n<td>we had driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>ihr<\/td>\n<td>wart<\/td>\n<td>gefahren<\/td>\n<td>you had driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>sie \/ Sie<\/td>\n<td>waren<\/td>\n<td>gefahren<\/td>\n<td>they \/ you had driven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Example sentences:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You had arrived late. \u21e8 Du <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">warst<\/span><\/strong> sp\u00e4t <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">angekommen<\/span><\/strong>. (Literal: You were late arrived.)<\/p>\n<p>You had been to London. \u21e8 Ihr <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">wart<\/span><\/strong> in London <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">gewesen<\/span><\/strong>. (Literal: You were in London been.)<\/p>\n<p>They had already left. \u21e8 Sie <strong><span style=\"color: #de2c2c;\">waren<\/span><\/strong> schon <strong><span style=\"color: #faaf0f;\">weggefahren<\/span><\/strong>. (Literal: They were already driven away.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>German Pluperfect Tense Previously we introduced you to some German past tense forms like the perfect tense and the imperfect tense. In this article we will be looking at the pluperfect tense. The pluperfect tense sounds complicated but is actually pretty straight forward. Learn and enjoy the German language with Jabbalab! When to use the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1207"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15112,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions\/15112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}