The pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt): The pluperfect (das Plusquamperfekt) is the past before the past. It's the English had done: ich hatte gegessen = I had eaten.
How it works
- Use it for an action that was already finished before another past action happened.
- Build it with the Präteritum of haben or sein (hatte / war) plus the Partizip II (the same past participle used in the Perfekt).
- It often pairs with nachdem (after): Nachdem ich gegessen hatte, ging ich ins Bett.
- das Plusquamperfekt
- the pluperfect — had done
- hatte / war
- the helper — the Präteritum of haben (hatte) or sein (war)
- das Partizip II
- the past participle — gegessen, gegangen, gemacht, gesehen
- die Vorzeitigkeit
- anteriority — one past action happened before another
- nachdem
- after — the classic conjunction that triggers the pluperfect
- bevor / als / schon
- before / when / already — also signal the earlier past action
When you reach for it: If you are telling a story and need to step further back — to something that had already happened before the moment you're describing — use the pluperfect. The signal word nachdem almost always wants the pluperfect in the subordinate clause, with the Präteritum in the main clause.
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hatte / war + Partizip II: Two parts: the Präteritum of the helper — hatte (from haben) or war (from sein) — plus the Partizip II.
How it works
- It's exactly the Perfekt (ich habe gegessen), but with the helper in the past (ich hatte gegessen).
- The helper choice is the same as in the Perfekt.
- Most verbs take haben → hatte.
- Verbs of motion or change of state (gehen, fahren, kommen, aufstehen, einschlafen) take sein → war.
| Person | haben-Verb (essen) | sein-Verb (gehen) |
|---|---|---|
| ich | ich hatte gegessen | ich war gegangen |
| du | du hattest gegessen | du warst gegangen |
| er / sie / es | er hatte gegessen | er war gegangen |
| wir | wir hatten gegessen | wir waren gegangen |
| ihr | ihr hattet gegessen | ihr wart gegangen |
| sie / Sie | sie hatten gegessen | sie waren gegangen |
The Partizip II is the same as in the Perfekt: You already know these participles from the Perfekt: machen → gemacht, sehen → gesehen, lesen → gelesen, schreiben → geschrieben, fahren → gefahren, kommen → gekommen, bleiben → geblieben. Only the helper changes from habe/bin (Perfekt) to hatte/war (Plusquamperfekt). So I had seen = ich hatte gesehen; I had travelled = ich war gefahren.
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Showing the earlier past: The pluperfect marks which of two past events happened first; the later one is normally in the Präteritum. In each pattern below, the pluperfect clause is the earlier action.
Verwendung des Plusquamperfekts
- After nachdem — Nachdem ich gegessen hatte, ging ich ins Bett. (After I had eaten, I went to bed.)
- Already finished before — Als der Film begann, war ich schon eingeschlafen. (When the film began, I had already fallen asleep.)
- Before another action — Der Bus war bereits abgefahren, bevor wir ankamen. (The bus had already left before we arrived.)
- Background to a past story — Ich hatte den Schlüssel verloren, deshalb konnte ich nicht ins Haus. (I had lost the key, so I couldn't get in.)
First action = pluperfect, then Präteritum: Ask: of two past events, which happened first? That one goes in the pluperfect (hatte/war + Partizip II); the later one goes in the Präteritum. The word nachdem is your strongest clue — its clause is almost always pluperfect.
The past before the past, sentence by sentence: Here's a short narrative built one sentence at a time. Each sentence pairs two clauses.
How to read it
- A pluperfect clause: the earlier action (hatte/war + Partizip II).
- A Präteritum main clause: the later action.
- Read it for meaning, then tap Übersetzung anzeigen for the English or the audio button to hear it.
Das Plusquamperfekt in Aktion
Vorher und nachher, Satz für Satz
- Nachdem ich aufgewacht war, stand ich sofort auf und duschte.
- Ich hatte schon gefrühstückt, als meine Schwester in die Küche kam.
- Nachdem wir die Hausaufgaben gemacht hatten, gingen wir in den Park.
- Der Zug war bereits abgefahren, bevor wir den Bahnhof erreichten.
- Nachdem sie das Buch gelesen hatte, schrieb sie eine Rezension dafür.
Steal this for your narrative: Notice the pattern: nachdem (or schon/bereits/bevor) + a clause in the pluperfect for the earlier action, then a Präteritum main clause for the later one. Watch the helper — war for motion verbs (war abgefahren, war aufgewacht), hatte for the rest (hatte gefrühstückt, hatte gelesen). Use this whenever you tell a past story and need to flag what came first.
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The slips to watch for: Pluperfect mistakes cluster around the helper. Compare the right version with the typical mistake.
The three slips
- Using habe/bin (present, = Perfekt) instead of hatte/war (past).
- Choosing the wrong helper (hatte vs war).
- Putting the main clause in the present instead of the Präteritum.
Richtig
- Nachdem ich gegessen hatte, ging ich ins Bett.
- Der Zug war schon abgefahren.
- Wir hatten den Film gesehen.
Häufiger Fehler
- Nachdem ich gegessen habe, ging ich ins Bett.
- Der Zug hatte schon abgefahren.
- Wir waren den Film gesehen.
Past helper + right helper + Präteritum main clause: Before you move on, check three things: use the past helper hatte/war (not present habe/bin); pick the right helper (war for motion/change-of-state verbs, hatte for the rest); and keep the main clause in the Präteritum when the other clause is pluperfect. Those three fixes catch most of the marks.