The pretérito pluscuamperfecto, literally "the preterit more than perfect", is another perfect tense of the indicative mood. The pluscuamperfecto fundamentally introduces actions or facts that happened and were completed in the past and have no relation to the present.
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto is formed by the auxiliar verb "haber" in the imperfect tense followed by the past participle of the main verb. It is the equivalent of the past perfect in English, formed by the auxiliar verb "to have" in the past tense followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Yo había estudiado mucho para el examen.
I had studied a lot for the exam.
Cuando la policía llegó al banco, los ladrones ya se habían escapado por la puerta trasera.
When the police got to the bank, the thieves had already escaped through the back door.
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto conjugation for regular verbs is:
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto conjugation for irregular verbs is the same as for regular verbs. However, irregular verbs have irregular past participles. Some common irregular past participles are:
When I woke up this morning, Carlos had already left.
Ayer nos compramos una camisa pero no nos dimos cuenta de que ya nos la habíamos comprado anteriormente así que la iremos a devolver.
We bought a shirt yesterday but we didn't notice that we had already bought it earlier so we will return it.
Vanessa wore the dress that Eduardo had gotten for her (got for her).
Marisa estaba muy enfadada porque se había suspendido el concierto de su artista favorito = Marisa estaba muy enfadada porque se suspendió el concierto de su artista favorito.
Marisa was really mad because they (had) cancelled the concert of her favorite artist.
When we got to the theatre, the play had already started.
When we got to the theatre, the play started.
The reason why it is not possible to replace the pluscuamperfecto for the indefinido in this situation is because it changes the meaning of the sentence. In the first example, when they arrived to the theatre, the play had already started, meaning that they were late. In the second example, the play started at the same time they arrived to the theatre. By changing the tense, we are changing the whole meaning of the sentence.
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto is formed by the auxiliar verb "haber" in the imperfect tense followed by the past participle of the main verb. It is the equivalent of the past perfect in English, formed by the auxiliar verb "to have" in the past tense followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Yo había estudiado mucho para el examen.
I had studied a lot for the exam.
Cuando la policía llegó al banco, los ladrones ya se habían escapado por la puerta trasera.
When the police got to the bank, the thieves had already escaped through the back door.
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto conjugation for regular verbs is:
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto | CANTAR | BEBER | VIVIR |
| yo | había cantado | había bebido | había vivido |
| tú | habías cantado | habías bebido | habías vivido |
| él/ella/usted | había cantado | había bebido | había vivido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos cantado | habíamos bebido | habíamos vivido |
| vosotros/as | habíais cantado | habíais bebido | habíais vivido |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | habían cantado | habían bebido | habían vivido |
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto conjugation for irregular verbs is the same as for regular verbs. However, irregular verbs have irregular past participles. Some common irregular past participles are:
Main verb | Past Participle | Pret. Pluscuamperfecto |
| abrir (to open) | abierto | había abierto |
| decir (to say) | dicho | había dicho |
| escribir (to write) | escrito | había escrito |
| hacer (to do, to make) | hecho | había hecho |
| poner (to put) | puesto | había puesto |
| ver (to see, to watch) | visto | había visto |
| volver (to come back) | vuelto | había vuelto |
| freír (to fry) | frito, freído | había frito o freído |
| morir (to die) | muerto | había muerto |
| devolver (to return) | devuelto | había devuelto |
| romper (to break) | roto | había roto |
Uses of the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto
1.- To talk about a past action that happened before another past action.
Cuando me desperté esta mañana, Carlos ya se había ido.When I woke up this morning, Carlos had already left.
Ayer nos compramos una camisa pero no nos dimos cuenta de que ya nos la habíamos comprado anteriormente así que la iremos a devolver.
We bought a shirt yesterday but we didn't notice that we had already bought it earlier so we will return it.
2.- The pretérito pluscuamperfecto can be replaced by the pretérito perfecto simple o indefinido only when the context makes it clear that the action happened before.
Vanessa se puso el vestido que Eduardo le había regalado = Vanessa se puso el vestido que Eduardo le regaló.Vanessa wore the dress that Eduardo had gotten for her (got for her).
Marisa estaba muy enfadada porque se había suspendido el concierto de su artista favorito = Marisa estaba muy enfadada porque se suspendió el concierto de su artista favorito.
Marisa was really mad because they (had) cancelled the concert of her favorite artist.
INCORRECT
Cuando llegamos al teatro, la obra ya había comenzado ? Cuando llegamos al teatro, la obra comenzó.When we got to the theatre, the play had already started.
When we got to the theatre, the play started.
The reason why it is not possible to replace the pluscuamperfecto for the indefinido in this situation is because it changes the meaning of the sentence. In the first example, when they arrived to the theatre, the play had already started, meaning that they were late. In the second example, the play started at the same time they arrived to the theatre. By changing the tense, we are changing the whole meaning of the sentence.