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Pluperfect Tense (Past Perfect)

The pluperfect is used to express a past action that occurred before the beginning of another past action. For example:

Sergio ya había levantado la mano cuando el profesor hizo la pregunta.
Sergio had already raised his hand when the professor asked the question.

María había esperado una hora cuando por fin llegó Roberto.
Maria had waited an hour when Robert finally arrived.

The pluperfect is formed with the auxiliary verb haber in its imperfect form (i.e. había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) and a main verb in its past participle form. Here are some more examples:

Nunca habíamos ido a un partido de fútbol hasta hoy.
We had never gone to a soccer game until today.

Siempre me habían gustado los camarones hasta un día cuando me enfermé después de comerlos.
I had always liked shrimp until one day when I got sick after I ate them.

Ya habías vivido aquí tres años cuando yo te conocí.
You had already lived here three years when I met you.


Category: General Spanish
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