Past Perfect - Pluperfect

The past perfect tense is formed using the formula below:

imperfect conjugation of haber + the past participle = past perfect

The imperfect conjugation of haber is shown below:

haber (full conjugation)

   
yo
   
había
   
(I)


   
tú
   
habías
   
(you)


   
él/ella/Ud.
   
había
   
(he/she/you)


   
nosotros (as)
   
habíamos
   
(we)


   
vosotros (as)
   
habíais
   
(you guys)


   
ellos/ellas/ Uds.
   
habían
   
(he/she/you)

The past participle is formed by adding the suffix -ado to -ar verbs and -ido to -er and -ir verbs.

Example: the past participle of hablar (to speak) is hablado. The table below shows the conjugation of hablar in the past perfect:

hablar (example sentences) (full conjugation)

  
yo
  
había hablado
  
(I had spoken)


  
tú
  
habías hablado
  
(you had spoken)


  
él/ella/Ud.
  
había hablado
  
(he/she had spoken)


  
nosotros (as)
  
habíamos hablado
  
(we had spoken)


  
vosotros (as)
  
habíais hablado
  
(you had spoken)


  
ellos/ellas/ Uds.
  
habían hablado
  
(they had spoken)

Note:
m = male f = female mix = mixed group
yo = I, tú = you (informal)
usted (Ud.) = you (formal)
él = he, ella = she
nosotros = we (m/mix), nosotras = we (f)
vosotros = you guys (informal, m/mix)
vosotras = you guys (informal, f)
ellos = they (m/mix), ellas = they (f)
ustedes (Uds.) = you all (formal)

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