Spanish Pluperfect

Question

I'm having some trouble with understanding the pluperfect.

by definition I have down that it is used to express and action that occurred before another past action for example:

Cuando llegué a la fiesta, ya habían comido.

Is this right? What I'm not understanding is how the conjugation works. If anyone could explain it in laymans terms I'd appreciate it!

Answer 1

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I know this video is fairly advanced, but it does explain the pluperfect tense.

click here

Hopefully you will find it helpful.

thanks that's exactly what I was looking for! - karmenda, Aug 5, 2010

Answer 2

Karmenda, to form the pluperfect in Spanish, you have to use a conjugation of the verb "haber" as well a conjugation of the main verb, as you demonstrated in your example. Haber is always conjugated in the imperfect tense of the indicative; enter "haber" into the verb conjugator at the following link for a demonstration. link text The main verb, such as "comer" in your example, is always conjugated as a past participle (listed as "participle" in the verb conjugator).

This isn't the subjunctive. You do not need two verbs (clauses) to use the pluperfect. - 0074b507, Aug 6, 2010