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For the most part, the Pluperfect Tense is employed expressing a reality or action that occurred before another past action happened.

The Pluperfect Tense

In this Spanish session, we shall understand the Pluperfect Tense. Whether you are learning Spanish on-line, with CDs, or Learning Spanish application, you will find this lesson valuable in your quest to learn how to speak Spanish.

For probably the most part, the Pluperfect Tense can be used to express a fact or action that occurred before place was taken by another past action.

In English, this is stated in the following manner:

When you called I had looked at you.

Though in English we often use the preterite to express two successive steps in the past, in Spanish this really is seldom the case. Instead, the Pluperfect Tense is employed.

In Spanish, the aforementioned sentence is interpreted to:

Hey haba pensado en usted cuando llam.

Notice the way the auxiliary verb haber (to possess) is really a prominent part of this tense, both in Spanish and in English. The key verb parallels yesteryear participle.

Let's take a closer consider the conjugation for the Pluperfect Tense for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in Spanish.

Trabajar (to work)

yo haba trabajado (I'd worked) nosotros habamos trabajado (we'd worked)

t habas trabajado (you'd worked) ellos haban trabajado (they had worked)

l haba trabajado (he'd worked) ellas haban trabajado (they had worked)

ella haba trabajado (she had worked) ustedes haban trabajado (you had worked)

usted haba trabajado (you had worked)

Notice how the conjugation with this tense is easily formed by adding -a to hab--the auxiliary verb haber's stem. The past participle for the main verb is then included with complete the conjugation.

This conjugation structure is repeated for -er and -ir verbs as well.

Comer (to eat)

Hey haba comido (I had eaten) nosotros habamos comido (we'd eaten)

t habas comido (you'd eaten) ellos haban comido (they'd eaten)

l haba comido (he'd eaten) ellas haban comido (they'd eaten)

ella haba comido (she had eaten) ustedes haban comido (you had eaten)

usted haba comido (you had eaten)

Salir (to head out)

yo haba salido (I'd gone out) nosotros habamos salido (we'd gone out)

t habas salido (you had gone out) ellos haban salido (they had gone out)

M haba salido (he had gone out) ellas haban salido (they'd gone out)

ella haba salido (she'd gone out) ustedes haban salido (you had gone out)

usted haba salido (you had gone out)

Below are a few examples of the PluPerfect Tense in Spanish:

Hey haba salido cuando el telfono boy.

(I had gone out when the telephone rang.)

Juan y yo ya habamos cenado cuando Sra. Patricia nos ofreci comida.

(We'd already had supper when Mrs. Patricia offered us food.)

Mauricio haba hablado con su smear cuando lleg su mam.

(Mauricio had talked to his father when his mother arrived.)

Roberto y Julio haban bebido john antes de llegar a manhunter fiesta.

(Roberto and Julio had drank rum before they attained the party.)

Josefina no haba dormido mucho antes de entrarse durante el avin.

a lot hadn't been slept by Josefina before she joined the airplane.)

guide to empilhadeira hyster

Now lets get one of these few exercises. Translate the following into Spanish. The exercise is followed by the answers.

1. the house had been cleaned by Clara when her friends came.

2. I had used my Spanish before Juan called me.

3. We had eaten a lot of, once the dessert arrived.

4. Paco and Enrique had finished the examination once the bell rang.

5. You'd changed your dollars to pesos before the bank closed.

6. They'd gone to the beach before it rained.

7. Marisol and I'd eaten breakfast before we visited school.

8. We had learned just how to dance salsa before we moved to Puerto Rico.

9. I'd met Diego before he came here.

10. Humberto wrote to Carmen when he received her letter.

1. Clara haba limpiado la casa cuando llegaron sus amigas.

2. Yo haba practicado mi Espaol antes delaware Juan llamarme.

3. Habamos comido demasiado cuando lleg el postre.

4. Paco y Enrique haban terminado el examen cuando boy manhattan project campana.

5. T habas cambiado tus dlares a antes de cerrar el banco.

6. Ellos haban ido a la playa antes de llover.

7. Marisol b yo habamos desayunado antes de ir a la escuela.

8. Habamos aprendido como bailar manhattan project salsa antes de viajar a Puerto Rico.

9. Yo haba conocido a antes de venir l aqu.

10. Humberto le haba escrito a cuando recibi su carta.