haber habías habíais había habían

9. PLUSCUAMPERFECTO DE INDICATIVO
(Pluperfect or Past Perfect Indicative)
haber
había habíamos
habías habíais
había habían
-ar verbs
- ado
-er verbs
– ido
-ir verbs
– ido
For all verbs use the imperfect tense of the helping (auxiliary) verb haber. Then take the main
verb, drop the –ar, -er, -ir ending and add the above endings.
1. Había patinado.
I had skated.
2. No habías comido hoy.
You hadn’t eaten today.
3. Miguel había vivido en Argentina.
Miguel had lived in Argentina.
Some of the irregulars in this tense are below:
abrir-abierto, cubrir-cubierto, decir-dicho, escribir-escrito, freír-frito, hacer-hecho,
morir-muerto, poner-puesto, resolver-resuelto, romper-roto, ver-visto, volver-vuelto
A. The past perfect tense is used when a past action was completed before another past
action. Expressions such as ya, antes, nunca, todavía and después will often appear in
sentences where one action was completed before another.
1. Cuando Beto llegó de la práctica,
When Beto arrived from practice,
sus padres ya habían comido.
his parents had already eaten.
*Beto’s parents had already eaten before he came home from practice. The verb llegar
is used in the preterit because the action had been completed.
2. Habíamos comido antes de llamarles. We had eaten prior to (before) calling them
B. This idea of a past action being completed before another past action need not always be
stated; it can be implied.
1. Había estado una semana en
I had been in Costa Rica for one week.
Costa Rica.
*I had been in Costa Rica a week before something else happening (implied).
2. Diego había sido mi amigo por
Diego had been my friend for 10 years.
diez años.
*Diego had been my friend for 10 years before something else happening (implied).