German Grammar
German Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)
The Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) expresses an action that occurred before another past action. It's formed with the simple past (Präteritum) of the auxiliary verb (haben or sein) plus the past participle. The other past action does not have to be in the sentence. We include it in the example for clarity.
Past perfect examples:
- • Ich hatte das Buch schon gelesen, bevor der Film kam. (I had already read the book before the movie came out.)
- • Sie war schon gegangen, als ich ankam. (She had already left when I arrived.)
Timeline of Tenses
The Plusquamperfekt shows the earlier action in a sequence of past events. Here are the most important tenses and how they relate chronologically to Plusquamperfekt:
Timeline:
1. Plusquamperfekt (earliest action)
2. Präteritum/Perfekt (later action)
3. Present (now)
4. Futur I (future)
Formation of Past Perfect
The Plusquamperfekt uses the simple past (Präteritum) of the auxiliary verb haben or sein + past participle:
→ Learn more about past participle formation
hatte/war + past participle
With haben
Most verbs use haben. Here is the conjugation table for past perfect (Plusquamperfekt) for verbs using haben. It is formed using the simple past (Präteritum) conjugation of haben together with the past participle.
| Person | Auxiliary | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte | ich hatte gegessen |
| du | hattest | du hattest gegessen |
| er/sie/es | hatte | sie hatte gegessen |
| wir | hatten | wir hatten gegessen |
| ihr | hattet | ihr hattet gegessen |
| sie/Sie | hatten | sie hatten gegessen |
With sein
The rules for when to use sein vs. haben are the same for the past perfect as they are for the perfect tense in German. Verbs use sein when they indicate:
| Category | German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Movement from A to B | Er war nach Hause gegangen. | He had gone home. |
| Change of state | Das Kind war eingeschlafen. | The child had fallen asleep. |
Or when they are one of a few special verbs (sein, werden, bleiben, passieren).
Here is the conjugation table for past perfect (Plusquamperfekt) for verbs using sein. It is formed using the simple past (Präteritum) conjugation of sein together with the past participle.
| Person | Auxiliary | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich | war | ich war gegangen |
| du | warst | du warst gekommen |
| er/sie/es | war | er war gefahren |
| wir | waren | wir waren gelaufen |
| ihr | wart | ihr wart geblieben |
| sie/Sie | waren | Sie waren geworden |
Word Order
The word order is the same for all tenses using auxiliary verbs (past-perfect, perfect and future).
Main Clauses
The auxiliary verb (hatte/war) is in position 2, the past participle goes to the end:
- • Ich hatte gestern schon alles vorbereitet.
- • Gestern hatte ich schon alles vorbereitet.
- • Die Gäste waren bereits angekommen.
Subordinate Clauses
In subordinate clauses, the auxiliary verb goes to the end, after the past participle.
→ Learn more about dependent clauses and their word order
- • Ich wusste, dass er das Buch gelesen hatte.
- • Sie kam zu spät, weil sie den Bus verpasst hatte.
- • Nachdem wir angekommen waren, gingen wir ins Hotel.
Questions
In yes/no questions, the auxiliary verb comes first. In questions with question words, the question word comes first, followed by the auxiliary verb. The infinitive always goes to the end:
- • Hattest du das schon gehört? (Had you already heard that?)
- • Warum war sie so früh gegangen? (Why had she left so early?)
- • Was hatte er gesagt? (What had he said?)
Separable Verbs
The past participle of separable verbs has -ge- between the prefix and stem:
→ Learn more about separable verbs
Separable verb examples:
- • Sie hatte ihn gestern angerufen. (She had called him yesterday.)
- • Der Zug war schon abgefahren. (The train had already departed.)
- • Wir hatten alles aufgeräumt. (We had cleaned up everything.)
- • Er war früh aufgestanden. (He had gotten up early.)
Modal Verbs in Past Perfect
Modal verbs in Plusquamperfekt use the double infinitive construction when combined with another verb:
→ Learn more about modal verbs
- • Sie hatte nicht kommen können. (She had not been able to come.)
- • Er hatte es wissen wollen. (He had wanted to know it.)