The pluperfect expresses an action that had been completed before another action in the past. It thus establishes a time relation of anteriority and places events in a narrative in clear sequence. For comparison with other past tenses, preterite and present perfect are the most important reference points.

The pluperfect is formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary verb haben and the past participle. This form is used with many verbs, especially when there is no movement or change of state in the foreground. The form of the auxiliary verb agrees with person and number.

PersonPerson	VerbAuxiliary	BeispielExample
ichI	hattehad	Ich hatte gearbeitet, bevor ich nach Hause ging.I had worked before I went home.
duyou	hattesthad	Du hattest angerufen, bevor ich antwortete.You had called before I answered.
er, sie, eshe, she, it	hattehad	Er hatte das Buch gelesen, bevor der Film begann.He had read the book before the movie began.
wirwe	hattenhad	Wir hatten gegessen, bevor die Gäste kamen.We had eaten before the guests arrived.
ihryou all	hattethad	Ihr hattet die Nachricht schon gesehen, bevor ihr fragtet.You all had already seen the message before you asked.
siethey	hattenhad	Sie hatten alles vorbereitet, bevor der Test startete.They had prepared everything before the test started.

The pluperfect is formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary verb sein and the past participle. This form appears especially with verbs of movement or change of state. Here too, the auxiliary verb appears in finite form, while the full verb appears as the past participle.

PersonPerson	VerbAuxiliary	BeispielExample
ichI	warwas	Ich war gegangen, bevor es dunkel wurde.I had gone before it got dark.
duyou	warstwere	Du warst gekommen, bevor ich dich sah.You had come before I saw you.
er, sie, eshe, she, it	warwas	Er war eingeschlafen, bevor das Konzert endete.He had fallen asleep before the concert ended.
wirwe	warenwere	Wir waren angekommen, bevor der Regen begann.We had arrived before the rain began.
ihryou all	wartwere	Ihr wart aufgestanden, bevor der Wecker klingelte.You all had gotten up before the alarm rang.
siethey	warenwere	Sie waren weggefahren, bevor ich anrief.They had left before I called.

The past participle carries the semantic content of the action and is combined with the auxiliary verb to form the pluperfect. Strong verbs form it often with ge- and the ending -en, weak and mixed verbs usually with ge- and the ending -t. For inseparable prefixes such as be-, ver- and er-, the ge- in the past participle is dropped.

BildungFormation	RegelRule	BeispielExample
starkstrong	ge plus Stamm plus enge- + stem + -en	gehen wird zu gegangengehen becomes gegangen
schwachweak	ge plus Stamm plus tge- + stem + -t	machen wird zu gemachtmachen becomes gemacht
gemischtmixed	ge plus Stamm plus tge- + stem + -t	bringen wird zu gebrachtbringen becomes gebracht
untrennbarinseparable	kein geno ge-	verstehen wird zu verstandenverstehen becomes verstanden

Some common verbs form their past participle irregularly and must be learned as fixed forms. This includes especially essen, sehen, schreiben and nehmen. These forms also appear in the pluperfect unchanged after the auxiliary verb.

VerbVerb	Partizip IIPast Participle	BeispielExample
esseneat	gegesseneaten	Ich hatte gegessen, bevor ich losging.I had eaten before I left.
sehensee	gesehenseen	Sie war gesehen worden, bevor sie sprach.She had been seen before she spoke.
schreibenwrite	geschriebenwritten	Wir hatten geschrieben, bevor der Brief kam.We had written before the letter came.
nehmentake	genommentaken	Er hatte das Paket genommen, bevor ich es bemerkte.He had taken the package before I noticed it.

The pluperfect often appears in complex sentences with words that mark anteriority. Especially important are nachdem, zuvor, bereits, schon, damals and bevor, where the exact meaning of bevor depends on context. Such signals help to anchor the earlier action in time and to organize the narrative.

WortWord	BedeutungMeaning	BeispielExample
nachdemafter	danachafterwards	Nachdem er gegessen hatte, ging er spazieren.After he had eaten, he went for a walk.
zuvorbeforehand	vorherpreviously	Zuvor hatte sie den Schlüssel gesucht.Earlier she had searched for the key.
bereitsalready	schon vorheralready beforehand	Er hatte bereits geschlafen, als ich kam.He had already slept when I came.
schonalready	schon vorherearlier	Wir waren schon gegangen, bevor es regnete.We had already left before it started raining.
damalsthen	in jener früheren Zeitin that earlier time	Damals hatte ich die Stadt noch nicht gekannt.Back then I had not yet known the city.
bevorbefore	vor dem Zeitpunktbefore the moment	Bevor er antwortete, hatte er nachgedacht.Before he answered, he had thought.

The pluperfect is used when a past action should lie before another past action. It thus stands in contrast to the simple past (preterite) and present perfect, which tell the main line of the past, while the pluperfect marks the even earlier action. In spoken language regional usage often substitutes the present perfect for the preterite, but the pluperfect remains functionally and unambiguously a tool for anteriority.

SituationSituation	WahlChoice	BeispielExample
frühere Vergangenheitearlier past	PlusquamperfektPluperfect	Sie war gegangen, bevor ich ankam.She had left before I arrived.
ErzähllinieNarrative line	Präteritumpreterite	Er kam an und setzte sich.He arrived and sat down.
gesprochene Sprachespoken language	Perfektpresent perfect	Ich bin gekommen, nachdem ich gegessen hatte.I have come after I had eaten.
AbschlussConclusion	VorzeitigkeitAnteriority	Das Ereignis war schon beendet, bevor die Handlung begann.The event had already ended before the action began.