GrammarB1· Reiseberichte & Pannen
Das Plusquamperfekt
The past perfect: the past before the past
Kartoffel · your teacher
Hi! Let's look at this one together — step by step, no rush.
From what you know
Ich habe den Zug verpasst.becomesIch hatte den Zug schon verpasst.6 parts · about 5 min
1What & when
In one line
In one linehatte or war and the , for what had happened before another past event.
1
Before
Der Zug ist abgefahren.
Watch the sentence change …
One step further back: ist becomes war. It was already over before I got there.
„Der Zug war schon abgefahren.“ — The train had already left.
Kartoffel
First, what is it?
The is the past of the past. When you tell a story in the past, it marks what had happened even earlier. It is like English 'had left' or 'had booked'.
Kartoffel
And when do you need it? More often than you'd think:
Reiseberichte & PannenYou need it whenever your story needs one step further back. You got to the platform, but the train had already left. You had to go back, because you had forgotten your passport. Travel stories and reports of what went wrong are full of it. It often comes with schon (already), noch nie (never before) and after nachdem (after):
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