El arte y la músicaGramática 2 Past perfect Preview Past perfect

El arte y la músicaGramática 2 Past perfect The past perfect is a compound tense, which means that it requires an auxiliary (helping) verb, followed by a past participle. We form the past perfect tense in the same manner in English, using for all persons the auxiliary “had,” as in “You had written the letter”; “She had bought three suits.” We use the past perfect tense (AKA pluperfect tense) when referring to an action which occurred prior to something else. When using this tense there is always a stated or implied cut-off point (in the past). I had taken three pictures before realizing that there wasn’t any film in the camera.

El arte y la músicaGramática 2 Past perfect To narrate a sequence of events in the past, use the past perfect (pluscuamperfecto) for the event that happened first, and the preterite or imperfect for the event that happened later. llegamos al teatro Luis llegó al teatro salimos de casa estábamos en casa 7:00 6:453:453:00

El arte y la músicaGramática 2 Past perfect To narrate a sequence of events in the past, use the past perfect (pluscuamperfecto) for the event that happened first, and the preterite or imperfect for the event that happened later. Luis nos llamó a las cuatro, pero ya habíamos salido. Luis called us at four, but we had already left. Llegamos al teatro a las siete. Luis ya había llegado. We got to the theater at seven. Luis had already arrived.

El arte y la músicaGramática 2 Past perfect The past perfect is formed by combining the imperfect of haber with the past participle of the main verb. habíanhabía past participle+habíaishabías habíamoshabía

El arte y la músicaGramática 2 Past perfect The past perfect is frequently used with cuando, ya, aún no, or todavía no. Cuando llegué al teatro, aún no había visto a Luis. When I arrived at the theater, I still hadn’t seen Luis. Entró tarde pero todavía no había empezado la obra. He went in late but the play had not yet started.