Congratulations! You’ve survived the Present Tense (Präsens), braved the Simple Past (Präteritum), and conquered the Present Perfect (Perfekt). Now, you’ve arrived at the German past perfect tense or Plusquamperfekt—a tense with a name so long, it scares most people away before they even try. But don’t worry, it’s actually easier than it sounds. Let’s break it down step by step.

Table of Contents

• What is the German Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
• How to Form the German Past Perfect in 3 Steps
  • Step 1: Choose Between haben or sein
  • Step 2: Conjugate haben or sein in Imperfect (Präteritum)
  • Step 3: Add the Past Participle of the Main Verb
• When to Use the German Plusquamperfekt
  • Quick Tips to Master German Past Perfect
• Practice the German Past Perfect Tense
• It’s as Easy as Plusquamperfekt

What is the German Past Perfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

The Plusquamperfekt is the Past Perfect tense in German. It’s used to talk about actions that happened before another past event—basically, the past of the past.

Think of it like this:

• Perfekt → I ate dinner. (Ich habe zu Abend gegessen.)
• Plusquamperfekt → I had eaten dinner before you arrived. (Ich hatte zu Abend gegessen, bevor du angekommen bist.)

In short, it helps tell a story in chronological order.

How to Form the German Past Perfect in 3 Steps

It follows a super simple formula:

Imperfect form of haben or sein + Past Participle of the main verb

Let’s dive into each part.

Step 1: Choose Between haben or sein

Use sein for:

• Verbs indicating movement or change of state (gehen, fahren, aufstehen)
• A few specific verbs (bleiben, sein, werden)

Use haben for:

• Most other verbs (especially transitive verbs—those that take a direct object)

Examples:

• Ich hatte gegessen. → I had eaten. (haben)
• Ich war gegangen. → I had gone. (sein)

Step 2: Conjugate haben or sein in Imperfect (Präteritum)

Pronoun	haben → hatte	sein → war
ich	hatte	war
du	hattest	warst
er/sie/es	hatte	war
wir	hatten	waren
ihr	hattet	wart
sie/Sie	hatten	waren

Step 3: Add the Past Participle of the Main Verb

Regular Verbs: Add ge- + verb stem + -t

• machen → gemacht (done)
• lernen → gelernt (learned)

Irregular Verbs: Vary, often ending in -en

• gehen → gegangen (gone)
• sehen → gesehen (seen)

Examples:

Ich hatte das Buch gelesen. → I had read the book.

Wir waren ins Kino gegangen. → We had gone to the cinema.

When to Use the German Plusquamperfekt

• To show what happened before another past event:
  • Nachdem ich gegessen hatte, bin ich spazieren gegangen.
    (After I had eaten, I went for a walk.)
• In storytelling or writing to show sequence:
  • Er hatte den Bus verpasst, also kam er zu spät.
    (He had missed the bus, so he was late.)
• To explain reasons in the past:
  • Ich war müde, weil ich nicht geschlafen hatte.
    (I was tired because I hadn’t slept.)

Quick Tips to Master German Past Perfect

1. Signal words like nachdem (after), bevor (before), and als (when) often hint at Plusquamperfekt.
2. In spoken German, people don’t use it often—but in writing and storytelling, it’s essential.
3. Practice by pairing it with the Perfekt or Präteritum to show past sequences.

Practice the German Past Perfect Tense

Test your knowledge with these practice exercises.

It’s as Easy as Plusquamperfekt

See? The Plusquamperfekt isn’t nearly as scary as its name. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve tackled one of the most complex-looking tenses in German. The next time someone mentions the Plusquamperfekt, you can say, “Oh, I had already mastered that.”