Pluperfect

The pluperfect is formed with the preterit of the auxiliary "to have," followed by the past participle of the principle verb:

• He had always wanted to travel in Africa.
• She had already left when Philippe arrived.
• I bought the book that Corinne had recommended to me.

Usage

The pluperfect expresses the precedence of one action compared to another. The earlier action will be described by the pluperfect; the later will generally be described by the preterit. When one action precedes another, the pluperfect is not absolutely necessary. Witness this sentence, which provides a list of actions in chronological order (all expressed by the preterit):

• The alarm rang, I got up, and I ate breakfast.

It is usually only when one seeks to emphasize the precedence of one action that the pluperfect will be used. Often one finds such adverbs as "already," which reinforces the impression of precedence.

• She learned to love the dog that had bitten her the week before.
• When I got home, I had already heard the bad news.
• The children ate all the cookies that their father had bought.

In certain phrases one action may be left implicit:

• She had already thought of that.

The pluperfect is often used in in hypothetical expressions with "if," in conjunction with the past conditional:

• I would not have come if I had known he was ill.

With the adverb "just" the pluperfect indicates the immediate past in a past context:

• He had just eaten lunch when I arrived.