UNIT NINETEEN
The past perfect tense
Use of the past perfect
1 The past perfect (or pluperfect) normally indicates a past event which
happened before another past event, as in the English ‘I had finished shower-
ing when I heard the doorbell’, ‘By the time it finished, I had had enough.’ It is
thus normally used in sentences where there is another past tense, or some
other reference to a past event:
It is also often used on its own, where a more recent event is referred to, or
implied, in the context:
2 Sometimes, when the past perfect is used on its own, the event nearer to the
present is purely implicit:
Quando sono arrivato [present
perfect] avevano appena finito
[past perfect] di cenare.
Quel giorno ero [imperfect] molto
contenta perché avevo passato
[past perfect] l’esame.
Prima di imprestare [infinitive]
l’auto a Marco, avevo fatto
[past perfect] il pieno.When I arrived they had just finished
dinner.That day I was very happy because I’d
passed the exam.Before lending the car to Marco, I’d
filled up.Avevo fatto quella torta per te, non
per Paolo.Tullio aveva portato i CD.Francesca era uscita.I made that tart for you, not for Paolo.
[e.g. that’s why I’m so annoyed that
Paolo’s eaten it]
Tullio had brought the CDs. [e.g. the
ones I told you we were listening to]
Francesca had gone out. [e.g. which is
why I didn’t see her last night]