what is it?
The Plusquamperfekt (past perfect) marks an event that was completed before another past event — a «past-before-past». It is formed with the Präteritum of the auxiliary (hatte or war) plus the past participle of the main verb. The conjunction nachdem («after») is the most common trigger for the Plusquamperfekt: it introduces a subordinate clause describing the earlier event, while the main clause describes what happened next.
when to use it
Sequencing two past events. Use the Plusquamperfekt for the event that happened first, and the Präteritum or Perfekt for the event that happened second. This is obligatory with nachdem: the tenses in the two clauses must be different.
Nachdem + Plusquamperfekt → main clause in Präteritum or Perfekt. This is the standard combination when both events are in the past: «Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, gingen wir spazieren.»
Nachdem + Perfekt → main clause in present or future. When the earlier event is recent or the main clause is in the present or future, use the Perfekt in the nachdem-clause: «Nachdem ich gegessen habe, gehe ich spazieren.»
Other contexts without nachdem. The Plusquamperfekt also appears without nachdem whenever you need to make clear that one past event preceded another — for example with als or weil, or in a main clause standing alone.
formation
The Plusquamperfekt is built from two parts: the Präteritum of the auxiliary (hatte or war) and the past participle of the main verb. The choice of auxiliary mirrors the Perfekt: verbs that use haben in the Perfekt use hatte; verbs that use sein in the Perfekt use war. In a subordinate clause introduced by nachdem, the auxiliary moves to the end of the clause, after the participle.
| person | hatte (haben-verbs) | war (sein-verbs) |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gemacht | war gegangen |
| du | hattest gemacht | warst gegangen |
| er/sie/es | hatte gemacht | war gegangen |
| wir | hatten gemacht | waren gegangen |
| ihr | hattet gemacht | wart gegangen |
| sie/Sie | hatten gemacht | waren gegangen |
Word order in a nachdem-clause: nachdem + subject + … + participle + auxiliary. Example: «Nachdem er das Buch gelesen hatte, …» The auxiliary is the very last element in the subordinate clause.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Using the same tense in both clauses with nachdem. «*Nachdem wir aßen, gingen wir …» is incorrect. nachdem grammatically requires a tense shift: the subordinate clause must be one step further back in time than the main clause. Correct: «Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, gingen wir …»
Choosing the wrong auxiliary. «*Ich hatte eingeschlafen» is wrong because einschlafen uses sein in the Perfekt, so the Plusquamperfekt must use war: «Ich war eingeschlafen.» The rule is simple: whichever auxiliary a verb takes in the Perfekt, it takes the Präteritum of that same auxiliary in the Plusquamperfekt.
Overusing the Plusquamperfekt for ordinary past events. The Plusquamperfekt is not a general-purpose past tense. It is only needed when you want to signal that one event happened before another past event. If there is no earlier-vs-later relationship to express, use the Präteritum or Perfekt instead.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Nachdem du das Buch ___, hast du es deiner Schwester gegeben. (lesen)
Fill in the blank with the correct Plusquamperfekt form of the verb in parentheses.