Lesson 65 of 69 · B1, Unit 3: Advanced grammar
Had done: the past perfect
When you're already talking about the past and need to step further back, German uses the past perfect: the simple past of haben or sein plus the participle. Ich hatte schon gegessen ('I had already eaten'), Sie war schon gegangen ('She had already left').
It chooses haben or sein exactly as the perfect tense does, and it's most common with nachdem ('after'): Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, gingen wir spazieren.
By the end you can:
- form the past perfect with hatte/war + participle
- use it for the earlier of two past events
- join two past events with nachdem
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