The tense that already exists in your English
The pretérito pluscuamperfecto describes an action that was already finished before another moment in the past. Conceptually it costs you nothing: it is the English past perfect. Había salido is had left, había comido is had eaten.
How it sounds
Yo ya había cenado cuando me llamaste.
I had already had dinner when you called me.
Nunca había comido paella antes.
I had never eaten paella before.
Ya habíamos terminado cuando él llegó.
We had already finished when he arrived.
haber in the imperfect
This is the ordinary imperfect of haber, with no irregularities. Unlike English had, it changes with the person.
haber in the imperfect
| Person | haber |
|---|---|
| yo | había |
| tú | habías |
| él / ella / usted | había |
| nosotros / -as | habíamos |
| vosotros / -as | habíais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | habían |
haber (auxiliary)
When do you reach for it?
Before another past event
The earlier action takes the pluscuamperfecto, the later one usually the indefinido. Typical signals are ya (already), cuando (when) and antes de (before).
Cuando llegué, María ya había salido.
When I arrived, María had already left.
El tren ya había salido cuando llegamos a la estación.
The train had already left when we got to the station.
Never, not yet
With nunca (never) and todavía no (not yet): what had not happened up to a point in the past.
Ellos nunca habían visto el mar.
They had never seen the sea.
¿Habías estado antes en Madrid?
Had you been to Madrid before?
Todavía no habíamos cenado cuando llamaste.
We hadn't had dinner yet when you called.
The reason for something in the past
With porque (because) you name what had happened earlier and therefore explains the situation.
Estaba muy cansado porque no había dormido.
I was very tired because I hadn't slept.
No aprobé porque no había estudiado lo suficiente.
I didn't pass because I hadn't studied enough.
