The Pluperfect

Level 6

The pluperfect says that something had happened before another past moment; the doer of a doing verb is in the dative.

How It Works

The pluperfect (had done) is the past of the perfect. It places one event before another past moment: როცა მივედი, ნინოს ვახშამი უკვე მოემზადებინა (when I arrived, Nino had already made dinner).

Whohad written (doing verb)had come (becoming verb)
Iდამეწერამოვსულიყავი
youდაგეწერამოსულიყავი
he or sheდაეწერამოსულიყო
theyდაეწერათმოსულიყვნენ

Doing and activity verbs work as in the perfect: the doer is in the dative and the object in the nominative (ნინოს წერილი დაეწერა). The doer is shown by მ-, გ-, გვ- or no marker, followed by ე-. Becoming verbs keep a nominative subject (სტუმრები წასულიყვნენ, the guests had left).

In conversation, the simple past often does the had-done job, so this use is most common in stories and careful writing. The pluperfect has three other jobs that are common in speech: if I had known (რომ მცოდნოდა), if only (ნეტავ) and should have (უნდა მეთქვა). They are the next entries.

Examples (4)

  1. როცა სახლში მივედი, ნინოს ვახშამი უკვე მოემზადებინა.

    When I got home, Nino had already made dinner.

    Nino is in the dative, dinner in the nominative.

  2. ლუკას ეს წიგნი უკვე წაეკითხა.

    Luka had already read this book.

    წაეკითხა is the pluperfect of წაიკითხავს.

  3. სტუმრები უკვე წასულიყვნენ.

    The guests had already left.

    A becoming verb keeps a nominative subject.

  4. ფილმი ჯერ არ დაწყებულიყო.

    The film had not started yet.

    დაწყებულიყო is built on the participle დაწყებული.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the doer in the ergative.

    ნინომ წერილი დაეწერა.
    ნინოს წერილი დაეწერა.

    In the pluperfect the doer of a doing verb is in the dative, as in the perfect: ნინოს.

How It Connects

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The PluperfectLevel 6

Learn This First

The pluperfect is the had-done past of the perfect group.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.