hafði + Supine
The Past Perfect (Hafði Talað)
Hún hafði borðað áður en ég kom (She had eaten before I came). Use it to step further back from a moment in the past.
How It Works
Forms. Only hafa changes: ég hafði séð, þú hafðir séð, hún hafði séð, við höfðum séð, þið höfðuð séð, þau höfðu séð. The supine stays the same: talað, keypt, farið, séð.
When to use it. Use it when you are already talking about the past and need to go further back:
- Þegar ég vaknaði hafði snjóað alla nóttina. (When I woke up, it had snowed all night.)
- Ég hafði aldrei séð norðurljós áður. (I had never seen the northern lights before.)
Why it matters. Compare Þegar ég kom heim borðaði hún (When I got home, she ate: first I arrived, then she ate) with Þegar ég kom heim hafði hún borðað (she had eaten before I arrived). With áður en and eftir að the order is already clear, so the simple past is also fine: Hún borðaði áður en ég kom.
Everyday alternatives. In speech, var búinn að is very common for a finished action: Hún var búin að borða þegar ég kom. With verbs of motion or change, vera + participle is used: Þegar ég kom var hann farinn (he had left; see vera kominn).
hafði or hefði? hafði is the ordinary past. hefði is the subjunctive. In a main clause or after ef, it is used for things that did not really happen: Ef ég hefði vitað það... (If I had known that...; see past unreal conditions). Do not swap them there. After verbs of saying, hefði passes on what someone said: Hún sagði að hún hefði borðað (She said she had eaten; see reported speech).
Examples (6)
- Ég hafði aldrei séð norðurljós áður.
I had never seen the northern lights before.
Word by Word: I had never seen northern-lights before.
- Hún hafði borðað áður en ég kom.
She had eaten before I came.
Word by Word: She had eaten before than I came.
- Þegar ég vaknaði hafði snjóað alla nóttina.
When I woke up, it had snowed all night.
Word by Word: When I woke had snowed all the-night.
The þegar-clause comes first, so hafði comes straight after it.
- Við höfðum keypt miðana löngu áður.
We had bought the tickets long before.
Word by Word: We had bought the-tickets long before.
- Hann hafði gleymt lyklunum heima.
He had forgotten his keys at home.
Word by Word: He had forgotten the-keys at-home.
- Höfðuð þið komið hingað áður?
Had you been here before?
Word by Word: Had you(pl) come hither before?
Common Mistakes
Using the singular hafði with a plural subject.
Við hafði keypt miðana.Við höfðum keypt miðana.hafa agrees with the subject: við höfðum, þið höfðuð, þau höfðu.
Using the simple past when you mean that one thing was already finished before the other.
Þegar ég kom heim borðaði hún.Þegar ég kom heim hafði hún borðað.borðaði hún says she ate after you arrived. To say the meal was already over, use hafði + supine.
Using hefði (would have) for an ordinary "had".
Hún hefði borðað áður en ég kom.Hún hafði borðað áður en ég kom.In a main clause, hefði means would have and suggests it did not really happen. To say that it did happen, use hafði.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The past perfect builds on the perfect and hafði.
Related Patterns
- The Supine (sagnbót)
The fixed verb form that follows hafði.
Level 2 - var búinn aðHad Already Done (Var Búinn Að)
The common everyday way to say had already done.
Level 3 - vera kominnArrived and Gone (Vera Kominn)
With verbs of motion, var farinn often does the same job: Hann var farinn.
Level 3 - áður en / eftir aðBefore and After Clauses
Time clauses that often go with the past perfect.
Level 3 - ef + hefði + SupinePast Unreal Conditions
hefði, the subjunctive, is used for past unreal conditions.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice hafði + Supine in Bubblegum
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