Pluperfect Tense: amaveram
Perfect stem plus -eram: had done.
How It Works
| Person | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| I | amaveram | I had loved |
| you (one) | amaveras | you had loved |
| he, she, it | amaverat | he had loved |
| we | amaveramus | we had loved |
| you (all) | amaveratis | you had loved |
| they | amaverant | they had loved |
To find the perfect stem, take the third principal part and drop -i: amavi gives amav-, veni gives ven-, legi gives leg-. Other examples: habuerat, duxerat, ceperat, audiverat.
Compare the perfect and the pluperfect: Marcus venit says Marcus came, and Marcus venerat says Marcus had come. English shows the pluperfect with had.
Examples (5)
- Iulia ridebat quia Marcus venerat.
Iulia was laughing because Marcus had come.
Venerat is the pluperfect of venio: it happened before Iulia laughed.
- Marcus librum legerat.
Marcus had read the book.
Legerat is the pluperfect of lego, with the stem leg-.
- Puellae iam cenaverant.
The girls had already had dinner.
Cenaverant is the pluperfect plural of ceno.
- Pater filium vocaverat, sed filius non audivit.
The father had called his son, but the son did not hear.
Vocaverat is the pluperfect, and audivit is the perfect.
- Sacerdos evangelium legerat; tum populus cantavit.
The priest had read the gospel; then the people sang.
Legerat happened before cantavit.
Common Mistakes
Using the perfect when the event was already finished.
Iulia ridebat quia Marcus venit.Iulia ridebat quia Marcus venerat.Venit says that Marcus comes or came. To say that he had already come, write the pluperfect venerat. The intended meaning was: Iulia was laughing because Marcus had come.
Adding -v- to a perfect stem that has none.
Marcus librum legiverat.Marcus librum legerat.The perfect of lego is legi, so the stem is leg-. The pluperfect is legerat.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The pluperfect is the perfect stem plus eram, so the perfect and eram come first.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Pluperfect Tense: amaveram in Bubblegum
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