Pluperfect Tense
Personal Endings
The personal endings of a verb will indicate what or who the subject is. In Latin the same personal endings are
used for many different tenses. Notice that the pluperfect tense uses “m” for 1st person singular.
st
1 Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) m
(you) s
(he/she/it/singular noun) t
Plural
(we) mus
(you) tis
(they/plural noun) nt
Tense Sign
The pluperfect tense uses –era– to indicate its tense.
Pluperfect Tense Translation
The pluperfect tense is sometimes referred as a past perfect because it is the past tense of the present perfect in
English. In other words the pluperfect tense indicates an action which occurred before another past action. You
might think of it as a past past tense. It is translated as had + past participle

had + past participle
o Puellae cucurrērant.
The girls had run.
o Gemueratne?
Had he groaned?
Principal Parts

Most Latin verbs have 4 principal parts.
o 1st Principal Part – 1st person, singular, present tense
fugiō – I flee
o 2nd Principal Part – infinitive
fugere – to flee
o 3rd Principal Part – 1st person, singular, perfect tense
fūgī – I fled
Formation of Pluperfect Tense Verbs

Take the 3rd Principal Part.
fūgī

Drop the “-ī-”
fūg

Add the Pluperfect Tense sign.
era

Add the personal endings.
Singular
Plural
1st Person
(I) eram
(we) eramus
2nd Person
(you) eras
(you) eratis
3rd Person
(he/she/it/singular noun) erat
(they/plural noun) erant
Singular
Plural
1st Person
(I had fled) fūgeram
(we had fled) fūgeramus
2nd Person
(you had fled) fūgeras
(you had fled) fūgeratis
3rd Person
(he/she/it/singular noun had fled)
(they/plural noun had fled)
fūgerat
fūgerant
Pluperfect Tense, Subjunctive Mood
Personal Endings
The personal endings of a verb will indicate what or who the subject is. In Latin the same personal endings are
used for many different tenses. Notice that the subjunctive mood uses “m” for 1st person singular.
st
1 Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) m
(you) s
(he/she/it/singular noun) t
Plural
(we) mus
(you) tis
(they/plural noun) nt
Tense Sign
The pluperfect tense uses –isse– to indicate its tense.
Pluperfect Subjunctive Translation
The subjunctive has several different ways to be translated. The translation is determined by how the verb is
being used. If the subjunctive verb is the main verb in the sentence, its translation will contain a word like may
or might. If the subjunctive verb is used after a conjunction, it is often translated as if it were indicative.

had + past participle
o Puellae cucurrissent.
The girls had run.
o Gemuissetne?
Had he groaned?
Principal Parts

Most Latin verbs have 4 principal parts.
o 1st Principal Part – 1st person, singular, present tense
fugiō – I flee
o 2nd Principal Part – infinitive
fugere – to flee
o 3rd Principal Part – 1st person, singular, perfect tense
fūgī – I fled
Formation of Pluperfect Tense Verbs

Take the 3rd Principal Part.
fūgī

Drop the “-ī-”
fūg

Add the Pluperfect Tense sign.
isse

Add the personal endings.
Singular
Plural
1st Person
(I) issem
(we) issēmus
2nd Person
(you) issēs
(you) issētis
3rd Person
(he/she/it/singular noun) isset
(they/plural noun) issent
Singular
Plural
1st Person
(I had fled) fūgissem
(we had fled) fūgissēmus
2nd Person
(you had fled) fūgissēs
(you had fled) fūgissētis
3rd Person
(he/she/it/singular noun had fled)
(they/plural noun had fled)
fūgisset
fūgissent
Cum Clauses + Pluperfect Subjunctive
One use of the pluperfect subjunctive is in a subordinate/dependent (meaning the clause cannot stand alone as a
complete thought/sentence – it depends on the rest of the sentence to make sense) cum clause. We have seen cum before
as a preposition that means “with”, but when it is not a preposition, it begins a clause that may contain a pluperfect
subjunctive verb and it means “when.”
Example:
Cum
puella
ad
villam
venisset,
mater cibum dedit.
Cum clause + pluperfect subjunctive,
main sentence
Cum + subject + prep phrase + pluperfect subjunctive verb
main subject + DO + main verb/perfect
tense
When the girl had come to the villa,
her mother gave her food.