Spanish/docs/spanish-fundamentals/structured/40-past-perfect-tense.json

{
  "chapter_id": "40",
  "slug": "past-perfect-tense",
  "title": "Past Perfect Tense",
  "time_range_sec": [11170, 11381],
  "summary": "The past perfect (pluscuamperfecto) expresses what someone HAD done before another past action. It uses imperfect haber (había, etc.) + past participle.",
  "suggested_grammar_note_id": "preterite-vs-imperfect",
  "rules": [
    {
      "title": "Formula",
      "bullets": [
        "Imperfect haber (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) + past participle.",
        "Same inseparability rule as the present perfect."
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Common pairings",
      "bullets": [
        "ya (already) goes BEFORE haber: Ella ya había salido.",
        "antes de + noun/infinitive = 'before': Antes de llegar, yo ya había comido.",
        "Reflexive pronouns and DOPs/IOPs precede haber."
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Three 'had's in English vs Spanish",
      "bullets": [
        "I had to study (obligation, completed) → Yo tuve que estudiar (preterite of tener).",
        "I had a dog (ongoing past state) → Yo tenía un perro (imperfect of tener).",
        "I had eaten (action before another past) → Yo había comido (past perfect)."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "examples": [
    {"es": "Ella ya había salido.", "en": "She had already left.", "tags": ["ya"]},
    {"es": "Yo ya había estudiado.", "en": "I had already studied.", "tags": ["ya"]},
    {"es": "Antes de llegar a la escuela, yo ya había comido.", "en": "Before arriving at school, I had already eaten.", "tags": ["antes-de"]},
    {"es": "Antes de este mes, yo había trabajado mucho.", "en": "Before this month, I had worked a lot.", "tags": ["antes-de"]},
    {"es": "Él me lo había mostrado.", "en": "He had shown it to me.", "tags": ["pronouns"]},
    {"es": "Él nunca me lo había mostrado.", "en": "He had never shown it to me.", "tags": ["negative"]},
    {"es": "Él no me lo había mostrado.", "en": "He had not shown it to me.", "tags": ["negative"]},
    {"es": "Antes de ir al trabajo, me había duchado.", "en": "Before going to work, I had taken a shower.", "tags": ["reflexive"]},
    {"es": "Yo había comido antes de la fiesta.", "en": "I had eaten before the party.", "tags": ["antes-de"]},
    {"es": "Nosotros habíamos visto la película.", "en": "We had seen the movie.", "tags": ["irregular-participle"]}
  ],
  "vocab": [
    {"es": "ya", "en": "already", "pos": "adv"},
    {"es": "antes de", "en": "before", "pos": "phrase"},
    {"es": "nunca", "en": "never", "pos": "adv"},
    {"es": "ducharse", "en": "to shower", "pos": "verb"},
    {"es": "mostrar", "en": "to show", "pos": "verb"}
  ],
  "conjugation_tables": [
    {
      "verb": "haber",
      "tense_id": "ind_imperfecto",
      "forms": {"yo": "había", "tu": "habías", "el": "había", "nosotros": "habíamos", "vosotros": "habíais", "ellos": "habían"}
    },
    {
      "verb": "comer",
      "tense_id": "ind_pluscuamperfecto",
      "forms": {"yo": "había comido", "tu": "habías comido", "el": "había comido", "nosotros": "habíamos comido", "vosotros": "habíais comido", "ellos": "habían comido"}
    },
    {
      "verb": "ver",
      "tense_id": "ind_pluscuamperfecto",
      "forms": {"yo": "había visto", "tu": "habías visto", "el": "había visto", "nosotros": "habíamos visto", "vosotros": "habíais visto", "ellos": "habían visto"}
    }
  ],
  "exercises": [
    {"sentence": "Ella ya _____ salido. (haber)", "correct": "había", "distractor": "ha", "explanation": "Past perfect uses imperfect haber 'había'."},
    {"sentence": "Yo ya _____ estudiado.", "correct": "había", "distractor": "habría", "explanation": "Yo form is 'había' in imperfect."},
    {"sentence": "Nosotros _____ visto la película.", "correct": "habíamos", "distractor": "hemos", "explanation": "Nosotros form 'habíamos' for past perfect."},
    {"sentence": "Antes de llegar, yo ya _____ comido.", "correct": "había", "distractor": "he", "explanation": "Past perfect with antes de."},
    {"sentence": "Él no me lo _____ mostrado.", "correct": "había", "distractor": "habrá", "explanation": "Negation goes before haber, which stays imperfect."},
    {"sentence": "I had a dog (state) → Yo _____ un perro.", "correct": "tenía", "distractor": "había tenido", "explanation": "Ongoing past state uses imperfect of tener."},
    {"sentence": "I had to study → Yo _____ que estudiar.", "correct": "tuve", "distractor": "había", "explanation": "Completed obligation uses preterite of tener."},
    {"sentence": "Antes de ir al trabajo, me _____ duchado.", "correct": "había", "distractor": "habíamos", "explanation": "Reflexive 'me' before haber, yo form 'había'."}
  ],
  "caveats": "Captions truncated 'había' to 'ABIA'/'AB'. Restored full conjugations with accents on the í."
}