Question

What are some examples of the pluperfect tense?

Answer 1

John `color(blue)("had left")` for school before his mother got up.
By the time the lullaby finished the baby `color(blue)("had fallen")` asleep.

Explanation:

The pluperfect tense is also called the past perfect tense.

A perfect tense is one that indicates an action is completed before some other event in time.
The past perfect (or pluperfect) indicates an action completed before some event in the past.
`color(white)("XXX")`I `color(blue)("had been awakened")` long before the sun had risen.

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Form comparison:

The present perfect indicates an action completed before the present moment.
`color(white)("XXX")`We already `color(green)("have walked")` ten miles; let's rest.

The future perfect indicates an action which will be completed before some future event.
`color(white)("XXX")`Mary `color(green)("will have made")` supper before Tom gets home from work this evening.