Pluperfect Tense
Completed action in past, 'had done'
The pluperfect describes an action completed before another past action.
"I had written the letter before he arrived" - the writing was complete at a past point.
Formation: augment + reduplication + perfect stem + secondary endings
• ἐλελύκη (I had loosed)
The pluperfect is relatively rare. It appears mainly in:
• Complex narrative sequences
• Explaining background circumstances
Only exists in the indicative mood.
Examples from Texts
Here are some words showing the pluperfect tense in actual Greek texts:
ἐπεπόνητο
πονέω
work hard
verb
singular
pluperfect
middle/passive
indicative
ἀνῆκτ'
ἀνάγω
lead up
verb
singular
pluperfect
middle/passive
indicative
πέφατ'
θείνω
strike
verb
singular
pluperfect
middle/passive
indicative
ἐτετύφειν
τύφω
raise a smoke
verb
singular
pluperfect
active
indicative
ξυμπεπονήκει
συμπονέω
toil
verb
singular
pluperfect
active
indicative
ἀπεδέδοτο
ἀποδίδωμι
give up
verb
singular
pluperfect
middle/passive
indicative
ὡμοίωτο
ὁμοιόω
make like
verb
singular
pluperfect
middle/passive
indicative
συμβέβληκεν
συμβάλλω
throw together, dash together
verb
plural
pluperfect
active
indicative