Definition of pluperfect in English:
pluperfect
adjective pluːˈpəːfɪktˌpluˈpərfɪkt
Grammar (of a tense) denoting an action completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied, formed in English by had and the past participle, as in he had gone by then.
Example sentencesExamples
- This, in effect, is what the pluperfect tense achieves when we say something like ‘John had already eaten when Mary arrived’, meaning that his eating was already past when the past event of Mary's arrival occurred.
- The extent to which this grammatical form suggests a pluperfect is disputed among Hebrew grammarians.
- The driver replies, ‘I've heard that question a thousand time, but never in the pluperfect subjunctive.’
- You started with the present tense, you then went to the past tense and now you have gone to the pluperfect past tense.
- And the driver says, ‘I've never heard anyone use the pluperfect participle before!’
- He's going to start understanding plurals and possessives and abstract notions of time and space, and before you know it he'll be speaking in the pluperfect subjunctive.
noun pluːˈpəːfɪktˌpluˈpərfɪkt
Grammar The pluperfect tense.
Example sentencesExamples
- He also fails to note our point that even without the pluperfect the story is perfectly consistent.
- The pluperfect must be mastered first for the examination.
Origin
Late 15th century: from modern Latin plusperfectum, from Latin (tempus praeteritum) plus quam perfectum '(past tense) more than perfect'.
Rhymes
imperfect, perfect, word-perfect
Definition of pluperfect in US English:
pluperfect
adjectiveˌplo͞oˈpərfiktˌpluˈpərfɪkt
1(of a tense) denoting an action completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied, formed in English by had and the past participle, as in he had gone by then; past perfect.
Example sentencesExamples
- And the driver says, ‘I've never heard anyone use the pluperfect participle before!’
- The extent to which this grammatical form suggests a pluperfect is disputed among Hebrew grammarians.
- He's going to start understanding plurals and possessives and abstract notions of time and space, and before you know it he'll be speaking in the pluperfect subjunctive.
- You started with the present tense, you then went to the past tense and now you have gone to the pluperfect past tense.
- The driver replies, ‘I've heard that question a thousand time, but never in the pluperfect subjunctive.’
- This, in effect, is what the pluperfect tense achieves when we say something like ‘John had already eaten when Mary arrived’, meaning that his eating was already past when the past event of Mary's arrival occurred.
- 1.1 More than perfect.
they have one pluperfect daughter and are expecting an ideal little brother for her
Example sentencesExamples
- He is a perfect representative of the Democratic Party and a pluperfect speaker for a Democratic fundraiser.
- All three casts, most of them making their debuts in the ballet, had their virtues, although none quite caught the pluperfect Danish style once personified by Erik Bruhn himself.
nounˌplo͞oˈpərfiktˌpluˈpərfɪkt
The past perfect tense.
Example sentencesExamples
- The pluperfect must be mastered first for the examination.
- He also fails to note our point that even without the pluperfect the story is perfectly consistent.
Origin
Late 15th century: from modern Latin plusperfectum, from Latin (tempus praeteritum) plus quam perfectum ‘(past tense) more than perfect’.