Past perfect: what had happened before
Past perfect፦ ከዚያ በፊት የሆነው
Show which of two past actions happened first.
How it works
Use the past perfect to show that one past action happened before another past action.
አንድ ያለፈ ድርጊት ከሌላ ያለፈ ድርጊት በፊት እንደተፈጸመ ለማሳየት past perfect እንጠቀማለን።
had + past participle · had + ሦስተኛ ቅርጽ
When I arrived, the meeting had already started.
ስደርስ ስብሰባው አስቀድሞ ተጀምሮ ነበር።
She had never seen the sea before she visited Djibouti.
ጅቡቲን ከመጎብኘቷ በፊት ባሕር አይታ አታውቅም ነበር።
Compare: When I arrived, the bus left (I saw it leave). When I arrived, the bus had left (it was already gone).
ስደርስ አውቶቡሱ ተነሳ (ሲነሳ አየሁ)። ስደርስ አውቶቡሱ ሄዶ ነበር (አስቀድሞ ሄዷል)።
Examples
Listen, then tap the microphone to record yourself and compare. Your voice stays on your phone.
When I arrived, the meeting had already started.
ስደርስ ስብሰባው አስቀድሞ ተጀምሮ ነበር።
She had never seen the sea before she visited Djibouti.
ጅቡቲን ከመጎብኘቷ በፊት ባሕር አይታ አታውቅም ነበር።
We had eaten before the guests came.
እንግዶቹ ከመምጣታቸው በፊት በልተን ነበር።
I realised I had left my phone in the taxi.
ስልኬን ታክሲ ውስጥ እንደረሳሁት ተገነዘብኩ።
By the time the police arrived, the thief had escaped.
ፖሊስ እስኪደርስ ድረስ ሌባው አምልጦ ነበር።
Had you met him before the interview?
ከቃለ መጠይቁ በፊት አግኝተውት ያውቁ ነበር?