The past perfect

Had / was + participle

• The past perfect is had / hadden or was / waren + participle. Choose hebben or zijn just as in the perfect: ik heb gegeten → ik had gegeten, ik ben vertrokken → ik was vertrokken.
• Use it for something that happened before another moment in the past: Toen ik aankwam, was de trein al vertrokken.
• Nadat + past perfect, all verbs to the end: Nadat we hadden gegeten, gingen we wandelen. (gegeten hadden is also correct.)
• After a toen- or nadat-clause, the main clause starts with the verb: Toen ik thuiskwam, was iedereen al weg.