The past perfect tense denotes an action completed before a past moment that is specified or implied. In other words, an action that was already completed when another action occurred. The past perfect is formed by "had" and the past participle of the verb, as in "He had gone by then" or "We had not finished when you called". The past perfect is sometimes called the pluperfect. In the joke above, the first words are an example of the past perfect: After they had brought their first baby home.

Le plus-que-parfait fait référence à une action achevée avant une action passée qui est spécifiée ou implicite. En d'autres termes, une action qui était déjà terminée lorsqu'une autre action s'est produite. Le past perfect est formé par "had" et le participe passé du verbe, comme dans He had left by that time ou we had not finished when you called. Le plus-que-parfait est parfois appelé le pluperfect.