We use the pluperfect to refer to an event that occured before another past event.
| ik
| had/was + pp
| we
| hadden/waren + pp
|
| je
| had/was + pp
| jullie
| hadden/waren + pp
|
| hij
| had/was + pp
| ze
| hadden/waren + pp
|
Suppose we are at the theatre. We are watching a play that you have already seen before.
Tomorrow, I will say: "Yesterday, we watched a play that you had already seen before." The event of watching a play is in the past but you had already seen it before this past event. For this past-past event, we use the pluperfect.
| Toen wij aankwamen, waren de meeste gasten al gearriveerd.
| When we came, most guests had already arrived.
|
| Anderlecht heeft de wedstrijd gewonnen maar dat hadden we al voorspeld.
| Anderlecht has won the match but we had already predicted that.
|
| Nadat we hadden uitgelegd dat we onze vlucht hadden gemist, lieten ze ons in de vertrekhal slapen.
| After we had explained that we had missed our flights, they let us sleep in the departure hall.
|
Voorspeld is the past participle of the inseparable compound verb voorspellen and uitgelegd the past participle of the separable compound verb uitleggen.
Questions? 
