The past anterior tense, also called the preterite perfect tense, is used to talk about:
For example:
Dopo che ebbi cucinato (past anterior) , pulii (past definite) la cucina.
After cooking, I cleaned the kitchen.
To make the past anterior tense we use:
The past definite form of the auxiliary verb
essere or avere
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The past participle of the main verb
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Examples:
Finchè non ebbi finito di studiare non uscii a giocare.
I didn't go out to to play until I had finished studying.
Dopo che la casa fu costruita ci andarono ad abitare.
After the house had been built we went to live there.
Solo dopo che gli fu fatto notare l'errore trovò il coraggio di scusarsi.
Only after he had been made aware of his mistake did he find the courage to apologise.
Non appena fui giunto a casa cominciò a piovere.
As soon as we reached the house it started to rain.
The past anterior forms of the verbs mangiare, credere and partire: