17.6 The Simple Past Perfect Tense

As a vestige of Latin, there exists in Spanish a simple (one-word) past perfect tense, which is identical to the –ra forms of the imperfect subjunctive. This tense is used almost exclusively in subordinate clauses and is found occasionally in journalistic, literary and other formal writing. Its meaning is always past perfect (pluperfect), never subjunctive. Some consider its usage a stylistic affectation, to achieve a more “elevated” tone. Nevertheless, this once-archaic tense is found more and more frequently in writing (though never used in speech.)

If the tense of the verb of the independent clause is in the past, and should you see this form in the subordinate clause when there seems to be no reason for use of the subjunctive, chances are that you have stumbled across this relic from the Latin.