Breakdown of Hast du bemerkt, dass der Streik angefangen hatte?
du
you (informal singular)
haben
to have
anfangen
to start
bemerken
to notice
Questions & Answers about Hast du bemerkt, dass der Streik angefangen hatte?
Why do we use hatte instead of hat in this sentence?
We use hatte because this clause is in the Past Perfect tense (Plusquamperfekt). You use this tense to talk about something that happened before another action in the past. Since noticing the strike (Hast du bemerkt) is already in the past, the strike starting even earlier needs the Past Perfect (angefangen hatte).
Why is hatte at the very end of the sentence, after the past participle angefangen?
The word dass (that) is a subordinating conjunction, which always kicks the conjugated verb to the very end of its clause. In a compound tense like the Past Perfect, the conjugated helping verb (hatte) gets pushed past the participle (angefangen).
Why does anfangen use hatte rather than war for the Past Perfect here?
To form the Past Perfect, you use the simple past form of a verb's usual helping verb (haben or sein). Even though starting implies a change of state, anfangen always takes haben as its helping verb. Therefore, its Past Perfect uses hatte.
How is the past participle angefangen formed?