Past perfect (e.g.: tinha falado)

Questions about the Past Perfect

Q: Why is it Se o tinha visto… and NOT Se o teria visto?
After the word se, you can use the present, the imperfect, or the future, but not the conditional. Therefore, se cannot be directly followed by the conditional or the past conditional.

In structures like “If I had known…”, Portuguese uses the past perfect subjunctive, not the conditional:

• Se o tivesse visto…

• Se tivesse sabido, não o teria feito.

👉 The conditional (teria visto) appears in the main clause, not after se.