33 giorni su un’isola deserta

Trapassato prossimo
The past perfect

“…i tre, infatti, avevano costruito una bandiera per attirare l’attenzione”
(the three of them, in fact, had built a flag to attract attention)

The use of the trapassato prossimo (“avevano costruito”) in this sentence indicates that the action of building the flag was completed before another past action took place, which is likely implied or stated in the context. In this case, before the moment when they were spotted by the Coast Guard.

The passato prossimo (present perfect), on the other hand, would be used to describe a completed action that happened at a specific point in the past without any reference to another past action.

Let’s see some examples:

Passato Prossimo:

• Ho costruito una casa nuova (I built a new house)
• Ho visto quel film ieri sera (I watched that movie last night)

Trapassato Prossimo:

• Avevo costruito una casa nuova prima di trasferirmi (I had built a new house before moving)
• Ero stanca perché avevo lavorato tutto il giorno (I was tired because I had worked all day.)