When you're already in the past and want to point to something that happened even earlier, Dutch uses "had" or "was" plus a past participle — often signalled by toen, nadat, al, or voordat.
Collega: ?
Sara: . .
Manager: ?
Tom: , . .
Vriendin: ?
Anna: , . .
Collega: Waarom kwam je gisteren niet naar de borrel?
Why didn't you come to drinks yesterday?
Vul het ontbrekende woord in:
I'd seen the invitation too late. By then I was already at home on the couch.
“Als ik niets had gezegd en later per e-mail had geschreven dat ik het er niet mee eens was, dát hadden ze onprofessioneel gevonden.”
No. If I had said nothing and later written by email that I disagreed, that would have been considered unprofessional. The meeting is the moment for open discussion.
“Anders had ik nu geen gezag gehad en was mijn positie veel zwakker geweest.”
With married parents you automatically get joint custody. We had to apply for that separately at the court. Luckily we'd done that when Zuzanna was born. Otherwise I wouldn't have had custody now and my position would have been much weaker.
“Ik had hem op slot gezet, maar hij is weg.”
My bicycle has been stolen. I had locked it, but it's gone.
“En als er geen CAO van toepassing was geweest?”
And if no CAO had applied? Would 25 days have been enough?
“Die was deels gebaseerd op uitbuiting in andere werelddelen.”
Because "Golden Age" only shows the positive part. The wealth of that period didn't come out of thin air. It was partly based on exploitation in other parts of the world.