THE PERFECT TENSE

 

PRINCIPAL PARTS

* You already know that there are 4 groups of Latin verbs,

* Most Latin Verbs also have 4 PRINCIPAL PARTS. Just as it could be said that the body has 4 MAIN/PRINCIPAL PARTS, namely the head, the trunk, the arms and the legs which support all the other parts, so most Latin verbs have 4 principal parts from which all the other parts are made.

* You have already met the first 2 PRINCIPAL PARTS (Ch 3, 2a), namely the beginning of the PRESENT TENSE and the INFINITIVE.

* The 3rd PRINCIPAL PART is the beginning of the PERFECT TENSE

* The 4th PRINCIPAL PART is called the SUPINE. It will be used in a later unit.

Below is a table showing the PRINCIPAL PARTS of regular verbs.

GROUP PRES TENSE INFINITIVE PERF TENSE SUPINE
1 porto portare portavi portatum
2 moneo monere monui monitum
3 dico dicere dixi dictum
4 audio audire audivi auditum

Note: While Ecce Romani 1 gives only the first 2 parts of Verbs in the vocabulary list, subsequent Ecce Romani follow the usual practice of giving the verb group numbers for regular verbs, and the 4 complete Principal Parts for Irregular Verbs,

e.g. if given,

clamo (1), from the pattern shown in the table above, you can make its principal parts

clamo clamare clamavi clamatum

if given

appareo (2) you can make

appareo apparere apparui apparitum

if given

traho (3) you can make

traho trahere traxi tractum

if given

dormio (4) you can make

dormio dormire dormivi dormitum

*When a Verb does not follow the usual pattern i.e. is irregular
the principal parts are supplied

e.g.     curro      currere    cucurri    cursum

           do           dare        dedi        datum



Ch 5.1 THE PAST TENSE

Now we are going to see how Latin makes the past tense called

THE PERFECT TENSE

* The PERFECT TENSE is made from the 3rd principal part of the verb

e.g.  ambulo     ambulare    ambulavi    ambulatum

* Remove the last letter and ambulav is the PERFECT STEM to which the endings shown below are added to make

THE PERFECT TENSE
LATIN ENGLISH
ambulavi
ambulavisti
ambulavit 		I walked, I have walked
you walked, have walked
he walked, has walked
ambulavimus
ambulavistis
ambulaverunt 		we walked, have walked
you walked, have walked
they walked, have walked

This table shows that

1 There is only 1 form of the PERFECT in Latin

2 There are 2 possible meanings in English

3 The beginning of the Latin Perfect is the 3rd principal part

4 The endings of the Latin words change to show the "Person".
Remember Latin shows the "Person" after the "Action."

Below is the table which shows the PERFECT TENSE Person endings

PERSON ENDINGS

LATIN ENGLISH
i I
isti you
it he/she/it
imus we
istis you
erunt they

It is essential to learn the person table shown above.

 

Ch 5.1a THE PERFECT TENSE

To show the PERFECT TENSE of all 4 groups of Latin Verbs, let’s take

THE PRINCIPAL PARTS

Group 1 porto portare portavi portatum
Group 2 moneo monere monui monitum
Group 3 dico dicere dixi dictum
Group 4 audio audire audivi auditum

Take the 3rd PRINCIPAL PART, remove the final letter and add the
Perfect Person Endings.

PERFECT STEM
GROUP 1 GROUP 2 GROUP 3 GROUP 4
portav monu dix audiv

 

PERFECT TENSE
GROUP 1 GROUP 2 GROUP 3 GROUP 4
portavi monui dixi audivi
portavisti monuisti dixisti audivisti
portavit monuit dixit audivit
portavimus monuimus diximus audivimus
portavistis monuistis dixistis audivistis
portaverunt monuerunt dixerunt audiverunt

NOTE:

1 Remember there is more than 1 Past Tense

2 Show the difference between the Imperfect and the Perfect tenses when you translate

3 The most common letters before the Perfect tense endings are S, U, V, X

Ch 5.2

THE PERFECT TENSE

Study the examples below before starting the verb exercises.

LATIN ENGLISH
STATEMENT laboraverunt they worked, have worked (NOT they were working)
QUESTION laboraveruntne? Did they work? have they worked? (NOT were they working)
NEGATIVE STATEMENT non laboraverunt they did not work, have not worked (NOT they were not working)
NEGATIVE QUESTION cur non laboraverunt? why did they not work? why have they not worked (NOT why were they not working)

Ch 5.3

VERB EXERCISES

1
Match the English and Latin verbs by putting the appropriate letters and numbers together.

1 exspectavit a they have moved
2 apparuimus b they went
3 moverunt c he looked out for
4 interpellavi d he pulled out
5 extraxit e you have beaten
6 iverunt f we appeared
7 verberavisti g she walked
8 ambulavit h I interrupted
  8

 

2 Translate

1 quid rogavit? 5 cur mussaverunt?
2 cur convocavisti? 6 quid conspexit?
3 ubi se celaverunt? 7 quid vidisti?
4 spectavitne? 8 dixitne
  8

 

3 Translate

1 nemo me impedivit 5 cur non audivisti?
2 non laboraverunt 6 quis non festinavit?
3 numquam dormivimus 7 cur terruit?

4 non lacrimavit

 8 cur non surrexit?
  8

 

4 Translate paying special attention to the tense

1 dicebat  dixit

2 dormiebant  dormiverunt

3 movebant  moverunt

4 audiebat  audivit

5 surgebamus  surreximus

6 intrabam  intravi

7 parabant  paraverunt        14


5
Put the following verbs in the correct columns as shown in the example below.

INFINITIVE PRESENT IMPERFECT PERFECT IMPERATIVE
tenere tenet tenebat tenuit tene!
to hold he holds he was holding he held hold!

parare  para  parabat  paravit  parat

terrete terrere  terrent  terrebant  terruerunt

spectabant  spectate  spectaverunt  spectant  spectare

ducebat  ducere  duxit  ducite  ducit

dormiunt  dormire  dormiebant  dormiverunt  dormite    25

6

Translate the sentences below paying special attention to tenses.

1 quamquam pueri in area ludebant, pater eos non conspexit

2 Cornelia lacrimavit quod lupos timebat

3 pueri per silvam lente ambulabant, cum subito lupum viderunt

4 dominus servos non audivit nam sub arboribus dormiebant

5 ubi dominum viderunt, canes laeti latrabant                  15

 

_ + _ + _ + __ + __ + __=Total __

Grade 1 = 68-78 Grade 2 = 59-67 Grade 3 = 49-58