Tenses: general remarks

We must consider the tense of a verb in two ways: ASPECTUAL (how a verbal action takes place) and TEMPORAL (what time it takes place). Although the word "tense" comes from the Latin tempus (time), we shall see that the ASPECT of a verb is pivotal in deciding its behavior in complex sentences.

Temporal: a verb can refer to the present, future or past time.

Aspects:

1. Present and Imperfect: PROGRESSIVE (is/was doing); ITERATIVE (keeps/kept doing; used to do; is/was in the habit of doing); CONATIVE (tries/tried to do); INCHOATIVE (begins/began to do); etc.
2. Perfect and Pluperfect: COMPLETED. "I have studied the reading assignment" (completed) is not the same as "I studied the reading assignment" (aoristic)
3. Aoristic Perfect ("timeless perfect") AORISTIC (he did so and so). Latin does not have the aorist tense (which is the most common tense in Greek) nor the �simple past� tense in English and French. This "timeless" aspect is expressed by the Aoristic Perfect in Latin.
4. Future:VOLUNTATIVE or POTENTIAL. The future is uncertain and the end is always near. The future tense can never express a fact, only a will (voluntatiave) or potentiality. In fact, the future tense is a late development from the aorist subjunctive--which explains the absence of future subjunctive in the conjugation system, both Latin and Greek, since the future WAS subjunctive.

The Present tense is the progressive/iterative/etc aspect in present time. Imperfect tense is the progressive/iterative/etc aspect in past time. Perfect can be completed aspect in present time or aoristic aspect in past time. Pluperfect is the completed aspect in past time. Future is voluntative/potential aspect in future time.

From these observations, we can group the Latin tenses into two classes according their temporal value, primary meaning present or future time, secondary meaning past:

Sequence of tenses is observed when a main verb introduces a subordinate clause that contains a verb in the subjunctive mood.

When the main verb is in the primary sequence, the subordinate verb in the subjunctive will have to be in the primary tense as well, regardless of its "original" tense. When the main verb is in the secondary sequence, the subordinate verb in the subjunctive will have to be in the secondary tense as well. The verb in the subordinate clause, then, might

1. Change from the present to the imperfect, or vice versa;
2. Change from the perfect to the pluperfect, or vice versa.

The reason why the present and the imperfect, the perfect and the pluperfect are paired together is because they share the same "aspects". Consider this sentence:

Est hiems. It is wintertime. Erat hiems. It was wintertime.

merum bibit. He drinks wine. merum bibebat. He used to drink wine.

1. merum bibit cum hiems sit. He drinks wine in the wintertime.

2. merum bibibat cum hiems esset. He used to drink wine in the wintertime.

In sentence 1., bibit and sit both belong to the primary sequence. In sentence 2. bibibat and esset both belong to the secondary sequence.

Worksheet

Boys: convert these sentences into primary sequence.

1. magnum prouentum poetarum annus hic attulit: toto mense Aprili nullus fere dies, quo non recitaret aliquis.

2. orabat ut se tanto discrimini eriperet.

3. sarcinas contulerat in naues, certus fugae si contrarius uentus resedisset.

Post on the bulletin board.

Girls: convert these sentences into secondary sequence.

1. plerique sibi iubent an recitator intrauerit, an dixerit praefationem.

2. nemo fere est, qui studia, ut non simul et nos amet.

3. possum aliquid scribere, quod recitem, ne uidear non auditor fuisse sed creditor.

Post on the bulletin board.