Download Latin Grammar

Latin
Grammar
The Use of the Imperfect
Tense
(Grammar 4A, pp. 194-96)
Aspect
 We
now are learning the imperfect tense.
 It is the second past tense we have
learned in Latin.
 Some time ago we learned the perfect.
 To understand the difference between
the perfect and imperfect tense, we
need to discuss aspect.
Aspect
 The
difference between the imperfect
tense and the perfect tense is not one of
time.
 It is one of aspect, that is the way the
action of the verb is portrayed.
Aspect
 Here’s
an example of aspect in English.
I ran
I was running
Imperfect and Perfect
 In
Latin, actions in the past can be
presented as perfect or imperfect actions.


Perfect actions are presented as complete.
Imperfect actions are presented as
incomplete.
Perfect Actions
mīles scolasticōs pipere sparsit.
PRESENT
PAST
Imperfect Tense
Imperfect Actions
mīles scolasticōs pipere spargēbat.
PRESENT
PAST
PAST
Imperfect Actions
 The
imperfect presents actions in the past
as if they were being witnessed by a
contemporary observer.
 The imperfect is the projection onto the
past of a present perspective.
 By the way, that’s why it is formed using
the first principal part of verbs, the
present.
Translating
 There
are three ways a verb can indicate
present action.
1.
An action is going on right now.
I am eating dinner now.
2.
3.
An action is repeated.
I always eat dinner at 6.
A verb indicates a state.
I believe you.
Translating
 That
means that an verb in the imperfect
can have three interpretations.
1.
An action was going on at that time.
I was eating dinner then.
2.
3.
An action was repeated.
I always ate dinner at 6.
A verb indicates that a state of being
occurred.
I believed you.
Translating
 All
these are expressed by the imperfect in
Latin
1.
An action was going on at that time.
I was eating dinner then = tum cēnābam.
2.
3.
An action was repeated.
I ate dinner always at 6
= duodecimā hōrā semper cēnābam.
A verb indicates that a state of being occurred.
I believed you = tibi crēdēbam
Translating
 Actions
that are ongoing at some fixed
time in the past in English are indicated by
the past progressive.
tum cēnābam
= I was eating then.
.
Translating
 Repeated
action in English in the past is
indicated by the simple past or “used to.”
duodecimā hōrā semper cēnābam
= I always ate at 6 o’clock.
= I always used to eat at 6 o’clock.
Translating
 States
in English tend to be in the simple
past.
 In Latin, because they are thought of as
being in process, they usually are in the
imperfect.
tibi crēdēbam = I believed you.
Translating
 Finally,
do note that the perfect in Latin
implies that an action came to its natural
conclusion.
 The imperfect does not.
portam aperuī
portam aperiēbam
= I was opening the gate (but failed)
= I began to open the gate
= I tried to open the gate