Tempus Praeteritum
Perfectum
The Perfect Tense in Latin
When do you use Perfect Tense?
• Perfect is a grammatical term for past.
• Use the Perfect Tense for actions that
took place in the past.
• The word perfect comes from the Latin
verb perficio which means “to complete; to
finish.” So perfect tense is used for
completed or finished actions.
Quando? (When?)
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Viam spectāmus.
We see (are seeing, do see) the road.
Viam spectābimus.
We will see (are going to see) the road.
Viam spectāvimus.
We have seen (saw, did see) the road.
Quando? (When?)
• Magister puellās docet.
• Magister puellās docēbit.
• Magister puellās docuit.
Quando? (When?)
• Romanī in Galliā pugnant?
• Romanī in Galliā pugnābunt?
• Romanī in Galliā pugnāvērunt?
Remember How to Form the
Present and Future Tenses…
• Begin with which of the 4 principal parts?
• the Second, or Infinitive!
• Example: amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus
• Drop the –re ending
– This is your present stem.
• Example: Amā-
Remember How to Form the
Present and Future Tenses…
• For present tense,
simply add the
personal endings:
-ō
-mus
-s
-tis
-t
-nt
Amō: I love
Amāmus: we love
Amās: you love
Amātis: you all
love
Amant: they love
Amat: he/she/it
loves
Remember How to Form the
Present and Future Tenses…
• For future tense,
insert the –bi- marker
and then add the
personal endings:
Amābō: I shall love
-bō
-bimus
-bis
-bitis
-bit
-bunt
Amābimus: we shall
love
Amābis: you will love
Amābitis: you all will
love
Amābit: he/she/it loves Amābunt: they love
Forming the Perfect Tense
• Examine the following examples of perfect
verbs:
– amāvī, amāvistī, amāvit, amāvimus,
amāvistis, amāvērunt: I have loved, etc…
– portāvī, portāvistī, portāvit, portāvimus,
portāvistis, portāvērunt: I have carried, etc…
– docuī, docuistī, docuit, docuimus, docuistis,
docuērunt: I have taught, etc…
• Which principal part gives us the perfect
stem?
Finding the Stem
• The perfect tense begins with the third
principal part!
• Example: amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus
• Drop the –ī to form the stem
• Example: amāv-
• And then add the perfect personal
endings!
Personal Endings, Perfect Tense
• Compare the Present
Tense endings to the
Perfect Tense
endings.
• -ō
-ī
• -s
-istī
• -t
-it
• -mus
-imus
• -tis
-istis
• -nt
-ērunt
Amō: I love
Amāvī: I have
loved
Amās: you love
Amāvistī: you
have loved
Amat: he/she/it
loves
Amāvit:
he/she/it has
loved
Amāmus: we
love
Amāvimus: we
have loved
Amātis: you all
love
Amāvistis: you
all have loved
Amant: they
love
Amāvērunt: they
have loved
Practice Makes Perfect!
• Find the perfect stem of the following
verbs:
• Terreō
• Terru• Parō
• Parāv• Maneō
• Māns-
Practice Makes Perfect!
• Conjugate the first conjugation verb parō in the
perfect tense.
Parāvī
I got, I have got, I did get
Parāvistī
You got, have got, did get
Parāvit
He got, has got, did get
Parāvimus We got, have got, did get
Parāvistis
You all got, have got, did get
Parāvērunt They got, have got, did get
Practice Makes Perfect!
• Conjugate the second conjugation verb maneō
in the perfect tense.
Mānsī
I remained
Mānsistī
You remained
Mānsit
He/she/it remained
Mānsimus
We remained
Mānsistis
You all remained
Mānsērunt They remained
Practice Makes Perfect!
• Translate…
• They scared
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Terruērunt
• He has praised
• We did teach
• Laudāvit
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Docuimus
• We entrusted
• Mandāvimus
• I saw
• Vīdī
Practice Makes Perfect!
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Translate…
Nāvigāvit
He has sailed, he did sail, he sailed
Liberāvimus
We have freed, we did free, we freed
Habuī
I have had, I did have, I had
Labōrāvērunt
They have worked, they did work, they worked
Congratulations!
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You now know how to form and
recognize the perfect tense!
Summary:
1. Take the 3rd principal part
2. Drop the –ī to form the stem
3. Add the perfect personal endings:
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-ī, -istī, -it, -imus, -istis, -ērunt
Good work!