Imperfect Tense – Regular Verbs
Personal Endings
The personal endings of a verb will indicate what or who the subject is. In Latin the same
personal endings are used for many different tenses. Notice that imperfect tense uses “m” for 1st
person singular.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) m
(you) s
(he/she/it/singular noun) t
Plural
(we) mus
(you) tis
(they/plural noun) nt
Tense Sign
The imperfect tense uses –ba- to indicate the imperfect tense in regular verbs.
Imperfect Tense Translation
The imperfect tense can be translated in several different ways. It can show action that was:

going on for a time (past continuous)
o Puellae currēbant.
The girls were running.

repeated
o Puellae currēbant.
The girls kept on running.

habitual or customary
o Puellae currēbant.
The girls used to run.
Verb Conjugations
Most Latin verbs can be broken down into four main groups which are known as 1st conjugation,
2nd conjugation, 3rd conjugation, and 4th conjugation.
You can tell which conjugation a verb is in by its infinitive. The infinitive is also known as the
2nd Principal Part because it is the 2nd form listed in a dictionary entry. Most infinitives end in
“-re”. Often an infinitive is translated as “to + verb”.
1st Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ā” in their infinitive. Examples are: clāmō, clāmāre; labōrō,
labōrare.
To conjugate a 1st conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form the stem. Take the 2nd
Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
st
1 Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I was shouting) clāmābam
(you were shouting) clāmābās
(he/she/it/singular noun was
shouting) clāmābat
Plural
(we were shouting) clāmābāmus
(you were shouting) clāmābātis
(they/plural noun were shouting)
clāmābant
2nd Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ē” in their infinitive. Examples are: videō, vidēre; rīdeō, rīdēre.
To conjugate a 2nd conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form the stem. Take the 2nd
Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
st
1 Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I was seeing) vidēbam
(you were seeing) vidēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun was seeing)
vidēbat
3rd Conjugation Verbs
Plural
(we were seeing) vidēbāmus
(you were seeing) vidēbātis
(they/plural noun were seeing)
vidēbant
These are verbs which have an “e” in their infinitive. Examples are: currō, currere; cadō, cadere.
To conjugate a 3rd conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form the stem. Take the 2nd
Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
st
1 Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I was running) currēbam
(you were running) currēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun was
running) currēbat
Plural
(we were running) currēbāmus
(you were running) currēbātis
(they/plural noun were running)
currēbant
3rd Conjugation “i" Stem Verbs
These are verbs which have an “e” in their infinitive but their 1st Principal Part ends with –io.
Examples are: facio, facere, arripio, arripere.
To conjugate a 3rd conjugation “i” stem verb in the imperfect, you must first form the stem. Take
the 1st Principal Part. Drop the –o. Add an “ie". Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I was doing) faciēbam
(you were doing) faciēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun was doing)
faciēbat
Plural
(we were doing) faciēbāmus
(you were doing) faciēbātis
(they/plural noun were doing)
faciēbant
4th Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ī” in their infinitive. Examples are: audiō, audīre; dormiō,
dormīre.
To conjugate a 4th conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form the stem. Take the 2nd
Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add an “e”. Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I was sleeping) dormiēbam
(you were sleeping) dormiēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun was
sleeping) dormiēbat
Plural
(we were sleeping) dormiēbāmus
(you were sleeping) dormiēbātis
(they/plural noun were sleeping)
dormiēbant