The Perfect Tense

1. The Perfect Tense

2. The perfect tense • In Latin the perfect tense is used to indicate a completed action in the past time.

3. The perfect tense • It is translated “______ed”; “did ________”; or “has/have _______ed.”

4. The perfect tense • There are 4 ways to form the perfect tense.

5. The perfect tense • The first and the most common is the “vsux” rule.

6. The perfect tense • With the “vsux” rule, the letter v, s, u, or x is essentially added to the present stem. For example,

7. The perfect tense • Portat => portavit • He carries => He carried

8. The perfect tense • Iubet => iussit • He orders => he ordered • Note the assimilation of the b and the s: • Iub + sit => iussit

9. The perfect tense • Tacet => tacuit • He is silent => he has been silent

10. The perfect tense • Ducit => duxit • He leads => he led

11. The perfect tense • The next way to form the perfect tense is by vowel change (“ablaut”). For example,

12. The perfect tense • Advenit => advēnit • He arrives => he has arrived • Facit => fēcit • He makes => he did make

13. The perfect tense • The third way is “no change.” i.e., the present and perfect tenses will look exactly alike. Only the context can tell you whether the verb is present of perfect tense. For example,

14. The perfect tense • Inquit => inquit • She says => she said • Respondit => respondit • She replies => she replied

15. The perfect tense • The final way to form the perfect tense is by reduplication (i.e. part of the present stem will be duplicated). For example,

16. The perfect tense • Currit =>cucurrit • He runs => he ran • Cadit => Cecidit • He falls => he fell

17. The perfect tense • The endings for the perfect tense are different from the present tense endings too. • The 3rd person singular is –it. • The 3rd person plural is –erunt. • We’ll learn the other endings later.

18. The perfect tense • Perfectisumus!