The Perfect Tense

The Perfect Tense: l Describes action that was completed in the past l Describes action done at a specific time in the past l Is often translated with “–ed” or the helping verbs “has” “have” or “did”

The perfect tense is expressed in Latin by a set of special endings!

Perfect tense endings lili l isti l it l imus l istis l erunt

These endings are used with verbs of all four conjugations

The first conjugation: l paravi l paravisti l paravit l paravimus l paravistis l paraverunt

The second conjugation l docui l docuisti l docuit l docuimus l docuisti l docuerunt

The third conjugation l duxi l duxisti l duxit l duximus l duxistis l duxerunt

The fourth conjugation l audivi l audivisti l audivit l audivimus l audivistis l audiverunt

How can I tell if a verb is in the perfect tense? Check endings. l Step 1: If it ends in –i, -isti, -istis, erunt, it is perfect. Step 2: If it ends in –it or –imus, then see if you have that XLSUV. If you do, then it’s perfect. l Of course, you could memorize the 3 rd principal part of the verb!

What’s this about the 3 rd Principal Part of a Verb? l All vbs. have principal parts. paro, parare, paravi, paratus audio, audire, audivi, auditus dico, dicere, dixi, dictus l The 2 nd P.P. gives us the root for the present, imperfect, and future tenses (it’s called the present stem)

The Third P.P. l Has the XLSUV in it l Has the perfect ending –i l Is also known as the perfect stem l Is used to form the perfect, past perfect, and future perfect tenses.

Finis