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.
Singular / Plural1st Person / (I) m / (we) mus
2nd Person / (you) s / (you) tis
3rd Person / (he/she/it/singular noun) t / (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.
Singular / Plural1st Person / (I was shouting) clāmābam / (we were shouting) clāmābāmus
2nd Person / (you were shouting) clāmābās / (you were shouting) clāmābātis
3rd Person / (he/she/it/singular noun was shouting) clāmābat / (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.
Singular / Plural1st Person / (I was seeing) vidēbam / (we were seeing) vidēbāmus
2nd Person / (you were seeing) vidēbās / (you were seeing) vidēbātis
3rd Person / (he/she/it/singular noun was seeing) vidēbat / (they/plural noun were seeing) vidēbant
3rd Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “e” in their infinitive. Examples are: currō, currere; dūcō, dūcere.
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.
Singular / Plural1st Person / (I was running) currēbam / (we were running) currēbāmus
2nd Person / (you were running) currēbās / (you were running) currēbātis
3rd Person / (he/she/it/singular noun was running) currēbat / (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: faciō, facere, capiō, capere.
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 “iē". Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
Singular / Plural1st Person / (I was doing) faciēbam / (we were doing) faciēbāmus
2nd Person / (you were doing) faciēbās / (you were doing) faciēbātis
3rd Person / (he/she/it/singular noun was doing) faciēbat / (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 “ē”. Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
Singular / Plural1st Person / (I was sleeping) dormiēbam / (we were sleeping) dormiēbāmus
2nd Person / (you were sleeping) dormiēbās / (you were sleeping) dormiēbātis
3rd Person / (he/she/it/singular noun was sleeping) dormiēbat / (they/plural noun were sleeping) dormiēbant