Chapter IV: lupus      Back to Chapter 4 contents

The Imperfect Tense

In Chapters I and II you learned how to form and translate present tense verbs. In Latin, as in most languages, we sometime want to talk not just about the present, but also about things that have happened in the future or the past. The imperfect tense is one way we can talk about the past in Latin.

The easiest way to identify a verb in the imperfect tense is that the letter ba will appear right before the ending. For example, all of these are imperfect tense verbs:

ambulabant they were walking

dormiēbas you were sleeping

currēbamus we were running

The imperfect tense uses the same endings as the present tense. However, between the stem and the ending we will add either ba or eba. The (ē)ba is called a “tense sign,” because it is the sign that says “this verb is imperfect.”

Personal endings

Singular (translation)

Plural (translation)

1st person

ō or m (I)

mus (we)

2nd person

s (you)

tis (y'all)

3rd person

t (he, she, it)

nt (they)

You will remember that there are four conjugations of verbs. You can tell what conjugation a verb belongs to by looking at the ending of the second principle part:

ending of 2nd principle part

1st conjugation

-āre

2nd conjugation

-ēre

3rd conjugation

-ere

4th conjugation

-īre

For the 1st and 2nd conjugations, we find the stem by removing the - re from the second principle part. For the 3rd and 4th conjugations, we find the stem by removing the -ō from the first principle parts.

Forming the imperfect tense: 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs

We form the imperfect tense by adding the tense sign ba to the stem and then adding the endings. Notice that instead of ō in the first person singular, we use m.

Imperfect tense, 1st and 2nd conjugation (tense sign in italics)

Singular

Plural (translation)

1st person

amābam (I was living)

amābamus (we were loving)

2nd person

amābas (you were loving)

amābatis (y'all were loving)

3rd person

amābat (he, she, it was loving)

amābant (they were loving)

Forming the imperfect tense: 3rd and 4th conjugation verbs

We form the future tense by adding the tense ēba to the stem and then adding the endings. Notice that instead of ō in the first person singular, we use m.

Imperfect tense, 3rd and 4th conjugation (tense sign in italics)

Singular

Plural (translation)

1st person

mittēbam (I was sending)

mittēbamus (we were sending)

2nd person

mittēbas (you were sending)

mittēbatis (y'all were sending)

3rd person

mittēbat (he, she, it was sending)

mittēbant (they were sending)


More examples, including the linking verb:

Note that the verb sum, esse (last column on the right) is irregular in the imperfect tense, as it is in the present. You’ll need to memorize those forms.

1st conj.

2nd conj.

3rd conj.

3rd conj.

4th conj.

laudō, laudāre

doceō, docēre

vertō, vertere

faciō, facere

audiō, audīre

sum, esse

stem:

laudā

docē

vert

faci

audi

varies

Singular

1st

laudābam

docebam

vertēbam

faciēbam

audiēbam

eram

2nd

laudābas

docēbas

vertēbas

faciēbas

audiēbas

eras

3rd

laudābat

docēbat

vertebat

faciebat

audiebat

erat

Plural

1st

laudābamus

docēbamus

vertēbamus

faciēbamus

audiēbamus

eramus

2nd

laudābatis

docēbatis

vertēbatis

faciēbatis

audiēbatis

eratis

3rd

laudābant

docēbant

vertebant

faciebant

audiebant

erant