The Imperfect and Perfect Tenses in Latin
How Latin describes ongoing and completed past actions, with the endings for the imperfect and the perfect and the difference in meaning.
Latin has two main past tenses, and they do different jobs. The imperfect describes what was going on or used to happen, and the perfect reports what happened.
The imperfect: ongoing or repeated past
The imperfect adds -bam endings to the present stem:
| Person | 1st: amābam | 2nd: videbam | 3rd: regēbam | 4th: audiēbam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | amābam | vidēbam | regēbam | audiēbam |
| you | amābās | vidēbās | regēbās | audiēbās |
| he/she/it | amābat | vidēbat | regēbat | audiēbat |
| we | amābāmus | vidēbāmus | regēbāmus | audiēbāmus |
| you (pl.) | amābātis | vidēbātis | regēbātis | audiēbātis |
| they | amābant | vidēbant | regēbant | audiēbant |
Meaning: "I was loving", "I used to love".
The perfect: completed action
The perfect uses the third principal part, with its own endings:
| Person | Ending | amō → amāv- |
|---|---|---|
| I | -ī | amāvī |
| you | -istī | amāvistī |
| he/she/it | -it | amāvit |
| we | -imus | amāvimus |
| you (pl.) | -istis | amāvistis |
| they | -ērunt | amāvērunt |
Meaning: "I loved", "I have loved".
Irregular verb: sum
| Person | Imperfect | Perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I | eram | fuī |
| you | erās | fuistī |
| he/she/it | erat | fuit |
| we | erāmus | fuimus |
| you (pl.) | erātis | fuistis |
| they | erant | fuērunt |
Comparing them
- Puella cantābat. — The girl was singing. (ongoing)
- Puella cantāvit. — The girl sang. (completed)
- Rōmānī in Britanniā manēbant. — The Romans stayed/were staying in Britain.
- Caesar Galliam vīcit. — Caesar conquered Gaul.
Famous example
Vēnī, vīdī, vīcī — "I came, I saw, I conquered." All three are perfect tense: quick, completed actions.
Telling them apart
- Was it ongoing, repeated or descriptive? Use the imperfect.
- Was it a single completed event? Use the perfect.
Note that venit (present) and vēnit (perfect) differ only in vowel length.
Tips
- Learn -bam and -ī endings.
- Use principal parts for the perfect stem.
- Use the dictionary to check perfect forms.
English Latin Dictionary
Offline English–Latin dictionary for students, classics and word-origin lookups
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