Latin tenses

Latin grammarians generally present Latin as having six main tenses, three non-perfect or īnfectum tenses (the present, future, and imperfect) and three corresponding perfect or perfectum tenses (the perfect, future perfect, and pluperfect). These six tenses are made using two different stems: for example, from the verb faciō 'I do' the three non-perfect tenses are faciō, faciam, faciēbam and the three perfect tenses are fēcī, fēcerō, fēceram.

In addition to these six tenses of the indicative mood, there are four tenses in the subjunctive mood: present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect (faciam, facerem, fēcerim, fēcissem). To these can be added various 'periphrastic' tenses, consisting of a future participle and part of the verb sum, for example factūrus sum 'I am going to do'.

Because Latin verbal groups do not have perfect English equivalents, it is often the case that the same word can be translated in different ways depending on its context: for example, faciō can be translated as 'I did', 'I do', and 'I am doing', and fēcī can be translated as 'I have done' and 'I did'. However, occasionally Latin makes a distinction which is not made in English: for example, fuī and eram both mean 'I was' in English, but they differ in Latin (the distinction is also found in Spanish and Portuguese).

Participles in Latin have three tenses (present, perfect, and future) and the imperative mood has two tenses (present and future). The infinitive has two main tenses (present and perfect) and a number of periphrastic tenses used in reported speech.

For the most part the use of tenses in Latin is straightforward, but there are certain idioms where Latin and English use different tenses. For example, in future conditions of the type 'if anything happens, I will tell you', English uses the present tense in the subordinate clause, but Latin has the future perfect tense ('if anything will have happened, I will tell you').

In some cases the use of tenses can be understood in terms of transformations of one tense or mood into another, especially in indirect speech. For example, in indirect questions, a present indicative of direct speech, such as est 'is', is changed first from indicative to subjunctive mood (sit), and then, if the context is past, from the present to the imperfect tense (esset). Another very common transformation is for the main verb in an indirect statement to be changed into the closest tense of the infinitive, so that the present tense est changes to the present infinitive esse, and the imperfect erat 'he was' and perfect fuit 'he was' both change to the perfect infinitive fuisse.

Formation of the tenses

Latin has six main tenses in the indicative mood, and four in the subjunctive mood. These are illustrated below using a 1st conjugation verb, amō 'I love', a 2nd conjugation verb moneō 'I advise', a 3rd conjugation verb, dūcō 'I lead', and a 4th conjugation verb, audiō 'I hear'.

Also shown on the table are the tenses of the common irregular verbs sum 'I am', possum 'I am able', volō 'I want' and eō 'I go'.

	Present	Future	Imperfect	Perfect	Future Perfect	Pluperfect
ACTIVE	I love	I will love	I was loving	I loved	I will have loved	I had loved
I you sg. he/she we you pl. they	amō amās amat amāmus amātis amant	amābō amābis amābit amābimus amābitis amābunt	amābam amābās amābat amābāmus amābātis amābant	amāvī amāvistī amāvit amāvimus amāvistis amāvērunt/-ēre	amāverō amāverīs amāverit amāverīmus amāverītis amāverint	amāveram amāverās amāverat amāverāmus amāverātis amāverant
Subjunctive	amem amēs amet amēmus amētis ament		amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent	amāverim amāverīs amāverit amāverīmus amāverītis amāverint		amā(vi)ssem amāssēs amāsset amāssēmus amāssētis amāssent
PASSIVE	I am loved	I will be loved	I was being loved	I was loved	I will have been loved	I had been loved
Indicative	amor amāris amātur amāmur amāminī amāntur	amābor amāberis amābitur amābimur amābiminī amābuntur	amābar amābāris amābātur amābāmur amābāminī amābantur	amātus sum amātus es amātus est amātī sumus amātī estis amātī sunt	amātus erō amātus eris amātus erit amātī erimus amātī eritis amātī erunt	amātus eram amātus erās amātus erat amātī erāmus amātī erātis amātī erant
Subjunctive	amer amēris amētur amēmur amēminī amentur		amārer amārēris amārētur amārēmur amārēminī amārentur	amātus sim amātus sīs amātus sit amātī sīmus amātī sītis amātī sint		amātus essem amātus essēs amātus esset amātī essēmus amātī essētis amātī essent
ACTIVE	I advise	I will advise	I was advising	I advised	I will have advised	I had advised
I you sg. he/she we you pl. they	moneō monēs monet monēmus monitis monent	monēbō monēbis monēbit monēbimus monēbitis monēbunt	monēbam monēbās monēbat monēbāmus monēbātis monēbant	monuī monuistī monuit monuimus monuistis monuērunt/-ēre	monuerō monuerīs monuerit monuerīmus monuerītis monuerint	monueram monuerās monuerat monuerāmus monuerātis monuerant
Subjunctive	moneam moneās moneat moneāmus moneātis moneant		monērem monērēs monēret monērēmus monērētis monērent	monuerim monuerīs monuerit monuerīmus monuerītis monuerint		monuissem monuissēs monuisset monuissēmus monuissētis monuissent
PASSIVE	I am advised	I will be advised	I was being advised	I was advised	I will have been advised	I had been advised
Indicative	moneor monēris monētur monēmur monēminī monēntur	monēbor monēberis monēbitur monēbimur monēbiminī monēbuntur	monēbar monēbāris monēbātur monēbāmur monēbāminī monēbantur	monitus sum monitus es monitus est monitī sumus monitī estis monitī sunt	monitus erō monitus eris monitus erit monitī erimus monitī eritis monitī erunt	monitus eram monitus erās monitus erat monitī erāmus monitī erātis monitī erant
Subjunctive	monear moneāris moneātur moneāmur moneāminī moneantur		monērer monērēris monērētur monērēmur monērēminī monērentur	monitus sim monitus sīs monitus sit monitī sīmus monitī sītis monitī sint		monitus essem monitus essēs monitus esset monitī essēmus monitī essētis monitī essent
ACTIVE	I lead	I will lead	I was leading	I led	I will have led	I had led
Indicative	dūcō dūcis dūcit dūcimus dūcitis dūcunt	dūcam dūcēs dūcet dūcēmus dūcētis dūcent	dūcēbam dūcēbās dūcēbat dūcēbāmus dūcēbātis dūcēbant	dūxī dūxistī dūxit dūximus dūxistis dūxērunt/-ēre	dūxerō dūxerīs dūxerit dūxerīmus dūxerītis dūxerint	dūxeram dūxerās dūxerat dūxerāmus dūxerātis dūxerant
Subjunctive	dūcam dūcās dūcat dūcāmus dūcātis dūcant		dūcerem dūcerēs dūceret dūcerēmus dūcerētis dūcerent	dūxerim dūxerīs dūxerit dūxerīmus dūxerītis dūxerint		dūxissem dūxissēs dūxisset dūxissēmus dūxissētis dūxissent
PASSIVE	I am led	I will be led	I was being led	I was led	I will have been led	I had been led
Indicative	dūcor dūceris dūcitur dūcimur dūciminī dūcuntur	dūcar dūcēris dūcētur dūcēmur dūcēminī dūcentur	dūcēbar dūcēbāris dūcēbātur dūcēbāmur dūcēbāminī dūcēbantur	ductus sum ductus es ductus est ductī sumus ductī estis ductī sunt	ductus erō ductus eris ductus erit ductī erimus dūctī eritis ductī erunt	ductus eram ductus erās ductus erat ductī erāmus ductī erātis ductī erant
Subjunctive	dūcar dūcāris dūcātur dūcāmur dūcāminī dūcantur		dūcerer dūcerēris dūcerētur dūcerēmur dūcerēminī dūcerentur	ductus sim ductus sīs ductus sit ductī sīmus ductī sītis ductī sint		ductus essem ductus essēs ductus esset ductī essēmus ductī essētis ductī essent
ACTIVE	I hear	I will hear	I was hearing	I heard	I will have heard	I had heard
Indicative	audiō audīs audit audīmus audītis audiunt	audiam audiēs audiet audiēmus audiētis audient	audiēbam audiēbās audiēbat audiēbāmus audiēbātis audiēbant	audīvī audīstī audīvit audīvimus audīstis audiērunt/-ēre	audierō audierīs audierit audierīmus audierītis audierint	audieram audierās audierat audierāmus audierātis audierant
Subjunctive	audiam audiās audiat audiāmus audiātis audiant		audīrem audīrēs audīret audīrēmus audīrētis audīrent	audierim audierīs audierit audierīmus audierītis audierint		audīssem audīssēs audīsset audīssēmus audīssētis audīssent
PASSIVE	I am heard	I will be heard	I was being heard	I was heard	I will have been heard	I had been heard
Indicative	audior audīris audītur audīmur audīminī audiuntur	audiar audiēris audiētur audiēmur audiēminī audientur	audiēbar audiēbāris audiēbātur audiēbāmur audiēbāminī audiēbantur	audītus sum audītus es audītus est audītī sumus audītī estis audītī sunt	audītus erō audītus eris audītus erit audītī erimus audītī eritis audītī erunt	audītus eram audītus erās audītus erat audītī erāmus audītī erātis audītī erant
Subjunctive	audiar audiāris audiātur audiāmur audiāminī audiantur		audīrer audīrēris audīrētur audīrēmur audīrēminī audīrentur	audītus sim audītus sīs audītus sit audītī sīmus audītī sītis audītī sint		audītus essem audītus essēs audītus esset audītī essēmus audītī essētis audītī essent
TO BE	I am	I will be	I was	I was/have been	I will have been	I had been
Indicative	sum es est sumus estis sunt	erō eris erit erimus eritis erunt	eram erās erat erāmus erātis erant	fuī fuistī fuit fuimus fuistis fuērunt/fuēre	fuerō fuerīs fuerit fuerīmus fuerītis fuerint	fueram fuerās fuerat fuerāmus fuerātis fuerant
Subjunctive	sim sīs sit sīmus sītis sint		essem essēs esset essēmus essētis essent	fuerim fuerīs fuerit fuerīmus fuerītis fuerint		fuissem fuissēs fuisset fuissēmus fuissētis fuissent
TO BE ABLE	I am able	I will be able	I was able	I was able/ have been able	I will have been able	I had been able
Indicative	possum potes potest possumus potestis possunt	poterō poteris poterit poterimus poteritis poterunt	poteram poterās poterat poterāmus poterātis poterant	potuī potuistī potuit potuimus potuistis potuērunt/-ēre	potuerō potuerīs potuerit potuerīmus potuerītis potuerint	potueram potuerās potuerat potuerāmus potuerātis potuerant
Subjunctive	possim possīs possit possīmus possītis possint		possem possēs posset possēmus possētis possent	potuerim potuerīs potuerit potuerīmus potuerītis potuerint		potuissem potuissēs potuisset potuissēmus potuissētis potuissent
TO WANT	I want	I will want	I was wanting	I wanted	I will have wanted	I had wanted
Indicative	volō vīs vult volumus vultis volunt	volam volēs volet volēmus volētis volent	volēbam volēbās volēbat volēbāmus volēbātis volēbant	voluī voluistī voluit voluimus voluistis voluērunt/-ēre	voluerō voluerīs voluerit voluerīmus voluerītis voluerint	volueram voluerās voluerat voluerāmus voluerātis voluerant
Subjunctive	velim velīs velit velīmus velītis velint		vellem vellēs vellet vellēmus vellētis vellent	voluerim voluerīs voluerit voluerīmus voluerītis voluerint		voluissem voluissēs voluisset voluissēmus voluissētis voluissent
TO GO	I go	I will go	I was going	I went	I will have gone	I had gone
Indicative	eō īs it īmus ītis eunt	ībō ībis ībit ībimus ībitis ībunt	ībam ībās ībat ībāmus ībātis ībant	iī/īvī iistī iit iimus iistis iērunt/iēre	ierō ierīs ierit ierīmus ierītis ierint	ieram ierās ierat ierāmus ierātis ierant
Subjunctive	eam eās eat eāmus eātis eant		īrem īrēs īret īrēmus īrētis īrent	ierim ierīs ierit ierīmus ierītis ierint		īssem īssēs īsset īssēmus īssētis īssent

In technical language, the first three tenses are known as the īnfectum tenses, while the three perfect tenses are known as perfectum. The three perfect tenses are formed using a different stem (e.g. dūx- instead of dūc-).

Future tenses

There are three ways of forming the future tense in Latin: (1) -bō, -bis, -bit (1st and 2nd conjugation and eō 'I go'; (2) -am, -ēs, -et (3rd and 4th conjugation); and (3) erō, eris, erit (sum, absum, adsum, possum).

Future perfect endings

In early Latin the future perfect had a short i in the persons -eris, -erimus, -eritis, while the perfect subjunctive had a long i: -erīs, -erīmus, -erītis. But Catullus (and apparently Cicero, judging from the rhythms of his clausulae) pronounced the future perfect with a long i (fēcerīmus). Virgil has a short i for both tenses; Horace uses both forms for both tenses; Ovid uses both forms for the future perfect, but a long i in the perfect subjunctive.

Perfect passive tenses

The perfect tense passive is formed periphrastically using a perfect participle and the verb sum. The participle changes according to gender and number: ducta est 'she was led', ductae sunt '(the women) were led' etc. The perfect tense of deponent verbs (for example profectus sum 'I set out') is formed in the same way.

The order of the participle and auxiliary is sometimes reversed: sunt ductī. When negative there are various possibilities: nōn est ausus, ausus nōn est, nōn ausus est 'he did not dare' all commonly occur.

A perfect participle used as part of the perfect tense passive should be distinguished from one which is merely an adjective, as in the following sentence:

Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partīs trīs (Caesar)

'Gaul, seen as a whole, is divided into three parts'

Here the meaning of est dīvīsa is not 'was divided' or 'has been divided' but the participle is simply descriptive.

Perfects made with fuī and habuī

Perfect tenses can also be formed occasionally using fuī instead of sum, for example oblītus fuī 'I forgot', and habuī e.g. ductum habuī 'I have led'. For the meaning of these see below.

Shortened endings

The 2nd person singular passive endings are often shortened by changing -is to -e, e.g. dūcēbāre for dūcēbāris 'you were being led'.

The 3rd person plural perfect indicative can also be shortened: dūxēre for dūxērunt 'they led'. The shortened form of the perfect is common in poetry, but is also sometimes found in prose.

Meanings of the indicative tenses

Present indicative

There is no distinction of aspect in the present tense: faciō can mean 'I do (now)', 'I do (regularly), or 'I am doing'; that is, it can be perfective, habitual, or progressive in aspect.

Current situation

The present tense can refer to a current situation:

senātus haec intellegit; cōnsul videt; hic tamen vīvit (Cicero)

'the Senate understands this; the Consul sees it; yet this man is still alive'

tū fortasse vērum dīcis (Cicero)

'perhaps you are telling the truth'

General truths

The present, as in English, can also describe a general truth:

sōlēs occidere et redīre possunt (Catullus)

'suns can set and return again'

Perfective present

It can also refer perfectively to an event which takes place at the moment of speaking:

veniō nunc ad Dorylēnsium testimōnium (Cicero)

'I come now to the testimony of the Dorylensians'

Historic present

The present tense is often used in narrative in a historic sense, referring to a past event, especially when the writer is describing an exciting moment in the story. This is known as the 'historic present':

videt imminēre hostēs ... capit arma ā proximīs ... (Caesar)

'he sees the enemy threatening ... he immediately seizes weapons from those next to him ...'

According to Pinkster, the historic present is the most frequent tense used in narrative in both prose and poetry. It can replace not only the perfect tense, but also the imperfect tense:

tōtīs trepidātur castrīs (Caesar)

'throughout the camp people were panicking'

After dum 'while', the present indicative also has the meaning of an imperfect tense:

dumque fugit, tergō vēlāmina lāpsa relīquit (Ovid)

'while she was fleeing, her cloak (vēlāmina) slipped from her back (tergō) and she left it behind'

In Caesar when a verb is placed initially in the sentence, as in the first example above (videt imminēre hostēs), it is very frequently in the present tense.

Another situation where the use of the historic present is frequent is in utterance verbs, such as fidem dant 'they give a pledge' or ōrant 'they beg'. More than half the historic presents in Caesar are of this kind.

Perfect continuous meaning

The present can sometimes mean 'has been doing', usually with a length of time and iam 'now':

is Lilybaeī multōs iam annōs habitat (Cicero)

'he has been living in Lilybaeum for many years now'

cīvis Rōmānus iam diū est (Cicero)

'he has been a Roman citizen for a long time now'

Another idiom is the following, indicating lapsed time:

multī annī sunt cum in aere meō est (Cicero)

'he has owed me money for many years now'

Longum est

Another idiom that can be mentioned is the phrase longum est, which means 'it would take a long time' or 'it would be tedious'. It is frequently used by Cicero as well as other writers:

longum est omnia ēnumerāre proelia (Nepos)

'it would be tedious to recount all the battles'

Future indicative

Future event or situation

The future tense can describe an event or a situation in the near or distant future:

īnsequentī librō explicābō (Vitruvius)

'I will explain this in the next book'

ibī cōtīdiē tuās litterās exspectābō (Cicero)

'when I get there, I shall be expecting your letters every day'

There is no distinction in the future between perfective and imperfective aspect.

Future in subordinate clauses

After cum 'when' or sī 'if' or other subordinate clauses referring to a future time, usually the future is used where English has a present tense. The simple future, not the future perfect, is used if the time of the two verbs is simultaneous:

nārrābō cum aliquid habēbō novī (Cicero)

'I will tell you when I have some news' (lit. 'I will have')

crūdam sī edēs, in acētum intinguitō (Cato)

'if you are going to be eating it (i.e. cabbage) raw, dip it in vinegar'

per eum quod volēmus facile auferēmus (Cicero)

'through him we shall easily get what we want' (lit. 'what we will want')

Polite requests

The future can also be used for polite requests, as when Cicero sends greetings to his friend Atticus's wife and daughter:

Pīliae salūtem dīcēs et Atticae (Cicero)

'please give my greetings to Pilia and Attica'

Imperfect indicative

The imperfect indicative generally has an imperfective meaning and describes situations in the past. Often the imperfect can be translated into English as 'was doing', but sometimes the simple tense 'did' or expressions such as 'used to do', 'would do', 'kept doing', 'began to do', 'had been doing' are more appropriate.

Habitual use

The imperfect tense can describe a situation that used to take place regularly or habitually:

multum enim illum audiēbam (Cicero)

'I used to listen to him a lot'

Iterative use

Similar to the above is the iterative or 'frequentative' use of the imperfect, describing what something that kept on happening or which happened on an indefinite number of occasions:

complurīs lēgātiōnēs Pharnacēs ad Domitium mittit ... Domitius respondēbat ... ([Caesar])

'Pharnaces sent several embassies to Domitius ... (each time) Domitius would reply ...'

Situation at a particular time

It can also describe a situation that existed at a particular moment:

virgā, quam in manū gerēbat, circumscrīpsit rēgem (Livy)

'with a stick, which he was carrying in his hand, he drew a circle round the king'

Often an expression such as tum 'then' or eō tempore 'at that time' is added:

ex equō tum forte Mettius pugnābat (Livy)

'at that time (the time of his death) Mettius was fighting on horseback'

hiēms iam eō tempore erat (Livy)

'by this time it was already winter'

Vivid description

The use of the imperfect rather than the perfect can be used to make a scene more vivid, as with this sentence of Cicero's:

caedēbātur virgīs in mediō forō Messānae cīvis Rōmānus, iūdicēs (Cicero)

'a Roman citizen was being flogged with rods in the middle of the forum of Messana, judges'

The passage is commented on by Aulus Gellius. He says that the use of caedēbātur rather than caesus est creates a 'drawn-out vivid description' (diūtīna repraesentātiō); that is to say, making it seem to the audience that the scene is taking place in front of them.

Geographical description

Sometimes the imperfect is used for description of the surroundings:

mōns altissimus impendēbat (Caesar)

'a very high mountain hung over (the road)'

Unfinished action

Another use is to describe an action that someone was intending to do, or about to do, but which never actually took place, or which was interrupted by another event:

Cūriam relinquēbat (Tacitus)

'he was on the point of leaving the Senate house'

in amplexūs occurrentis fīliae ruēbat, nisi interiectī lictōrēs utrīsque obstitissent (Tacitus)

'he would have rushed into the embrace of his daughter, who was running towards him, if the bodyguards hadn't intervened and stood in the way of both of them'

'Began doing'

Another meaning is inceptive, describing a situation that began at a certain moment and continued indefinitely:

quō postquam fuga inclīnāvit, aliī in aquam caecī ruēbant, aliī dum cunctantur in rīpīs oppressī (Livy)

'after the rout began, some began rushing blindly into the water, others, while they were hesitating on the banks, were crushed'

Pluperfect continuous meaning

When the imperfect tense is used with the adverb iam 'now' and a length of time it means 'had been doing':

quod iam diū cupiēbant (Livy)

'which they had been desiring for a long time now'

Epistolary imperfect

Sometimes in letters a writer imagines himself in the position of the recipient and uses a past tense to describe an event which for the writer himself is present:

etenim ibī sedēns haec ad te scrībēbam (Cicero)

'as a matter of fact I was sitting there as I was writing this to you' (i.e. 'I am sitting there as I write this to you')

Potential meaning ('would be')

Sometimes the imperfect of sum is used with a potential meaning ('would be'):

omnīnō supervacua erat doctrīna, sī nātūra sufficeret (Quintilian)

'teaching would be completely superfluous, if nature was sufficient'

vehementer intererat vestrā, quī patrēs estis, līberōs vestrōs hīc potissimum discere (Pliny)

'it would be very much in your interests, those of you who are fathers, if your sons could study here rather than in another town'

Perfect indicative

Past event

The perfect most frequently narrates an event in the past. The usual translation is the simple English past tense with '-ed' or the equivalent:

vēnī, vīdī, vīcī (Caesar)

'I came, I saw, I conquered'

ibī M. Marcellum convēni eumque diem ibī cōnsūmpsī (Servius to Cicero)

'there I met Marcus Marcellus, and I spent that day there'

ūniversī ex nāvī dēsiluērunt (Caesar)

'all at the same time, they leapt down from the ship'

Present perfect meaning

The perfect can also be used like the English present perfect ('I have done'):

ecum et mūlum Brundisī tibī relīquī (Cicero)

'I have left a horse and a mule for you at Brundisium'

nōndum satis cōnstituī (Cicero)

'I haven't yet quite made my mind up'

Kal. Ian. [Kalendīs Iānuāriīs] dēbuit, adhūc nōn solvit (Cicero)

'he was due to pay the money on the 1st January, but he still hasn't paid it'

Experiential perfect

As with the English perfect, the Latin perfect can sometimes be used to relate experiences which have happened several times in the past:

cōntiōnēs saepe exclāmāre vīdī, cum aptē verba cecidissent (Cicero)

'I have often seen public meetings shout out loud when the words fell aptly (i.e. with a striking rhythm)'

Similar to this is the 'gnomic perfect', which states a general truth based on past experience:

nōn aeris acervus et aurī dēdūxit corpore febrīs (Horace)

'a heap of bronze and gold has never taken away fevers from the body' (i.e. doesn't takes away)

Iterative action

In sentences which mean 'whenever X occurs, Y occurs', referring to general time, the perfect tense is used for event X if it precedes event Y. In English the present tense is often used:

dum legō, adsentior, cum posuī librum adsēnsiō omnis illa ēlābitur (Cicero)

'while I am reading, I agree, but as soon as I put the book down all that agreement slips away'

cum hūc vēnī, hoc ipsum nihil agere dēlectat (Cicero)

'whenever I come here, this very "doing nothing" delights me'

Length of time

The perfect, not the imperfect, is used when a situation is said to have lasted in the past for a certain length of time, but is now over:

nōnāgintā vīxit annōs (Cicero)

'he lived for ninety years'

Cassius tōtā vītā aquam bibit (Seneca)

'Cassius drank water throughout his whole life'

omnēs ante vōs cōnsulēs senātuī pāruērunt (Cicero)

'all the Consuls before you obeyed the Senate'

Exceptions to this rule are very rare, but they do occur, for example the following, which describes an ongoing unfinished situation:

Philippus nūllus ūsquam nec nūntius ab eō per aliquot hōras veniēbat (Livy)

'Philip was nowhere in sight, and for several hours no messenger arrived from him'

Similarly the perfect is used for a situation which has always existed and still exists:

mēcum vīvit semperque vīxit (Cicero)

'he lives with me, and has always done so'

Eram and fuī

Both of these in English mean 'I was', but in Latin there is usually a difference. As with other verbs, the perfect is usually used when the length of time is mentioned:

diū ... silentium fuit (Livy)

'for a long time there was silence'

The perfect is also used when the sentence describes an event rather than a situation:

aquae ingentēs eō annō fuērunt et Tiberis loca plāna urbis inundāvit (Livy)

'that year there were huge floods and the Tiber inundated the flat areas of the city'

fuistī igitur apud Laecam illā nocte, Catilīna (Cicero)

'you were therefore there at Laeca's house that night, Catiline!' (i.e. you attended the meeting)

However, the perfect fuī 'I was once', 'I used to be' is sometimes used to describe a former situation, emphasising that it is no longer in existence:

ego tam fuī quam vōs estis (Petronius)

'I was once just like you are'

statua Attī ... ad laevam cūriae fuit (Livy)

'there was once a statue of Attus to the left of the senate house'

fuimus Trōes, fuit Īlium (Virgil)

'we have ceased to be Trojans; Troy is no more'

The perfect is also used in sentences such as the following, which describe a permanent state, as opposed to the imperfect, which describes a temporary one:

Samia mihī māter fuit; ea habitābat Rhodī (Terence)

'my mother was a Samian; she was living in Rhodes (at that time)'

apud Helvētiōs longē nōbilissimus fuit et dītissimus Orgetorix (Caesar)

'Among the Helvetians by far the noblest and the most wealthy was Orgetorix'

According to Pinkster, the use of erat in these two examples would sound wrong. 'In both cases the reader would want to know "What happened next?"'

The perfect must also be used with adverbs such as semel 'once', bis 'twice', ter 'three times', which imply that the situation is now over:

fuī bis in Bīthȳniā (Cicero)

'I have been in Bithynia twice'

For geographical description, erat is used:

in eō flūmine pōns erat (Caesar)

'on that river there was a bridge'

There are also some types of sentences where either tense may be used indifferently, for example when describing someone's name or character:

Manus eī nōmen erat / Dīnomenī fuit nōmen (Livy)

'his name was Manus' / 'his name was Dinomenes'

dīligēns erat imperātor / imperātor fuit summus (Nepos)

'he was a hard-working general' / 'he was an excellent general'

The equivalent of these two tenses, era and fui both meaning 'I was', still exist in Spanish and Portuguese today. (See Spanish conjugation, Portuguese verb conjugation.)

Meminī, ōdī, nōvī

Certain verbs, of which the most common are meminī 'I remember', ōdī 'I hate', and nōvī 'I know', are used in the perfect tense but have the meaning of a present tense:

meminī mē adesse (Cicero)

'I remember being present'

sī tū oblītus es, at dī meminērunt (Catullus)

'even if you have forgotten, yet the gods remember'

ōdī et amō (Catullus)

'I hate and I love'

The future perfect and pluperfect of these verbs serve as the equivalent of a future or imperfect tense: meminerō 'I will remember', memineram 'I remembered'. meminī has an imperative mementō 'remember!'

The verb nōvī usually means 'I know' but sometimes it has a past meaning 'I became acquainted with':

tē nōn nōvimus, nescīmus quī sīs, numquam tē anteā vīdimus (Cicero)

'we don't know you, we don't know who you are, we have never seen you before'

sum. sed ubī tū mē nōvistī gentium aut vīdistī aut conlocūtu's? (Plautus)

'I am (the one you mentioned). But where on earth did you make my acquaintance or see me or ever converse with me?'

The perfect of cōnsuēscō, cōnsuēvī 'I have grown accustomed', is also often used with a present meaning:

quī diēs aestūs maximōs efficere cōnsuēvit (Caesar)

'this day generally makes the highest tides'

Perfect with habeō

Occasionally the beginnings can be seen of a perfect tense formed with habeo ('I have') and the perfect participle, which became the regular way of forming the perfect in French and Italian:

ratiōnes Erōtis, etsī ipsum nondum vīdī, tamen ex litterīs eius prope modum cognitās habeō (Cicero)

'As for Eros's accounts, although I haven't seen him in person, I have more or less learnt what they say from his letter'

Clōdī animum perspectum habeō, cognitum, iūdicātum (Cicero)

'I have now thoroughly examined, learnt, and judged Clodius's mind'

According to Gildersleeve and Lodge, this form of the perfect 'is not a mere circumlocution for the Perfect, but lays particular stress on the maintenance of the result'.

In later Latin this construction became more common, for example:

ecce episcopum ... invītātum habēs et vix nōbīs supersunt quattuor vīnī amphorae (Gregory of Tours, 6th century)

'you have invited the Bishop, and we have scarcely four jars of wine left!'

A variation with teneō 'I hold or keep' is also sometimes found, but usually with emphasis on the idea of holding:

populī Rōmānī exercitus Cn. Pompeium circumsedet, fossā et vallō saeptum tenet, fugā prohibet (Cicero)

'an army of the Roman people is besieging Gnaeus Pompey, is keeping him fenced in (has fenced him in) with a ditch and wall, and preventing him from fleeing'

A pluperfect can similarly be made using one of the past tenses of habeō:

in montibus castra habuit posita Pompeius in cōnspectū utrōrumque oppidōrum ([Caesar])

'Pompeius had placed a camp in the mountains within sight of both towns'

Caesar equitātum omnem quem ex omnī prōvinciā coāctum habēbat praemittit (Caesar)

'Caesar sent ahead all the cavalry which he had gathered together from the whole province'

itaque nāvīs omnīs quās parātās habuerant ad nāvigandum prōpugnātōribus īnstrūxērunt ([Caesar])

'and so they drew up and manned with fighters all the ships which they had earlier got ready for sailing'

Perfect passive with fuī

Normally the perfect passive tenses are formed with sum, erō, and eram (e.g. captus sum 'I was captured', captus erō 'I will have been captured', captus eram 'I had been captured'). Occasionally, however, they can be formed with fuī, for example captus fuī, captus fuerō, captus fueram.

prior nātus fuit Sophoclēs quam Eurīpidēs [nātus est] (Gellius)

'Sophocles was born before Euripides'

quod tibī fuerit persuāsum, huīc erit persuāsum (Cicero)

'whatever is (lit. will have been proved) acceptable to you will be acceptable to him'

arma quae fīxa in pariētibus fuerant, ea sunt humī inventa (Cicero)

'the weapons which had (earlier) been fixed on the walls were found on the ground'

quae sī quandō adepta est id quod eī fuerat concupītum, tum fert alacritātem (Cicero)

'if ever (desire) has obtained what it had earlier set its heart on, it brings joy'

In these examples, the fact that the verb with fuit in each case refers to an earlier state than the verb with est is clearly a factor in the choice of tense.

In authors from Livy onwards the pluperfect with fueram and future perfect with fuerō are sometimes loosely used for the normal pluperfect with eram and future perfect with erō:

Sextus Rōmae relictus fuerat (Livy)

'Sextus had been left behind in Rome'

In Plautus these tenses are used several times with the deponent verb oblīvīscor 'I forget':

paene oblītus fuī (Plautus)

'I almost forgot!'

lūcernam forte oblītus fueram exstinguere (Plautus)

'by chance I had forgotten to extinguish the lamp'

Future perfect indicative

Independent use

The future perfect is usually used in a sentence with 'if' or 'when' referring to future time, but it can sometimes be used on its own, as in the following sentences:

Pompōnia, tū invītā mulierēs, egō virōs accīverō (Cicero)

'Pomponia, you invite the women, and (meanwhile) I will have summoned the men'

Another famous passage with a future perfect is the call of the eagle-bearer to his men when their boat reached the shore of Britain in 55 BC:

'dēsilite', inquit, 'mīlitēs, nisī vultis aquilam hostibus prōdere; egō certē meum reī pūblicae atque imperātōrī officium praestiterō' (Caesar)

'Jump down, soldiers,' he said, 'unless you want to betray the eagle to the enemy. I will certainly have done my own duty for the republic and the commander!'

There is also an idiom using the future perfect of videō, where the future perfect is almost equivalent to a command:

vōs vīderītis quod illī dēbeātur (Livy)

'you must see to it what is due to that man'

After sī and cum

More frequently the future perfect tense is found after sī 'if' or cum 'when' in clauses referring to a future time. In such sentences English uses the present tense:

moriēre, sī ēmīserīs vōcem! (Livy)

'you will die, if you utter a sound!' (lit. 'if you will have uttered')

dein, cum mīlia multa fēcerīmus, conturbābimus illa (Catullus)

'then, when we have made many thousands, we will muddle up the accounts'

sī quid acciderit, tē certiōrem faciam statim (Cicero)

'if anything happens, I'll let you know at once'

ut sēmentum fēcerīs, ita metēs (Cicero)

'as you sow (lit. will have sown), so shall you reap'

Future perfect of meminī and ōdī

The future perfect of meminī and ōdī has a simple future meaning:

meminerō, dē istōc quiētus estō (Plautus)

'I'll remember, don't worry about that'

ōdī hominem et ōderō (Cicero)

'I hate the man, and I always will'

Pluperfect indicative

Prior event

The pluperfect can be used as in English to describe an event that had happened earlier than the time of the narrative:

quae gēns paucīs ante mēnsibus ad Caesarem lēgātōs mīserat (Caesar)

'this nation had sent ambassadors to Caesar a few months previously'

Iterative use

In subordinate clauses of the type 'whenever...', 'whoever...' etc. in past time the pluperfect indicative is used if the event precedes the event of the main clause. Usually in English the simple past is used:

cum rosam vīderat tum incipere vēr arbitrābātur (Cicero)

'it was only whenever he saw a rose that he thought that spring was beginning'

cōnfectō itinere cum ad aliquod oppidum vēnerat, eādem lectīcā ūsque in cubiculum dēferēbātur (Cicero)

'at the end of the journey, whenever he came to some town, he would be carried in the same litter straight into his bedroom'

In later writers such as Livy, the pluperfect subjunctive is used in a similar context.

Potential meaning ('would have')

Sometimes in a conditional clause a pluperfect indicative can have the meaning of a potential pluperfect subjunctive ('would have'), when it refers to an event which very nearly took place, but did not:

perāctum erat bellum, sī Pompeium Brundisiī opprimere potuisset (Florus)

'the war would have been completely finished, if (Caesar) had been able to crush Pompey at Brundisium'

Pluperfect of meminī, ōdī, nōvī

The pluperfect of ōdī, nōvī and meminī has the meaning of an imperfect:

meminerant ad Alesiam magnam sē inopiam perpessōs (Caesar)

'they remembered how they had put up with a great shortage at Alesia'

ōderam multō peius hunc quam illum ipsum Clōdium (Cicero)

'I hated this man even more than I hated Clodius himself'

nōn nōverat Catilīnam; Āfricam tum praetor ille obtinēbat (Cicero)

'he did not know Catiline, since the latter was at that time governor of Africa'

Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood in Latin has four tenses, which are as shown below. Note that the meanings given here are only very approximate, since in fact each tense has a wide variety of meanings.

Subjunctive tenses (3rd conjugation)

	Active	Meaning	Passive	Meaning
Present	dūcam	'I would/should/can lead'	dūcar	'I would/should be led'
Imperfect	dūcerem	'I would/should/could lead/be leading'	dūcerer	'I would be (being) led'
Perfect	dūxerim	'I would/could have led'	ductus sim	'I would have been led'
Pluperfect	dūxissem	'I would/could/should have led'	ductus essem	'I would have been led'

For the subjunctive of other verbs, see the table at the beginning of this article.

The present subjunctive of 3rd conjugation verbs resembles the future in the 1st person singular, but in other persons it differs. The subjunctive goes dūcam, dūcās, dūcat... while the future indicative goes dūcam, dūcēs, dūcet...

There is no future subjunctive tense as such, although there is a periphrastic future subjunctive (factūrus sim), which is used for example in indirect questions.

The present subjunctive of 1st conjugation verbs ends in -em, -ēs, -et, of conjugations 2, 3, and 4 in -am, -ās, -at, and of sum, possum, volō, nōlō, mālō in -im, -īs, -it.

The imperfect subjunctive of every active verb has the same form as the infinitive with the endings -em, -ēs etc.: amārem, vidērem, audīrem etc.

In 1st conjugation verbs, the ending -āvissem is frequently contracted to -āssem.

Present subjunctive

Potential

The present subjunctive can be potential ('would', 'could') or jussive ('should'). After the word fortasse perhaps, it can mean 'may', expressing a possibility:

dūrum hoc fortasse videātur (Cicero)

'this may perhaps seem harsh'

It can also express a wish for the future (the word utinam is usually added):

utinam illam diem videam! (Cicero)

'may I live to see that day!'

A more usual translation for the potential subjunctive, however, is 'would'. In conditional sentences, the present subjunctive usually refers to some hypothetical situation in the future. This kind of conditional sentence is known as 'ideal':

haec sī tēcum patria loquātur, nōnne impetrāre debeat? (Cicero)

'if your country were to say this to you, shouldn't she be granted her request?'

hanc viam sī asperam esse negem, mentiar (Cicero)

'if I were to deny that this road is a rough one, I would be lying'

In early Latin, a present subjunctive can also be used to make an unreal conditional referring to the present:

haud rogem tē, sī sciam (Plautus)

'I wouldn't be asking you, if I knew'

However, there was a gradual shift in usage, and in the classical period, and even sometimes in Plautus, the imperfect subjunctive is used in such clauses (see below for examples).

Historic potential

Sometimes in poetry a present subjunctive can be used to refer to a potential past event, where in prose a pluperfect subjunctive would be used in both halves of the sentence:

nī docta comes admoneat, inruat et frūstrā ferrō dīverberet umbrās (Virgil)

'had his learned companion not warned him, Aeneas would have rushed in and beaten aside the ghosts with his sword in vain'

Generalising 2nd person

When a conditional sentence expresses a generalisation, the present subjunctive is used for any 2nd person singular verb, whether in the subordinate clause or the main clause: Thus, in the subordinate clause:

ferrum sī exerceās conteritur (Cato)

'if ever you use iron, it gets worn away'

(senectūs) plēna est voluptātis, sī illā sciās ūtī (Seneca)

'old age is full of pleasure, if you know how to enjoy it'

And in the main clause:

quom inopia est, cupiās (Plautus)

'whenever there's a shortage of something, you want it'

Jussive

When the subjunctive has a jussive meaning, it can be a suggestion or command in the 1st or 3rd person:

vīvāmus, mea Lesbia, atque amēmus (Catullus)

'let's live, my Lesbia, and let's love'

sedeat hīc (Gellius)

'let him sit here!'

In philosophy it can set the scene for a discussion:

vēndat aedēs vir bonus (Cicero)

'let us suppose that a good man is selling a house'

Another use is concessive:

sit fūr, sit sacrilegus, sit flāgitiōrum omnium vitiōrumque prīnceps; at est bonus imperātor (Cicero)

'he may well be a thief, he may well be a temple robber, he may be the leader of all outrages and vices; nonetheless he is a good general!'

The subjunctive is also used in deliberative questions (which are questions which expect an imperative answer):

dē Pompeiō quid agam? (Cicero)

'what ought I to do about Pompey?'

In dependent clauses

The present subjunctive is also used in a great variety of subordinate clauses set in present time, such as purpose clauses, indirect commands, consecutive clauses, clauses of fearing, indirect questions, and others. In some of these constructions, it can often be translated simply as if it were an ordinary present indicative, such as after causal cum:

quae cum ita sint (Cicero)

'since these things are so'

The subjunctive is also used in purpose clauses (also known as final clauses):

oportet ēsse ut vīvās, nōn vīvere ut edās (Rhētorica ad Herennium)

'you should eat so that you can live, not live so that you can eat'

One of the most common uses of the subjunctive is to indicate reported speech. When a question is made indirect, the verb is always changed into the subjunctive mood. The present subjunctive can therefore represent what would be a present indicative if the question was direct:

quārē id faciam, fortasse requīris? (Catullus)

'do you perhaps ask why I do that?'

In reported speech, the present subjunctive can also represent a present imperative or a jussive subjunctive. This type of construction is known as an indirect command:

nūntium mittit ut veniant (Livy)

'she sends a messenger (to say) that they should come'

After quīn, if the context is clearly future, a present subjunctive can sometimes represent a future tense or potential subjunctive:

haec sī ēnūntiāta Ariovistō sint, nōn dubitāre quīn dē omnibus supplicium sūmat (Caesar)

'they said that if these things were reported to Ariovistus, they didn't doubt that he would put them all to death'

Similarly in the protasis ('if' clause) of a conditional sentence in indirect speech, a present subjunctive can represent an original future indicative:

nisī dēcēdat atque exercitum dēdūcat, sēsē illum prō hoste habitūrum (Caesar)

'(Ariovistus told Caesar that) if he did not retreat and withdraw his army, he would treat him as an enemy'

In other examples in reported speech, the subjunctive in the 'if' clause represents an original present subjunctive with potential meaning:

voluptātem, sī ipsa prō sē loquātur, concessūram arbitror dignitātī (Cicero)

'I believe that Pleasure, if she were to speak for herself, would give way to Dignity'

Archaic subjunctives

In old Latin, a form of the subjunctive with -s-, known as the sigmatic aorist subjunctive, is preserved (faxim, servāssim etc.). This is used in wishes for the future:

dī tē servāssint semper! (Plautus)

'may the gods preserve you always!'

deī faxint ut liceat! (Cicero)

'may the gods ensure that it be allowed'

In Plautus this subjunctive is also used in prohibitions, when it exists:

nīl mē cūrāssīs! (Plautus)

'don't worry about me!'

In some phrases it has a conditional meaning:

male faxim lubēns (Plautus)

'I would willingly do him harm!'

nec satis sciō, nec, sī sciam, dīcere ausim (Livy)

'I do not know, nor, if I knew, would I dare to say'

Another archaic subjunctive is siem for sim, which is very common in Plautus and Terence, but fell out of use later:

scīs ubī siēt? (Terence)

'do you know where she is?'

Less common is fuam, with the same meaning. This occurs occasionally in Plautus and also once in Lucretius (4.635) and once in Virgil's Aeneid, where the archaic form is presumably appropriate for the speech of the god Jupiter:

Trōs Rutulusne fuat, nūllō discrīmine habēbō (Virgil)

'whether it be Trojan or Rutulian, I shall make no distinction!'

Another old subjunctive is duim, from the verb dō 'I give'. It occurs mostly in Plautus and Terence, but sometimes also in Cicero, in phrases like the following:

dī tē perduint! (Plautus)

'may the gods destroy you!'

Imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect indicative is always imperfective in aspect ('was doing'); the imperfect subjunctive is also often imperfective in meaning ('I was doing', 'I would be doing'). However, as the examples below show, it can also sometimes be perfective ('I did'), in view of the fact that it often represents the transformation into past time of a present or future tense or an imperative.

Potential

The imperfect subjunctive is often used in wishes to represent an imagined or wished for situation impossible at the present time:

utinam Servius Sulpicius vīveret! (Cicero)

'if only Servius Sulpicius were alive!'

Similarly in unreal conditional sentences, the imperfect subjunctive represents a situation which is hypothetical or imaginary, referring to the present time:

Sicilia tōta, sī ūnā vōce loquerētur, hoc dīceret (Cicero)

'if the whole of Sicily were able to speak with one voice, it would be saying (would say) this'

scrīberem ad tē dē hōc plūra, sī Rōmae essēs (Cicero)

'I would write more about this to you, if you were in Rome'

sī intus esset, ēvocārem (Plautus)

'if he were inside, I would be calling him out'

quid facerēs, sī amīcum perdidissēs? (Seneca)

'how would you react, if you had lost a friend?'

In the following sentence, the imperfect subjunctive vellem is used to wish for something that cannot now come true, while the present subjunctive velim leaves open the possibility that it may be true:

dē Menedēmō vellem vērum fuisset, dē rēgīnā velim vērum sit. (Cicero)

'I wish it had been true about Menedemus; I hope it may be true about the queen'

Generalising 2nd person

The 2nd person imperfect subjunctive when potential is nearly always indefinite and generalising, i.e. an imaginary 'you':

crēderēs victōs (Livy)

'you would have thought them beaten'

Jussive

A rarer use of the imperfect subjunctive is the past jussive:

at tū dictīs, Albāne, manērēs! (Virgil)

'you should have remained true to your words, o Alban!'

This usage is quite common in Plautus but rare in later Latin. The normal prose practice is to use either a past tense of dēbeō 'I have a duty to' or oportet 'it is proper' with the infinitive, or else a gerundive with a past tense of sum.

The imperfect subjunctive can also be used in deliberative questions, that is to say, questions asking for advice, in a past time context:

quid facerem? (Virgil)

'what was I to do?'

In dependent clauses

The imperfect subjunctive is very commonly found in past context dependent clauses, where it can represent the transformation of a present indicative or imperative. The following example contains an indirect command reflecting an imperative in direct speech:

imperāvit eī ut omnēs forēs aedificiī circumīret (Nepos)

'he ordered him to go round all the doors of the building'

Another very common use is the circumstantial cum-clause with the imperfect subjunctive. Here the imperfect subjunctive has the same meaning as an imperfect indicative would have if cum were omitted:

cum sedērem, inquit, domī trīstis, accurrit Venerius (Cicero)

'while I was sitting at home in a sad mood,' he said, 'Venerius came running up'

On the other hand, in result clauses after verbs meaning 'it happened that...', the imperfect subjunctive is always used even of a simple perfective action, which, if the grammatical construction did not require a subjunctive, would be expressed by a perfect indicative:

accidit ut ūnā nocte omnēs Hermae dēicerentur praeter ūnum (Nepos)

'it happened that in a single night all the statues of Hermes were thrown down except one'

In indirect questions in a historic context, an imperfect subjunctive usually represents the transformation of a present indicative:

quaesīvit salvusne esset clipeus (Cicero)

'Epaminondas asked whether his shield was safe'

Similarly, in the following example after quīn, the imperfect subjunctive also represents the transformation of a present indicative:

nec dubitavēre Persae, quīn Issō relictā Macedones fugerent (Curtius)

'nor did the Persians doubt that, now that they had abandoned Issus, the Macedonians were fleeing'

However, when the context makes it clear that the reference is to the future, the imperfect subjunctive after quīn can have a prospective or future meaning:

nec, sī illa restituerētur, dubitāvī quīn mē sēcum redūceret (Cicero)

'and I didn't doubt that, if the republican government were restored, it would bring me back with it'

An imperfect subjunctive can also have a prospective or future meaning after a verb of fearing or expecting:

verēns nē dēderētur, Crētam vēnit (Nepos)

'fearing that he might be handed over to the Romans, he fled to Crete'

It can also have a prospective or future meaning in a relative clause:

ante lūcem vōta ea quae numquam solveret nūncupāvit (Cicero)

'before dawn he announced those vows which he was never to fulfil'

In the protasis of a conditional clause in indirect speech the imperfect subjunctive can similarly represent a future indicative:

quiētūrus haud dubiē, nisī ultrō Etrūscī arma inferrent (Livy)

'with the intention of remaining inactive, unless (at some future time) the Etruscans were to attack of their own accord'

Forem

Just as the verb sum 'I am' has a future infinitive fore, short for futūrum esse, so it also has a past-potential subjunctive forem, short for futūrus essem. This is not used in Caesar, but is common in Livy and Nepos. It is used especially in conditional sentences, either in the protasis ('if' clause) or the apodosis (main clause), and it generally has a potential or future meaning.

One common use, in combination with a perfect passive participle, is with the meaning 'would have been' in past conditional sentences:

dēlētusque exercitus foret nī fugientēs silvae texissent (Livy)

'and the army would have been annihilated if the woods hadn't provided cover for those who were fleeing'

obsessaque urbs foret, nī Horātius cōnsul esset revocātus (Livy)

'and the city would have been besieged, if the consul Horatius had not been recalled'

Another use is in indirect speech after sī 'if' as the equivalent of a future indicative in the original direct speech:

imperat Tullus utī iuventūtem in armīs habeat: ūsūrum sē eōrum operā sī bellum cum Veientibus foret (Livy)

'Tullus ordered him to keep the young men armed; he would need their help if (at some future time) there was a war with the people of Veii'

sī summus foret, futūrum brevem (Cicero)

'(he was confident) that even if (the pain) were going to be very great, it would be brief'

It can also be used with a future meaning in sentences like the following, which are not conditional:

mihī dubium non erat quīn ille iam iamque foret in Āpūliā (Cicero)

'I personally have no doubt [epistolary imperfect] that he will be in Apulia any moment now'

multō sē in suō lectulō mālle, quicquid foret (Cicero)

'he said that he would far rather die in his own bed, whatever might happen in future'

idque eō dīcitur fēcisse, quō inter sē fīdī magis forent (Sallust)

'and it is said that he did this so that (in future) they would be more trustworthy to one other'

pars stāre incertī utrum prōgredī an regredī in castra tūtius foret (Livy)

'some were standing still, uncertain whether it would be safer to go forward or to retreat into the camp'

Aristotelēs respondit factūrum esse quod vellent, cum id sibī foret tempestīvum (Gellius)

'Aristotle replied that he would do what they wanted when it was going to seem to him a suitable time'

With a perfect participle after sī or quī, foret + the perfect participle can represent a future perfect tense of a deponent or passive verb:

puerum, prīmus Priamō quī foret postillā nātus, temperāret tollere (Cicero)

'the oracle told Priam that he should forbear to raise the first son who was going to be born to him subsequently'

timor inde patrēs incessit nē, sī dīmissus exercitus foret, rūrsus coetūs occultī coniūrātiōnēsque fīerent (Livy)

'the senators began to be afraid that if the army were dismissed, there would be further secret meetings and conspiracies'

nē, sī ab hostibus eae captae forent, cōnsilia sua nōscerentur, epistulās id genus factās mittēbant (Gellius)

'in case those letters were captured by the enemy and their plans discovered, they used to send them in this way'

However, the same future perfect meaning can be expressed with a simple participle or by an ordinary pluperfect subjunctive:

hanc Graecīs cōnscrīptam litterīs mittit, nē interceptā epistolā nostra ab hostibus cōnsilia cognōscantur (Caesar)

'he sent this in Greek, in case the letter was intercepted and our plans learnt by the enemy'

summum erat perīculum nē, sī nihil impetrāssent, plānē aliēnārentur ā senātū (Cicero)

'there was the greatest danger that if they didn't obtain any concession, they would be completely alienated from the Senate'

In other sentences, however, it has no future meaning, merely potential, as in the following example, where it appears to be used simply for metrical convenience as the equivalent of esset in the second half:

sī fraxinus esset, fulva colōre foret; sī cornus, nōdus inesset (Ovid)

'if it were made of ash-wood, it would be light in colour; if cornel-wood, there would be a knot in it'

Similarly in the following conditional clause, it has a past, not future, meaning:

sī utrumvīs hōrum unquam tibi vīsus forem, nōn sīc lūdibriō tuīs factīs habitus essem (Terence)

'if I had ever seemed either of these things to you, I wouldn't have been made a mockery of by your deeds in this way'

Perfect subjunctive

Independent use

In wishes, the perfect subjunctive expresses a wish for the past, leaving open the possibility that it may have happened:

utinam vērē augurāverim (Cicero)

'I hope that I have prophesied correctly!'

Sometimes the perfect subjunctive seems to refer to present or future time, and mean 'could'. For example, in the following idiom the perfect is usual:

nōn facile dīxerim quicquam mē vīdisse pulchrius

'I couldn't easily say (= I don't think) that I have ever seen anything more beautiful'

In a conditional sentence it can mean 'would do':

Cicerōnī nēmo ducentōs nunc dederit nummōs, nisi fulserit ānulus ingēns (Juvenal)

'these days no one would give Cicero even two hundred tuppences, unless a huge ring glittered (on his finger)'

In the following, it is the transference into hypothetical mood of a future perfect indicative, describing a future potential result:

sī nunc mē suspendam, meīs inimīcīs voluptātem creāverim (Plautus)

'if I were to hang myself now, I would simply end up having given pleasure to my enemies'

In the following sentence both 'could' and 'could have' are possible:

ad sexāgintā captōs scrīpserim, sī auctōrem Graecum sequar (Livy)

'I could have written that the number of captives was as many as sixty, if I were to follow the Greek authority'

In other examples the perfect subjunctive definitely refers to the past and means 'could have done' or 'would have done':

Themistoclēs nihil dīxerit in quō ipse Arēopagum adiūverit (Cicero)

'Themistocles could have said nothing about how he himself helped the Areopagus'

quī ambō saltūs eum ... ad Libuōs Gallōs dēdūxerint (Livy)

'both of these passes would have brought (Hannibal) down to the Libuan Gauls'

With the negative particle nē it can express a negative command. Here the subjunctive has a jussive use, not potential:

nē ... mortem timuerītis

'you should not fear death'

In dependent clauses

The perfect subjunctive is most commonly used in dependent clauses. Usually it represents what would be a perfect indicative in an independent clause. However, since there is no way of expressing an imperfect tense in primary sequence except using the perfect subjunctive, it could also sometimes represent an imperfect indicative. The perfect subjunctive is generally found when the main verb is one of the primary (i.e. non-past) tenses. One common use is in indirect questions when the context is primary:

ex eō facile conicī poterit, quam cārus suīs fuerit (Nepos)

'from this it will be easily conjectured how dear he was to his people'

quid lēgātī ēgerint nōndum scīmus (Cicero)

'we do not yet know what the ambassadors have done' (or 'were doing', or 'did')

steterim an sēderim nesciō (Seneca the Elder)

'I don't know whether I was standing or sitting'

Verbs in subordinate clauses in indirect speech (or implied indirect speech) are also always in the subjunctive mood:

Caesar mihī ignōscit per litterās quod nōn vēnerim (Cicero)

'Caesar is pardoning me by means of a letter for the fact that I didn't come'

mea māter īrāta est quia nōn redierim (Plautus)

'my mother is angry because I didn't return'

It can also be used after quīn, both after a primary and after a historic verb:

nōn dubitō quīn occupātissimus fuerīs (Cicero)

'I have no doubt that you were very busy' (original erās or fuistī)

nēmō Lilybaeī fuit quīn vīderit (Cicero)

'there was no one in Lilybaeum who did not see it'

It can also be used in a result clause after a historic verb as in the following:

eō ūsque sē praebēbat patientem atque impigrum ut eum nēmō umquam in equō sedentem vīderit (Cicero)

'he showed himself to be so tough and energetic that no one ever saw him sitting on a horse'

In the following sentence it is used after quī with a causal sense ('inasmuch as' or 'in view of the fact that'):

mē caecum quī haec ante nōn vīderim! (Cicero)

'I must be blind that I didn't see this before!'

It can also follow quī in a restrictive clause:

Catōnis ōrātiōnēs, quās quidem invēnerim (Cicero)

'the speeches of Cato, at least such as I have discovered'

Pluperfect subjunctive

Independent use

In independent sentences, the pluperfect subjunctive means 'would have done', 'might have done', could have done' or 'should have done'.

One common use is in conditional sentences, where the pluperfect subjunctive is used to express a hypothetical event in the past, which might have taken place, but did not. This usage is found as early as Plautus:

sī appellāssēs, respondisset (Plautus)

'if you had called him, he would have replied'

Another use, when it represents the transformation of the future perfect tense, is to describe a hypothetical event which is yet to take place:

ergō egō nisī peperissem, Rōma nōn oppugnārētur; nisī fīlium habērem, lībera in līberā patriā mortua essem (Livy)

'therefore if I had not given birth, Rome would not now be being attacked; if I did not have a son, I would have died as a free woman in a free country'

It can also express a hypothetical event in the past which is wished for, but which did not take place:

utinam ille omnīs sēcum suās cōpiās ēduxisset! (Cicero)

'if only he had led out all his forces with him!'

In the following sentence Queen Dido contemplates what 'might have been':

facēs in castra tulissem implēssemque forōs flammīs (Virgil)

'I could have carried torches into the camp and filled the gangways with flames'

Others see the pluperfect subjunctive in such sentences as a wish ('if only I had carried!'); others again as jussive ('I ought to have carried!').

A more certain example of the jussive pluperfect is in the following example from Cicero, using the negative nē:

quid facere dēbuistī? pecūniam rettulissēs, frūmentum nē ēmissēs (Cicero)

'what was it your duty to do? you ought to have returned the money, you ought not to have bought the corn'

In dependent clauses

In dependent clauses, the most common meaning of the pluperfect subjunctive is 'had done'.

In a conditional clause it describes a hypothetical situation that didn't actually happen:

omnium cōnsēnsū capāx imperiī nisī imperāsset (Tacitus)

'by everyone's consent, Galba would have been seen as capable of being Emperor, had he never become one'

Another very frequent use of the pluperfect subjunctive is after cum in a temporal clause:

quod cum audīvisset, accurrisse Rōmam dīcitur (Cicero)

'when he heard this, he is said to have hurried to Rome'

Another use is in indirect speech in a past-time context, where the pluperfect subjunctive is often a transformation of a perfect indicative in direct speech. In the following example, the original direct question would have had the perfect tense (fuistī):

quaesīvī ā Catilīnā, in nocturnō conventū apud M. Laecam fuisset necne (Cicero)

'I asked Catiline whether he had been at a night-time meeting at Marcus Laeca's house or not'

But in some sentences, the pluperfect subjunctive is a reflection of an original imperfect indicative, as in the following example, where the original verbs would have been mīlitābāmus and habēbāmus:

[dīxit eōs] id tantum dēprecārī, nē īnferiōrēs iīs ordinēs quam quōs cum mīlitāssent habuissent adtribuantur (Livy)

'[he said] that they begged just one favour, that they should be not assigned lower ranks than those which they had held when they were on military service'

In other sentences, the pluperfect is a reflection of a future perfect indicative, put into historic sequence. The original words of the following sentence would presumably have been tū, sī aliter fēcerīs, iniūriam Caesarī faciēs 'if you do (will have done) otherwise, you will be doing Caesar a disservice':

eum, sī aliter fēcisset, iniūriam Caesarī factūrum dīxit (Cicero)

'he said that if the man were to do otherwise, he would be doing Caesar a disservice'

The imperative mood

The imperative mood has two tenses, present and future.

Present imperative

Positive commands

The present imperative mood is the normal tense used for giving direct orders which the speaker wishes to be carried out at once. The active form can be made plural by adding -te:

dā mī bāsia mīlle, deinde centum! (Catullus)

'give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred!'

date dexterās fidemque! (Livy)

'give me your right hands and your oath!'

Deponent verbs such as proficīscor 'I set out' or sequor 'I follow' have an imperative ending in -re or -minī (plural):

patent portae: proficīscere! (Cicero)

'the gates are open: depart!'

sequiminī mē hūc intrō ambae (Terence)

'follow me this way inside, both of you'

Negative commands

An imperative is usually made negative by using nōlī(te) (literally, 'be unwilling!') plus the infinitive:

nōlīte mīrārī (Seneca the Elder)

'don't be surprised'

However, in poetry an imperative can sometimes be made negative with the particle nē:

nē mē terrēte timentem, obscēnae volucrēs! (Virgil)

'do not terrify me, who am already scared, obscene birds!'

A negative order can also use the perfect subjunctive:

dē mē nihil timuerīs (Cicero)

'do not be afraid on my account'

In later Latin, nē plus the present subjunctive became more common, for example in the Vulgate Bible. In the following example the first three verbs use the present subjunctive, and the third the perfect subjunctive:

nē adulterēs, nē occīdās, nē fūrēris, nē falsum testimōnium dīxerīs (Mark, 10.19)

'do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not give false testimony'

Future imperative

Latin also has a Future imperative or 2nd imperative, ending in -tō(te), used to request someone to do something at a future time, or if something else happens first:

sī quid acciderit, ... scrībitō (Cicero)

'if anything happens, write to me'

crās petitō, dabitur (Plautus)

'ask tomorrow; it will be given to you'

This imperative is very common in early writers such as Plautus and Cato, but it is also found in later writers such as Martial:

ubi nōs lāverimus, sī volēs, lavātō (Terence)

'when we have finished washing, get washed if you wish'

crūdam si edēs, in acētum intinguitō (Cato)

'if you are (going to be) eating it (cabbage) raw, dip it in vinegar'

rīdētō multum quī tē, Sextille, cinaedum / dīxerit et digitum porrigitō medium (Martial)

'Sextillus, laugh out loud at these people who call you a 'faggot' and show them the middle finger'

Some verbs have only the second imperative, for example scītō 'know', mementō 'remember'.

3rd person formal imperative

Related to the colloquial future imperative is the formal imperative (usually used in the 3rd person) of legal language, as in this invented law from Cicero's de Lēgibus:

rēgiō imperiō duo suntō, iīque ... ā cōnsulendō cōnsulēs appellāminō; nēminī pārentō; ollīs salūs populī suprēma lēx estō (Cicero)

'there shall be two men with royal power; and from consulting they are to be called 'consuls'; they are to obey nobody; for them the welfare of the people is to be the supreme law'

According to J.G.F. Powell, appellāminō is not a genuine archaic form; in early Latin -minō is used only in deponent verbs and is 2nd or 3rd person singular.

Periphrastic tenses

A series of periphrastic tenses can be formed by combining a future participle (e.g. ductūrus 'going to lead') or a gerundive (e.g. dūcendus 'needing to be led') with any tense of the verb sum 'I am', as follows:

Periphrastic tenses

	Active	Meaning	Passive	Meaning
Present	ductūrus sum	I am going to lead	dūcendus sum	I need to be led
Future	ductūrus erō	I will be going to lead	dūcendus erō	I will need to be led
Imperfect	ductūrus eram	I was going to lead	dūcendus eram	I needed to be led
Perfect	ductūrus fuī	I was going to lead	dūcendus fuī	I needed to be led
Future perfect	(no examples)		dūcendus fuerō	I will have needed to be led
Pluperfect	ductūrus fueram	I had been going to lead	dūcendus eram	I had needed to be led
Present subj.	ductūrus sim	I am going to lead	dūcendus sim	I need to be led
Imperfect subj.	ductūrus essem	I was going to lead	dūcendus essem	I needed to be led
Perfect subj.	ductūrus fuerim	I would have led	dūcendus fuerim	I needed to be led
Pluperfect subj.	ductūrus fuissem	I had been going to lead	dūcendus fuissem	I had needed to be led

The passive tenses formed with the gerundive are known as the 'periphrastic conjugation of the passive'.

Although the two series are similar in appearance, they are not parallel in meaning or function. Woodcock writes of the passive form: 'But for the introduction of the idea of necessity, it would form a periphrastic future passive tense parallel to the periphrastic future active.' For this reason, examples of the gerundival periphrastic tenses are gathered in a separate section below.

Periphrastic indicative

Periphrastic future

The present version of the future periphrastic describes a person's intention at the present time:

Paulla Valeria ... nūptūra est D. Brūtō (Cicero)

'Paulla Valeria is planning to marry Decimus Brutus'

nisī explicātā solūtiōne nōn sum discessūrus (Cicero)

'I'm not intending to leave until the money is paid'

Future periphrastic future

Despite its name, the future periphrastic tense factūrus sum is really a present tense, describing a person's present intentions. For this reason, it can have a future form factūrus erō, used for example in future conditional or future temporal clauses:

tu tamen sī quid cum Sīliō, vel illō ipsō diē quō ventūrus erō, certiōrem mē velim faciās (Cicero)

'but if you come to any arrangement with Silius, even if it is on the very day I am due to come, please let me know'

Imperfect periphrastic future

A past version of the periphrastic future can be made with the imperfect tense of sum, describing what someone's intentions were at a moment in the past:

posterō diē ille in Italiam versus nāvigātūrus erat (Servius to Cicero)

'on the next day he was intending to sail to Italy'

ut vērō vultūs et cornua vīdit in undā, 'mē miserum!' dictūrus erat: vōx nūlla secūta est (Ovid)

'when she saw her face and horns in the water, "o poor me!" she was about to say, but no words came out'

In a conditional sentence this tense can mean 'would have done':

ēmendātūrus, sī licuisset, eram (Ovid)

'I would have removed the faults, if I had been free to do it'

Perfect periphrastic future

Although less common than the periphrastic future with eram, the perfect tense version of the periphrastic future is also found:

quō diē repulsus est, lūsit, quā nocte peritūrus fuit, lēgit (Seneca)

'on the day Cato was defeated in the election, he played; on the night he was intending to die, he read'

This tense can also be potential, expressing the meaning 'would have done':

sī tibī nōn pāruissem, iūre datūrus fuī poenās (Curtius)

'if I had not obeyed you, I would rightly have paid the penalty'

Pluperfect periphrastic future

quem senātus dictātōrem dīcī iussūrus fuerat (Livy)

'... whom the Senate had been intending to order should be declared dictator'

Periphrastic subjunctive

Periphrastic present subjunctive

In indirect statements and questions, the active periphrastic future can represent a future or periphrastic future tense of direct speech in primary sequence. In this case there is not necessarily any idea of planning or intention, although there may be:

tē ubī vīsūrus sim, nesciō (Cicero)

'I don't know when I'm going to see you'

quid agātis et ecquid in Italiam ventūrī sītis hāc hieme, fac plānē sciam (Cicero)

'let me know in detail what you are doing and whether at all you are planning to come to Italy this winter'

This tense can also be used in primary sequence reported speech, to represent the main clause in either an ideal conditional sentence or a simple future one (according to the grammars, the distinction between these two disappears in indirect speech):

quem adhūc nōs quidem vīdimus nēminem; sed philosophōrum sententiīs, quālis hic futūrus sit, sī modō aliquandō fuerit, expōnitur (Cicero)

'we ourselves have never seen such a (perfectly wise) man; but it is explained in the opinions of philosophers what such a person would be like, if one were ever to exist'

Periphrastic imperfect subjunctive

If the main verb is in past time, an imperfect version of the periphrastic future subjunctive is used:

dubitābam tū hās ipsās litterās essēsne acceptūrus (Cicero)

'I wasn't sure whether you were going to receive this letter'

It is also possible to form an imperfect periphrastic subjunctive with foret instead of esset (the first instance of this is in Sallust):

dīcit sē vēnisse quaesītum ab eō, pācem an bellum agitātūrus foret (Sallust)

'he said that he had come to ask him whether he was intending to make peace or war'

Periphrastic perfect subjunctive

A perfect periphrastic subjunctive can be used with a conditional meaning ('would have done') in hypothetical conditional clauses in indirect questions in primary sequence. In this case it represents a pluperfect subjunctive in the original direct speech:

dīc agedum, Appī Claudī, quidnam factūrus fuerīs, sī eō tempore cēnsor fuissēs? (Livy)

'tell us, Appius Claudius, what you would have done, if you had been censor at that time?'

an potest quisquam dubitāre quīn, sī Q. Ligārius in Italiā esse potuisset, in eādem sententiā futūrus fuerit in quā frātrēs fuērunt? (Cicero)

'can anyone doubt that if Quintus Ligarius had been able to be in Italy, he would have been of the same opinion as his brothers were?'

In an indirect question, the perfect periphrastic subjunctive can also sometimes reflect a potential imperfect subjunctive:

cōgitā quantum additūrus celeritātī fuerīs, sī ā tergō hostis īnstāret (Seneca)

'imagine how much speed you would put on, if an enemy were threatening you from behind!'

These tenses can be compared with the similar examples with the perfect periphrastic infinitive cited below, where a conditional sentence made in imperfect subjunctives is converted to an indirect statement.

Periphrastic pluperfect subjunctive

The pluperfect version of the periphrastic subjunctive can be used in a circumstantial cum clause:

cum dē rē pūblicā relātūrus fuisset, adlātō nūntiō dē legiōne quārtā mente concidit (Cicero)

'when Antony was about to bring some motion about the republic, a message suddenly arrived about the 4th legion and he lost his composure'

It can also be used in conditional sentences after sī, as in the following sentence from an imaginary letter from Helen to Paris:

hīs ego blanditiīs, sī peccātūra fuissem, flecterer (Ovid)

'by flatteries such as these, if I had been going to sin, I might have been persuaded'

It can also reflect a potential pluperfect subjunctive ('would have done') in historic sequence in an indirect question:

subībat cōgitātiō animum quōnam modō tolerābilis futūra Etrūria fuisset, sī quid in Samniō adversī ēvēnisset (Livy)

'it occurred to them how impossible Etruria would have been, if anything had gone wrong in Samnium'

Gerundive tenses

Present gerundive

The gerundive of the verb (an adjectival form ending in -ndus) can be combined with the verb sum 'I am' to make a passive periphrastic tense. This usually expresses what is needing to be done:

ego nec rogandus sum nec hortandus (Pliny)

'I don't need to be asked or encouraged' (i.e. I will do it willingly)

hī tumōres incīdendī sunt (Celsus)

'tumours of this kind need to be lanced'

Negative

The negative gerundive usually means 'not needing to be', as in the first example above. However, sometimes the interpretation 'ought not to be' or 'it isn't possible for it to be' is more appropriate:

illud enim iam nōn es admonendus nēminem bonum esse nisī sapientem (Seneca)

'you do not need to be reminded now that no one is good except the wise man'

Callimachī numerīs nōn est dīcendus Achillēs (Ovid)

'the story of Achilles shouldn't (or can't) be told using the metre of Callimachus'

Impersonal construction

Very often the passive periphrastic is used impersonally, together with a dative of the agent:

vōbīs hodiernō diē cōnstituendum est (Cicero)

'a decision needs to be made by you today'

The impersonal form of this tense can also be made with intransitive verbs such as eō 'I go' and verbs such as persuādeō 'I persuade' and ūtor 'I use' which do not take an accusative object:

nōn est respondendum ad omnia (Cicero)

'there is no need to reply to everything'

mihī Arpīnum eundum est (Cicero)

'I have to go to Arpinum'

ubī ūtendum est, acētō dīluuntur (Celsus)

'when there is need for them to be used, these ingredients are diluted with vinegar'

Future gerundive

An example of a future gerundive periphrastic is the following:

quoniam id quidem non potest, ōrandus erit nōbīs amīcus meus, M. Plaetōrius (Cicero)

'since that isn't possible, we will need to ask my friend, Marcus Plaetorius'

Imperfect gerundive

An example of the imperfect passive periphrastic is the following:

timēbat, nōn ea sōlum quae timenda erant, sed omnia (Cicero)

'he was afraid not only of those things which needed to be feared, but everything'

Perfect gerundive

As with the active perfect periphrastic, in a conditional sentence the perfect gerundive periphrastic tense can mean 'would have done':

sī ūnum diem morātī essētis, moriendum omnibus fuit (Livy)

'if you had delayed just one day, you would all have died'

Another meaning of the perfect passive is 'ought to have been done':

aut exercitus adimendus aut imperium dandum fuit (Cicero)

'either his army ought to have been taken away or he should have been given the command'

In the following result clause, this tense becomes subjunctive:

dē Pomptīnō rēctē scrībis. est enim ita ut, sī ante Kal. Iūniās Brundisī futūrus sit, minus urgendī fuerint M. Anneius et L. Tullius (Cicero)

'what you write about Pomptinus is correct: for the result is that, if he is going to be in Brundisium before the 1st June, there was less need for Marcus Anneius and Lucius Tullius to be urged to hurry'

Future perfect gerundive

The active future perfect periphrastic tense is not found, but the passive occurs:

cum aedificandum fuerit, ante biennium ea saxa eximantur (Vitruvius)

'whenever it is necessary for a building to be made (using local stone), the stones for it should be quarried two years in advance'

Sequence of tenses rule

Latin speakers used subjunctive verbs to report questions, statements, and ideas. When the verb of telling or asking in the dominant clause is primary, the subjunctive verb in the dependent clause must also be primary; when the verb in the dominant clause is historic, the subjunctive verb in the dependent clause must also be in a historic tense. This rule can be illustrated with the following table:

Sequence of tenses rule

	Main verb	Dependent verb
Primary tenses	Present Future Future Perfect (Perfect)	Present subjunctive Perfect subjunctive
Historic tenses	Perfect Imperfect Pluperfect Historic infinitive	Imperfect subjunctive Pluperfect subjunctive

This rule applies to all kinds of sentences where the dependent verb is put in the subjunctive mood, for example indirect speech, indirect questions, indirect commands, purpose clauses, consecutive clauses, clauses after verbs of fearing, quīn clauses and others. It does not apply to more loosely connected dependent clauses, such as relative clauses, where the verb is in the indicative, or to a dependent infinitive in indirect statement.

The perfect tense appears in both rows, depending on whether it has a present perfect meaning ('have done', primary) or past simple meaning ('did', historic). But even when it has a present perfect meaning it is often treated as a historic tense (see further below).

Examples of primary sequence

Some examples of primary sequence are the following:

Present indicative + present subjunctive:

quaerunt ubī sit (Cicero)

'they ask where it is'

Present subjunctive + present subjunctive:

velim vērum sit (Cicero)

'I hope it is true'

Present imperative + periphrastic perfect subjunctive:

dīc quid factūrus fuerīs? (Livy)

'tell us what you would have done'

Present indicative + Perfect subjunctive:

mīror quid causae fuerit quā rē cōnsilium mūtārīs (Cicero)

'I wonder what the reason was that you changed your plan'

Examples of historic sequence

Reported Question:

quaerēbātur ubī esset (Cicero)

'people asked where he was'

Imperfect subjunctive + pluperfect subjunctive:

vellem vērum fuisset (Cicero)

'I wish it had been true'

Perfect indicative + imperfect subjunctive:

senātus dēcrēvit ut statim īret (Cicero)

'the Senate decreed that he should go at once'

Historic infinitive + imperfect subjunctive:

hortārī, utī semper intentī parātīque essent (Sallust)

'he constantly encouraged them to be always on their guard and ready'

Perfect tense main verb

When the main verb is a perfect tense, it is usually considered to be a historic tense, as in the above example. Occasionally, however, when the meaning is that of an English present perfect, the perfect in a main clause may be taken as a primary tense, for example:

nōndum satis cōnstituī molestiaene plūs an voluptātis attulerit Trebātius noster (Cicero)

'I haven't yet quite made my mind up whether our friend Trebatius has brought me more trouble or pleasure'

mē praemīsit domum haec ut nūntiem uxōrī suae (Plautus)

'he has sent me home ahead of him so that I can take this news to his wife'

However, the historic sequence after a perfect with present perfect meaning is also very common, for example:

extorsistī ut fatērer (Cicero)

'you have compelled me to confess'

tandem impetrāvī abīret (Plautus)

'at last I've got him to go away!'

Historic present main verb

When the main verb is a historic present, the dependent verb may be either primary or historic, but is usually primary:

nuntium mittit ... ut veniant (Livy)

'she sends a message that they should come' (both verbs primary)

lēgātōs mittunt quī pācem peterent (Livy)

'they send ambassadors to ask for peace' (second verb historic)

Sometimes both primary and historic are found in the same sentence. In the following example the first dependent verb cūrat is primary sequence, but dīxisset is pluperfect:

rogat ut cūrat quod dīxisset (Cicero)

'he asked him to pay attention to what he had said'

Exceptions

There are frequent exceptions to the sequence of tenses rule, especially outside of indirect speech. For example, in the following sentence, a historic tense is followed by a perfect subjunctive:

quis mīles fuit quī Brundisī illam non vīderit? (Cicero)

'what soldier was there who did not see her in Brundisium?'

In consecutive clauses also, a perfect tense in the main clause is often followed by a present or a perfect subjunctive:

[Siciliam Verrēs] per triennium ita vexāvit ut ea restituī in antīquum statum nōn possit (Cicero)

'Verres so harried Sicily for three years that it cannot be restored to its original state.'

Another exception is that an imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive in a clause that is already subordinate in the original sentence may often remain even in primary sequence:

dīc quid factūrus fuerīs sī cēnsor fuissēs? (Livy)

'tell us what you would have done if you had been censor?'

Conversely, in such conditional sentences, the periphrastic perfect subjunctive may remain even after a historic-tense main verb:

nec dubium erat quīn, sī possent, terga datūrī hostēs fuerint (Livy)

'nor was there any doubt that if they had been able, the enemies would have fled'

The perfect tense potuerim also can replace a pluperfect tense with the meaning 'could have':

haud dubium fuit quīn, nisi ea mora intervēnisset, castra eō diē Pūnica capī potuerit (Livy)

'there was no doubt that, if that delay had not intervened, the Carthaginian camp could have been captured on that day'

In general, in Livy, there is a tendency for a present or perfect tense of the original speech to be retained in historic sequence, as in the above example, while Cicero is more strict in following the historic sequence.

Caesar and Sallust can sometimes use a present subjunctive in historic sequence when the meaning is jussive (although this practice is not always followed):

• respondit sī quid ab senātū petere vellent, ab armīs discēdant (Sallust)

'he replied that if they wished to make any request from the Senate, they should disarm'

The infinitive

Overview

The various tenses of the infinitive are as follows:

Infinitive tenses

	Active	Meaning	Passive	Meaning
Present	amāre vidēre dūcere facere audīre esse posse velle nōlle mālle īre ferre	to love to see to lead to do to hear to be to be able to want to be unwilling to prefer to go to bring	amārī vidērī dūcī fierī audīrī īrī ferrī	to be loved to be seen to be led to be done to be heard – to be brought
Perfect	dūxisse	to have led	ductum esse	to have been led
Future	ductūrum esse	to be going to lead	ductum īrī	to be going to be led
Perfect periphrastic	ductūrum fuisse	to have been going to lead
Future perfect periphrastic			ductum fore	to be going to have been led
Gerundive present			dūcendum esse	to be needing to be led
Gerundive perfect			dūcendum fuisse	to have been needing to be led
Gerundive future			dūcendum fore	to be going to need to be led

The present passive and deponent infinitive usually ends in -rī (e.g. amārī 'to be loved', pollicērī 'to promise'), but in 3rd conjugation verbs in -ī only (e.g. capī 'to be captured', sequī 'to follow'). The passive īrī is used impersonally:

sēnsit in sē īrī Brutus (Livy)

'Brutus noticed that an attack was being made on him'

In 1st conjugation verbs, the ending -āvisse is very often shortened to -āsse, e.g. amāsse 'to have loved'.

The infinitives of sum 'I am' are esse 'to be', fuisse 'to have been', and futūrum esse (often shortened to fore) 'to be going to be'. Other irregular present infinitives are posse (sometimes in Plautus and Lucretius potesse) 'to be able', and ēsse/edere 'to eat'.

The irregular verbs possum 'I am able' and volō 'I want' have no future infinitive. In these verbs the present infinitive is used instead.

In early Latin (especially Plautus), the passive and deponent infinitive often ends in -ier: vituperārier 'to be scolded', vidērier 'to be seen', nancīscier 'to obtain', expergīscier 'to wake up' etc.

Compound infinitives

The compound infinitives are usually found in the accusative case, as shown in the table above. Occasionally, however, they are found in the nominative, for example with dīcitur 'he is said' or vidētur 'he seems':

ventūrus esse dīcitur (Cicero)

'he is said to be planning to come'

The participle can also change to show gender and plurality, as in the following where factās is feminine plural:

īnsidiās factās esse cōnstat (Cicero)

'it is agreed that an ambush was made'

However, the passive future infinitive (ductum īrī) is made using the supine of the verb. The -um therefore stays constant and does not change for gender or number.

The future infinitive is used only for indirect statements (see below).

Omission of esse

Very often the esse part of a compound infinitive is omitted:

frātrem interfectum audīvit (Seneca)

'he heard that his brother had been killed'

cōnandum sibī aliquid Pompeius exīstimāvit (Caesar)

'Pompey reckoned that he needed to attempt something'

cōnfīdo mē celeriter ad urbem ventūrum (Cicero)

'I am sure that I will come to the city soon'

Historic infinitive

The infinitive is occasionally used in narrative as a tense in its own right. It usually describes a scene in which the same action was being done repeatedly. There are often two or more historic infinitives in succession:

tum spectāculum horribile in campīs patentibus: sequī, fugere, occīdī, capī (Sallust)

'then there was a ghastly spectacle on the open plains: people were chasing, fleeing, being killed, being captured'

clāmāre ille, cum raperētur, nihil sē miserum fēcisse (Cicero)

'the poor man kept shouting, as he was being dragged away, that he had done nothing'

'Could have done', 'ought to have done'

The perfect tense potuī with the infinitive can often mean 'I was able to' or 'I managed to':

Scīpio P. Rupilium potuit cōnsulem efficere, frātrem eius Lūcium nōn potuit (Cicero)

'Scipio managed to make Publius Rupilius Consul, but he wasn't able to do the same for Rupilius's brother Lucius'

However, it can also mean 'I could have done (but did not)':

quī fuī et quī esse potuī iam esse nōn possum (Cicero)

'what I was and what I could have been, I can now no longer be'

It can also be used in unreal past conditional sentences in the sense 'could have done':

Antōnī gladiōs potuit contemnere, sī sīc omnia dīxisset (Juvenal)

'(Cicero) could have despised Antony's swords (i.e. would have had no reason to fear them), if he had spoken everything in this way!'

quaeris quid potuerit amplius adsequī Plancius, sī Cn. Scīpionis fuisset fīlius (Cicero)

'you ask what more Plancius could have achieved, if he had been the son of Gnaeus Scipio'

'Ought to have done' is often expressed with a past tense of dēbeō 'I have a duty to' or oportet 'it is fitting' together with a present infinitive:

in senātum venīre illō diē nōn dēbuistī (Cicero)

'you ought not to have come to the Senate on that day'

etsī scrībere ad tē aliquid oportēbat, tamen adhūc id non fēceram (Cicero)

'although I ought to have written something to you, yet I still have not done so' (epistolary pluperfect)

Sometimes, in familiar style, oportuit can be used with the perfect infinitive passive:

(hoc) iam prīdem factum esse oportuit (Cicero)

'this ought to have been done long ago'

Indirect statement

Main article: Latin indirect speech

The infinitive is very commonly used for the main verb in indirect statements. Except with passive sentences using dīcitur 'he is said' or vidētur 'he seems' and the like, the subject of the quoted sentence is put into the accusative case and the construction is known as an 'accusative and infinitive'.

The rule of tense is that the present infinitive is used for any action or situation which is contemporary with the main verb, the perfect for actions or situations anterior to the main verb, and the future infinitive for actions or situations later than the main verb. An exception to this rule is the verb meminī 'I remember', which when used of personal reminiscence (e.g. 'I remember being present') is usually followed by a present infinitive.

The verbs iubeō 'I order' and volō 'I want' are always followed by the present infinitive, however. Occasionally also polliceor 'I promise' and meminī 'I threaten' can be followed by a present infinitive, if no accusative subject is added.

Present infinitive

The present infinitive is used to express an action or situation simultaneous with the verb of speaking:

Solōn furere sē simulāvit (Cicero)

'Solon pretended that he was mad'

sēnsit sē petī (Nepos)

'(Hannibal) realised that he was being sought'

The present infinitive is used after meminī when describing a personal reminiscence:

meminī mē intrāre scholam eius, cum recitātūrus esset in Milōnem (Seneca the Elder)

'I remember going into his school when he was just about to recite a speech against Milo'

It also represents a present imperative (or jussive subjunctive) in indirect commands made with the verbs iubeō 'I order' and vetō 'I forbid':

iussit eōs per castra dūcī, ostendī omnem exercitum, tumque dīmittī (Eutropius)

'he ordered that they should be led through the camp, shown the whole army, and then dismissed'

Perfect infinitive

In indirect statement, a perfect infinitive represents any event or situation prior to the time of the verb of speaking:

lictōrem tuum occīsum esse dīcis (Cicero)

'you say that your bodyguard was killed'

cognōvērunt Caesarem vēnisse ([Caesar])

'they learnt that Caesar had come'

mihī nūntiāvit M. Marcellum pugiōne percussum esse et duo vulnera accēpisse (Servius to Cicero)

he brought me news that Marcus Marcellus had been stabbed with a dagger and had received two wounds'

Often the verb of speaking is omitted:

rem atrōcem incidisse (Livy)

'a terrible thing had happened' (she said)

The perfect infinitive may also at times be translated with a continuous tense in English:

reperiēbat T. Ampium cōnātum esse pecūnias tollere Ephesō ex fānō Diānae (Caesar)

'he discovered that Titus Ampius had been trying to steal money from the temple of Diana in Ephesus'

Future infinitive

The future infinitive is used for events or situations in reported speech which are to take place later than the verb of speaking:

cōnfīdō tē factūrum esse omnia (Cicero)

'I am sure that you will do everything'

As with the perfect passive infinitive, esse is often omitted:

locum ubī esset facile inventūrōs (Nepos)

'they would easily find the place where he was (he said)'

The future passive made using the supine of the verb with īrī is comparatively rare:

rūmor venit datum īrī gladiātōrēs (Terence)

'a rumour came that a gladiator show was going to be given'

The verb possum 'I am able' has no future infinitive, but can have a future meaning:

totīus Galliae sēsē potīrī posse spērant (Caesar)

'they hope that they will be able to gain control of the whole of Gaul'

Fore ut

Another way of expressing the future in indirect statement is to use the phrase fore ut 'it would be the case that'. This can be used with an active or passive verb, and almost always with either the present or the imperfect subjunctive:

spērō fore ut contingat id nōbīs (Cicero)

'I hope that we shall have that good fortune'

respondērunt Chaldaeī fore ut imperāret mātremque occīderet (Tacitus)

'the astrologers replied that (Nero) would become Emperor, and that he would kill his mother'

omnēs id fore putābant ut miser virgīs caederētur (Cicero)

'they all thought that the poor man was going to be beaten with rods'

Sometimes futūrum esse ut is used instead of fore ut:

futūrum esse, nisī prōvisum esset, ut Rōma caperētur (Cicero)

'(the voice predicted) that unless precautions were taken, Rome would be captured'

Very rarely fore ut can be followed by a perfect or pluperfect subjunctive. In the following example, the pluperfect subjunctive represents a future perfect indicative of direct speech:

spērābam, cum hās litterās accēpissēs, fore ut ea quae superiōribus litterīs ā tē petīssēmus impetrāta essent (Cicero to Plancus)

'I hope (epistolary imperfect) that by the time you receive this letter, what I requested from you in my earlier letter will have been granted'

Future perfect infinitive

To express a future perfect tense in indirect statement is possible only if the verb is passive or deponent. In the following examples, a perfect participle is combined with the future infinitive fore:

Carthāginiēsēs dēbellātum mox fore rēbantur (Livy)

'the Carthaginians thought that the war was soon going to have been brought to an end'

metum sī quī sustulisset, omnem vītae dīligentiam sublātam fore (Cicero)

'if someone were to remove fear, all carefulness of life would be removed too'

hoc possum dīcere, mē satis adeptum fore, sī nūllum in mē perīculum redundārit (Cicero)

'I can say this, that I will have achieved enough, if no danger redounds on me'

Periphrastic perfect infinitive

The periphrastic perfect infinitive represents a potential pluperfect subjunctive ('would have done') in indirect statement:

hoc tamen nūntiā, melius mē moritūram fuisse sī nōn in fūnere meō nūpsissem (Livy)

'but take this message to him, that I would have died better if I had not married on the day of my funeral!'

dīxit sī egō cōnsul nōn fuissem, rem pūblicam funditus peritūram fuisse (Cicero)

'he said that if I had not been consul, the republic would have been completely finished'

If the introductory verb is passive, such as vidētur 'he seems', the participle is nominative:

nōn vidētur mentītūrus fuisse, nisī dēspērāsset (Quintilian)

'it is unlikely that he would have told a lie unless he had been desperate'

The same tense of the infinitive can also represent the transformation into indirect statement of an imperfect potential subjunctive, referring to a hypothetical present situation:

an tū cēnsēs ūllam anum tam dēlīram futūram fuisse ut somniīs crēderet, nisī ista cāsū nōn nunquam forte temerē concurrerent? (Cicero)

'do you think any old woman would ever be so crazy as to believe in dreams if they didn't come true by chance sometimes?'

quid putāmus passūrum fuisse sī vīveret? – nobīscum cēnāret! (Pliny)

'what do we think would be happening to him if he were alive?' – 'he would be dining with us!'

fatentur sē virtūtis causā, nisi ea voluptātem faceret, nē manum quidem versūrōs fuisse (Cicero)

'they confess that they would not lift a finger for the sake of virtue, unless virtue itself gave pleasure'

quī nec tē cōnsule tuum sapientissimum cōnsilium secūtus esset nec frātre tuō cōnsulātum gerente vōbīs auctōribus ūtī voluerit, nunc omnia tenentem nostrās sententiās dēsīderātūrum cēnsēs fuisse? (Cicero to Marcellus)

'do you suppose that the person (i.e. Pompey) who hadn't followed your very wise advice when you were consul, nor was willing to consult you and your brother when your brother held the consulship, would now, if he were holding supreme power, be wanting our opinions?'

In all the above examples, the imperfect subjunctive in the subordinate clause is left unchanged, despite the fact that the main verb is primary.

Just as fore ut is used to make a future passive infinitive, so futūrum fuisse ut can be used to make a potential passive infinitive:

nisi eō ipsō tempore quīdam nūntiī dē Caesaris victōriā essent allātī, exīstimābant plērīque futūrum fuisse utī āmitterētur (Caesar)

'if at that very moment certain reports had not arrived bringing news of Caesar's victory, most people reckoned that the town would have been lost'

However this is very rare, and in fact only two instances have been noted (the other being Cicero Tusc. 3.69).

Gerundive infinitives

The gerundive infinitive in indirect speech indicates something which needs to be done at the time of the verb of speaking:

medicō ipsī putō aliquid dandum esse (Cicero)

'I think something should be given to the doctor himself'

The perfect gerundive infinitive indicates something that was necessary at a previous time:

iter Asiāticum tuum putō tibī suscipiendum fuisse (Cicero)

'I imagine that it was unavoidable for you to undertake that journey to Asia'

It can also refer to what ought to have been done at some time in the past:

quid tandem praetōrī faciendum fuisse? (Livy)

'what, pray, ought a praetor to have done?'

In a conditional clause in reported speech the perfect gerundive infinitive can also refer to something that would have been necessary in some hypothetical situation:

nec cuīquam ante pereundum fuisse sī Sīlius rērum poterētur (Tacitus)

'and (he said that) there wouldn't be anyone who would be forced to die sooner than himself if Silius were Emperor'

The future gerundive infinitive is made with fore. It is used in indirect statements to describe something which it is going to be necessary to do:

itaque eō ipsō locō mētārī suōs castra iusserat, laetus in illīs potissimum angustiīs dēcernendum fore (Curtius)

'and so he had ordered his men to lay out their camp in that very place, delighted that it was going to be necessary to fight the decisive battle in that particular narrow plain'

It can also describe what must necessarily happen at a future time:

senēscendum fore tantum terrārum vel sine proeliō obeuntī (Curtius)

'(he had written that) a person would inevitably grow old just visiting such a huge country, even without fighting a battle'

An overview of the tenses in indirect speech

Main article: Latin indirect speech

A characteristic of Roman historical writing is that long speeches are reported indirectly (ōrātiō oblīqua). In this practice Roman writers such as Caesar, Sallust, Livy, Curtius, and Tacitus differ from Greek writers such as Thucydides, as well as from Roman poets such as Virgil and Ovid, who write their speeches in direct speech (ōrātiō rēcta).

The rule for ōrātiō oblīqua is that the infinitive is used to represent the main verbs of statements (this also sometimes applies to questions), while all other verbs, that is, those in commands, most questions, and subordinate clauses, are put into the subjunctive mood. The writer may use primary sequence or historic, or sometimes a mixture of the two. The use of primary tenses in a historic context is known as repraesentātiō.

In some cases, the use of the subjunctive indicates that the sentence is partly in ōrātiō oblīqua. This is known as virtual ōrātiō oblīqua:

Aristīdēs nōnne ob eam causam expulsus est patriā, quod praeter modum iūstus esset? (Cicero)

'wasn't Aristides expelled from his country because (people said) he was excessively righteous?'

Subordinate clauses generally change their tenses less than the main clauses in reported speech. In some cases, when the main verb is 1st or 2nd person, the subordinate clause is not put in the subjunctive at all:

spērō, sī absolūtus erit, coniūnctiōrem illum nōbīs fore in ratiōne petītiōnis (Cicero)

'I hope that if (Catiline) is acquitted, he will work more closely with me in my election campaign'

The following table shows the tenses used in main clauses in indirect questions (subjunctive) and indirect statements (infinitive):

How tenses change when put into indirect speech (main clauses)

Tense of original verb	Subjunctive (primary)	Subjunctive (historic)	Infinitive
Present, Imperative, Jussive subjunctive	Present	Imperfect	Present
Imperfect, Perfect, Pluperfect	Perfect	Pluperfect	Perfect
Future, Potential present subjunctive	Periphrastic present, (Present)	Periphrastic imperf., (Imperfect)	Future, Fore ut + pres/impf subj.
Future perfect	No examples	No examples	Perfect participle + fore, Fore ut + perf/pluperf subj.
Potential imperfect subjunctive	Perfect periphrastic, Imperfect	Perfect periphrastic, Imperfect	Perfect periphrastic
Potential pluperfect subjunctive	Perfect periphrastic, Pluperfect, Potuerit	Perfect periphrastic, (Plupf. periphrastic), Pluperfect, Potuerit	Perfect periphrastic, Futūrum fuisse ut + pres/impf subj.

Participles

Compared to Greek, Latin is deficient in participles, having only three, as follows, as well as the gerundive. The Romans themselves considered the gerundive also to be a participle, but most modern grammars treat it as a separate part of speech.

The different participles of the verb dūcō are shown below:

Participles and gerundive (3rd conjugation)

	Active		Passive
Present	dūcēns, pl. dūcentēs	leading
Perfect			ductus, pl. ductī	led, having been led
Future	ductūrus, pl. ductūrī	going to lead
Gerundive			dūcendus, pl. dūcendī	needing to be led

The participles are all verbal adjectives, and so the ending changes according to case, gender, and number.

As the table shows, there is no passive present or future participle, and no active past participle. In deponent verbs, however, the Perfect participle is active in meaning, e.g. profectus, 'having set out', cōnātus 'having tried'. In deponent verbs, the gerundive is usually used in impersonal form and with an active meaning: proficīscendum est 'it is necessary to set out', moriendum est 'it is necessary to die', cōnandum est 'it is necessary to try'; but some deponent verbs have a personal gerundive with a passive sense: hortandus 'needing to be encouraged', sequendus 'needing to be followed':

media ratiō sequenda est (Columella)

'a middle course must be followed'

Deponent verbs also have active present and future participles, e.g. moriēns 'dying', moritūrus 'about to die'.

The verb sum 'I am' has no Present or Perfect participle in classical Latin, but only the Future participle futūrus 'going to be'.

The verbs volō 'I want' and possum 'I am able' have no future participle. Potēns, the present participle of possum, has a limited use as an adjective meaning 'powerful'.

The 3rd and 4th conjugation gerundive in older texts such as Plautus ends with -undus: faciundum, ferundum, veniundum. Such endings are sometimes found even in classical Latin. Later, -endus became usual, but in the verb eō 'I go', the gerundive is always eundum 'necessary to go'.

Like the infinitive, the tenses of the participles are not absolute but relative to the main verb of the sentence. For example, a future participle can refer to an action in the past, provided it is later than the time of the main verb; and similarly the perfect participle can refer to an action in the future, provided it is earlier than the time of the main verb.

Present participle

The present participle usually describes a condition or an action which is happening at the time of the main verb:

aquā ferventī ... perfunditur (Cicero)

'he was doused with boiling water'

strictō gladiō ad dormientem Lūcrētiam vēnit (Livy)

'having drawn his sword, he came to Lucretia while she was sleeping'

Occasionally, a present participle can refer to an action which takes place immediately before the time of the main verb:

quaerentīque virō 'satin salvē?' 'minimē' inquit (Livy)

'and when her husband asked "are you all right?" "no!" she replied'

Perfect participle

The perfect participle refers to an action which took place before the time of the main verb, or to the state that something is in as a result of an earlier action:

occīsōs sepelīvit (Eutropius)

'he buried the dead (those who had been killed)'

Future participle

The future participle is most commonly used in the periphrastic tenses or in indirect statements (see examples above). 'An examination of the usage of the various authors shows that the form in -urus did not reach the full status of a participle till the time of Livy. Up to the time of Caesar and Cicero its use was almost restricted to a combination with the verb esse, making a periphrastic future tense' (Woodcock). Woodcock speculates that the -urus ending might originally have been a verbal noun. In later authors the future participle is sometimes used as in Greek to indicate purpose:

dēdūcit quadrirēmēs, lātūrus auxilium (Pliny)

'he launched some warships, with a view to bringing help'

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External links

• University of Chicago Perseus under PhiloLogic searchable corpus. Perseus under PhiloLogic home page
• Online version of Allen & Greenough's Latin Grammar
• Online version of Gildersleeve & Lodge's Latin Grammar