Saepe eum hic vidi/videbam

Question

Spoiler alert!! This question gives away a plot point from late in the story of Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. If you're working your way through that book and haven't yet gotten to Chapter XXXI, you should probably stop reading this question right now.

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In Chapter XXXI, p. 251, Cornelius says:

Quid? Herī quendam servum tuum vīdī in viā Latīnā. Faciem recognōvī, saepe eum hīc vīdī.

Why not vidēbam? Is it optional to use the imperfect here? Or does the perfect tense convey a distinction here, like "I saw him here several times in the past" vs. "I used to see him here often"?

Answer 1

To answer to your question directly:

Why not vidēbam? Is it optional to use the imperfect here? Or does the perfect tense convey a distinction here, like "I saw him here several times in the past" vs. "I used to see him here often"?

Just as you thought, imperfect is not compulsory because there is a distinction that may be made. You could actually use a different tense (e.g. pluperfect.)

Both perfect and imperfect may have different translations in English:

• vīdī ⇒ I have seen (also, I saw.)
• vidēbam ⇒ I used to see (also, I was seeing.)

The first translation given for each tense is the one I think is more relevant in the example you give. Both tenses are compatible with seeing someone often.

Perfect means that the action being talked about has been completed, as if clear boundaries in time were being given. It also may refer to something that has ended recently.

Imperfect, in turn, does not necessarily mean the action hasn't been completed, but that the boundaries aren't clear. Information about when the action did start or end (or whether it actually ended) is not available. The lack of clarity (in my opinion) makes the tense suitable for actions somehow more remote in time.

The sentence could also have been Faciem recognōvī, saepe eum hīc vīderam (with pluperfect.) Pluperfect involves an action that was already completed when another action in the past took place: I recognized his face [because,] I had seen him here several times [before that.]

Answer 2

This answer is based on my intuition, so it is to be taken cum grano salis.

The seeing is stated as a fact from the point of view of an action in the present, or so it seems to me. (I have never seen LLPSI!) This relation to present is a reason to prefer perfect over imperfect in my opinion. Using the imperfect often describes circumstances of the past ("I used to see him every day" as opposed to "I saw him every day").

Also the act being completed makes a good case for the perfect tense. It was repeated, yes, but repetition typically requires imperfect when the point of view is in the past. The perfect gives an impression of change, as the old action (described by the second vidi) is over: the slave was often seen here, but the last time I saw him someplace else.

The repetition is a good reason to pick the imperfect. The two tenses emphasize different sides and both are possible. I would consider this particular tense choice to be a matter of nuance. I would have probably chosen the imperfect, but my point was to argue that there are reasons to do otherwise.