Questions tagged [tenses]
The tenses tag has no usage guidance.
17
questions
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Did the Romans ever distinguish between present perfective and past aoristic?
The Latin "perfect" forms are a combination of two different tense-aspect combinations: past aoristic ("I ate"), and present perfective ("I have eaten"). The two are generally indistinguishable, but ...
2
votes
1answer
88 views
Livy Book 1 27.1 type of subjunctive, sequence of tenses
Invidia vulgi, quod tribus militibus fortuna publica commissa fuerit, vanum ingenium dictatoris corrupit.
What kind of subjunctive is fuerit and why. What tense is corrupit — perfect with or ...
8
votes
1answer
147 views
weird pluperfect subjunctive in Eutropius
In Rōma Æterna, p. 239, in a passage from Eutropius, book 28, comes the paragraph:
P. Scīpiō in Hispāniā cum Poenīs dēbellāvit quārtō decimō annō eius bellī; et ā Tarracōne in Āfricam ad Syphācem, ...
7
votes
1answer
212 views
How did the “injunctive” work?
According to Wikipedia:
Homeric Greek does not have a historical present tense, but rather uses injunctives. Injunctives are replaced by the historical present in the post-Homeric writings of ...
6
votes
1answer
173 views
Expressing English modalities of advice in Latin
English has expresses advice in the present and past through the use of the following modal constructions:
present: You should [...]
present negated: You shouldn't [...]
past: You should have [...]
...
9
votes
1answer
238 views
Is there an aoristic-perfective distinction in the Latin perfect?
I have just recently learned that the perfect tense in Latin can serve also as an aorist tense as well as a perfect tense and that the perfect tense in Latin is simply the result of the original Proto-...
4
votes
0answers
92 views
Cur coniugationes systematis praesentis sunt tam dissimiles cum eae cum coniugationibus systematis perfecti comparentur?
TL;DR & the actual question
For those who don't need an explanation of all verb endings and the ways in which they differ from each other, my question follows below. For those who might need a ...
4
votes
1answer
78 views
Adhibeturne tempus perfectum/imperfectum aut presens cum de homine mortuo loqueris?
In English, when a person who is deceased is being discussed, specifically when ascribing an attribute, concept, thing, etc. to them with a copulative verb, the simple past is typically used. E.g:
...
3
votes
2answers
318 views
habitabat = dwelt?
Estne hic error translationis? Genesis 25:11 (Vulgata) dicit:
et post obitum illius benedixit Deus Isaac filio eius qui habitabat iuxta puteum nomine Viventis et videntis.
Anglice autem (Douay ...
4
votes
2answers
144 views
Saepe eum hic vidi/videbam
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, ...
2
votes
1answer
132 views
tense fluctuation in Latin narrative
Are there any guidelines for the fluctuation between past and historical present tense in Latin narrative other than "it's used for vividness"? I'm writing my first multi-scene narrative and so I'm ...
5
votes
1answer
94 views
Future actions happening in sequence
Description of wanted meaning:
First thing will be described by me. After first description is completed second one gets done. Then I will be describing fourth thing but not before I spend at least ...
3
votes
0answers
106 views
Is active periphrastic conjugation compulsory in consecutio temporum?
There is a rule which I have learned to know and love by the name consecutio temporum, and it governs the tense of a conjunctive predicate in (many) subordinate clauses.
All three Latin Grammars I ...
5
votes
1answer
304 views
The use of subjunctive in the future
I came across the usage of subjunctive the other day. I read that if the main verb is in the present, future or perfect with have, the subjunctive is in the present whereas if the main verb is in the ...
4
votes
2answers
110 views
Using two future tenses together
I was trying to translate something to Latin, and I ended up writing something that made me feel uncertain.
For the purposes of this question, I stripped all unnecessary content to focus on what ...
8
votes
3answers
342 views
Can a subjunctive verb ever be modified by οὐ? (Greek)
I'm working on an exercise where I translate this Greek sentence to English.
οὐ θαυμάσῃ εἰ θεός τις φανεῖται ἀπὸ τῆς μηχανῆς;
My translation:
Won't you be amazed if some god will appear from ...
7
votes
3answers
518 views
What is the difference between present and perfect conjunctive in hesitation?
I recently said this in our chat room:
Ita crediderim, sed certus non sum.
A brief discussion ensued about my choice of tense.
I wanted to express hesitation, and my gut feeling says that the ...
