Latin/Lesson 1-Imperfect

Latin
Intro:	1 • 2
Chapter 1	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6
Chapter 2	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
Chapter 3	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
Chapter 4	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10
Chapter 5	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9

Imperfect Active Indicative

The imperfect is a construct like:
I was seeing.
In Latin it would look like this:
Videbam.

English has a similar construct called progressive past. Actions seem incomplete, and so the imperfect label. For example, "I was running," "We were sailing," "They were calling." Note that 'to be' is always there. Latin, however, would sometimes use imperfect like simple past; accordingly, "We were sailing" could be translated as "We sailed." Other translations of imperfect can be used to/kept such as "We used to sail/We kept sailing."

Regardless of language, the concept of an imperfect is important. Imperfect is called imperfect for a reason - in Latin, the verb "perficere" means to finish/complete, which is what perfect is from. Thus, imperfect, in the grammatical sense, means not finished - that the action could be or could not be completed. Perfect instead means it has been finished - I saw. You have already seen, and it is now completed. I was seeing implies that the action is not yet completed.

The perfect tense, which we will learn later, is a more immediate reference to the past. The name, imperfect, helps you remember its use: in situations where you can't say when an event started or ended or happened, you must use the imperfect.

In situations where you can know when an event started or ended or happened, use the perfect.

You conjugate the imperfect tense this way: verb + ba + personal ending

The endings for imperfect are:

	singular	plural
1st	-bam	-bamus
2nd	-bas	-batis
3rd	-bat	-bant

Note that the only thing we add are ba + the personal endings (the same as in the present tense) to the infinitive stem. This gives us the imperfect conjugation.

Note that in third and fourth conjugations, you will have to form it differently. There is *no* rule to explain this, it just is, although there are memorization techniques that can help.

venire is 4th conjugation and is formed like:

	singular	plural
1st	veniebam	veniebamus
2nd	veniebas	veniebatis
3rd	veniebat	veniebant

For third conjugation, an example used in some textbooks/study guides is: capere (to capture or seize)

	singular	plural
1st	capiebam	capiebamus
2nd	capiebas	capiebatis
3rd	capiebat	capiebant

Note that it is easiest to think of what the endings -ere and ire lack. The imperfect -ba + the personal ending, which we can call the imperfect conjugation, must be prefixed by ie.

Lesson Vocabulary
Latin	English
amo, amare	to love
moneo, monere	to warn
vinco, vincere	to win, defeat
capio, capere	to capture, seize
pello, pellere	to drive
sedeo, sedere	to sit
lego, legere	to read
adsum, adesse	to be present
emo, emere	to buy
tristis, triste	sad
redeo, redire	to return, go back
cena, -ae	dinner
paratus, -a, -um	ready
mater, matris	mother
paro, parare	to prepare

A few examples:

amabam - I was loving (A-conjugation--1st)
monebatis - You were warning [object/personage] (of something negative) (Pl.) (2nd Conjugation)
vincebamus - We were defeating (long I-conjugation--3rd conjugation)
capiebant - They were catching (short I-conjugation--3rd conjugation)
pellebat - She/he/it was propelling (drive something (not a vehicle), propel something) (consonantic conjugation)

(Wiki-reading tips: See discussion. Some of the above may be unclear, however the clarifying '--' and '/' indicate verification. We may not know what the original author intended, but we know what conjugations the examples are.)

Conjugation in the Imperfect tense
	1st	2nd	3rd	mixed	4th	Irregular
Infinitive:	amare	sedere	legere	capere	venire	ire	velle	esse
Singular
1st person:	amabam	sedebam	legebam	capiebam	veniebam	ibam	volebam	eram
2nd person:	amabas	sedebas	legebas	capiebas	veniebas	ibas	volebas	eras
3rd person:	amabat	sedebat	legebat	capiebat	veniebat	ibat	volebat	erat
Plural
1st person:	amabamus	sedebamus	legebamus	capiebamus	veniebamus	ibamus	volebamus	eramus
2nd person:	amabatis	sedebatis	legebatis	capiebatis	veniebatis	ibatis	volebatis	eratis
3rd person:	amabant	sedebant	legebant	capiebant	veniebant	ibant	volebant	erant

Exercises

EXERCISE • Lesson 1-Imperfect • Translate from Latin to English.

1. dum sol fulgebat, puer ambulabat ad forum
2. in foro multus cibus aderat et femina cibum vendebat
3. puer cibum emere volebat sed satis pecuniae (enough money) non habebat
4. puer se vertit (turned (lit. himself) around) et tristis domum redibat
5. sed ubi domum rediit (returned) cena parata erat quod mater semper cenam parat

SOLUTION • Latin/Lesson 1-Imperfect • Translate from Latin to English.

1. while the sun shone, the boy was walking to the forum
2. in forum (market) there was much food and a woman was selling food
3. the boy wanted to buy food but he didn't have enough money
4. the boy turned around and sadly was returning home
5. but when he returned home the dinner was prepared, as his mother always prepares the dinner