21.05.24: Level 2: perfect tense [1] stem, endings; first conjugation (1)

The term ‘perfect tense’ can be understood in different ways depending on what languages you know and so, to avoid complicating things, the Latin perfect tense is, in English:

[i] the simple past i.e. I went, and [ii] the present perfect i.e. I have gone

Latin does not distinguish between the two. Most often, however, it is translated as [i] i.e. I, you etc. did something – usually once and finished.

To create the perfect tense you need to know [i] 1 set of endings which applies to all verbs in the perfect tense and [ii] The third principal part.

The principal parts are like English swim – swam - swum i.e. you need those to be able to form all the tenses.

Until now, only two principal parts have been given:

portō, portāre [1]: carry

Those two parts tell you the conjugation to which the verb belongs and from which you can form the [i] present, [ii] imperfect and [iii] future tenses as well as [iv] the imperative / command forms:

Latin tutorial videos on Youtube on the verb forms covered so far:

[1] present tense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTl7H0WFwbE

[2] imperfect tense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-OLocTTe50

[3] future tense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FTBG0Jg6Cg

[4] imperative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FLimwTryE4

For most Latin verbs there are two more principal parts. For now, we’ll only look at the third principal part [image #1].

[1] portō [2] portāre │ [3] portāvī

Different tenses and verb forms can be created from this third part but the one that is crucial is the perfect tense. If you’re aiming to read the literature – especially narrative - then you’ll be reading about what people did and this is the tense that will occur most often.

[i] It is the 1st person singular that is listed: portāv │ī

[ii] portāv- is the stem; that’s what you need to know

[iii] To that stem the following endings are added:

portāv│ī: I (have) carried

portāv│istī: you [sg.] (have) carried

portāv│it: he / she / it (has) carried

portāv│imus: we (have) carried

portāv│istis: you [pl.] (have) carried

portāv│ērunt: they (have) carried

Those endings [image #2] are for the perfect tense of all four conjugations and so, for any verb, they are simply added to the stem of the third principal part.

[iv] Almost all 1st conjugation verbs have this stem ending in -v- e.g.

hurry: festīnō, festīnāre, │ festīnāvī

love: amō, amāre │ amāvī

praise: laudō, laudāre, │ laudāvī

sail: nāvigō, nāvigāre, │ nāvigāvī

watch: spectō, spectāre │ spectāvī

work: labōrō, labōrāre │ labōrāvī

[v] So, it’s simply the stem + the ending

festīnāvī [festīnāv + ī]: I (have) hurried

amāvistī [amāv + istī]: you [sg.] (have) loved

laudāvit [laudāv + it]: he / she / it (has) praised

nāvigāvimus [nāvigāv + imus]: we (have) sailed

spectāvistis [spectāv + istis]: you [pl.] (have) watched

labōrāvērunt [labōrāv + ērunt]: they (have) worked

[vi] A few common verbs don’t have a stem in -v-:

dō, dare, ded¦ī [1]: give

stō, stāre, stet¦ī [1]: stand

But the same endings are always added:

dedimus: we gave

stetērunt: they stood