Latin/Imperfect Tense Lesson 3

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In this lesson we’ll continue studying verbs in the imperfect tense. We're using the “Present Tense 3” verbs in this lession. If you wish to review those lessons, they begin here: Verbs Present 3 Lesson 1 They include some irregular verbs, which largely have the same endings we’ve been seeing, and deponent verbs, which have different endings because their forms are identical to passive voice verbs. So, instead of:

the deponent verbs will have these endings:

They are still active in meaning, just passive in form. All verbs need a connecting vowel between their stem from their 1st principal part, and the imperfect ending. It will be –ā- for 1st conjugation verbs, and –ē- for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugations. Irregular verbs are unique, but most use –ē- as well.

Remember that the imperfect tense expresses habitual or ongoing action, so our standard translation is “was/were verb-ing” or “used to verb,” although in practicality some sentences sound much better with a simple past tense.

Practice
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