Ch 2 · Lesson 29Latin · Chapter 2 · Lesson 29 · Grammar primer
What happened: the perfect endings
, , : six endings, the same on every verb in Latin. The story that follows is told with them.
The short version
Six perfect endings, no exceptions anywhere
, ,
Why?Hide
Take the third principal part, strip the -i, and you have the perfect stem. Onto it go -i, -isti, -it, -imus, -istis, -erunt, and those six never vary for any verb in the language, regular or irregular. , , gives , , , , , . All the work is in knowing the stem, which is why verbs are cited four times. The endings themselves are free.
The Latin perfect tells you what happened: , I said. It is six endings, the same on every verb in the language, added to a perfect stem that you learn with the verb.
The perfect stem and its six endings
Take the verb's third dictionary form, the perfect (, , ), and drop the final -i. What is left is the perfect stem:
Then add these six endings. They are the same for every verb in Latin, even :
| Person | Ending | dico (say) | sum (be) |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | -i | | |
| you (one) | - | | |
| he, she, it | - | | |
| we | - | | |
| you (pl) | - | | |
| they | - | | |
In sentences:
?- What did you say?.- The king said a word..- We were in the city..- They saw God.
is the most irregular verb in the language, and its perfect is completely regular. The irregularity lives in the stem; the endings behave:
.- He was a great king.
Poets and some prose writers use -ere for -: means they said, the same as . Recognise it; do not produce it.
Going further: Where the stem comes from and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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Lesson 29 of 39 in this chapter