Ch 9 · Lesson 15Latin · Chapter 9 · Lesson 15 · Grammar primer
The sequence of tenses
, he asks what I did; , he asked what I had done. The main verb picks the row, earlier or not picks the column.
The short version
The main verb picks the tense of the subjunctive
.
Why?Hide
After a present main verb, an earlier action takes the perfect subjunctive; after a past one, the pluperfect. is I do not know what he did; , I did not know what he had done. For the same time, use the present or the imperfect: , .
The sequence of tenses, complete
A subjunctive in a subordinate clause takes its tense from two questions. Is the main verb present or past? Is the subordinate action earlier than it, or not?
| Main verb | Same time or later | Earlier |
|---|---|---|
| present | | |
| past | | |
In English: he asks what I am doing, he asks what I did; he asked what I was doing, he asked what I had done.
Primary main verbs (present, future, future perfect) take the present or the perfect subjunctive. Historic main verbs (imperfect, perfect, pluperfect) take the imperfect or the pluperfect. A perfect that means have done sometimes counts as primary, though it often takes historic sequence anyway.
A clear future in an indirect question uses the -urus participle: , he asks what I am going to do. That belongs to indirect questions.
Where you will meet them
| Construction | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| clause | , . | When he had said this, he went away. |
| indirect qu. | . | I do not know why he came. |
| prohibition | . | Do not do this. |
| past unreal | , . | If he had come, I would have seen him. |
| past wish | Utinam ! | If only he had come! |
In the unreal condition and the wish, the pluperfect does not mean earlier: it marks something that did not happen. The tense of a wish shows how much hope is left:
- Utinam veniat!may he come (present)
- Utinam veniret!if only he were coming (imperfect: not now)
- Utinam venisset!if only he had come (pluperfect: it is over)
Mistakes English speakers make
When the question is what did he do?, the main verb picks the tense:
| Main verb | Wrong | Right |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | |
That is the classical rule. Historians sometimes keep a perfect subjunctive after a past main verb for vividness, and later Latin is looser; write it the classical way.
And four reading slips:
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I said (perfect subj.) | -erim is never the future perfect |
as past | do not do it | a prohibition, with no past sense |
amaverer (passive) | | no one-word passive in these tenses |
: am loved | was loved | the participle makes it a past tense |
Going further: Both tenses on one screen and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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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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