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Latin grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

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The Latin Perfect: dixi, feci, fui

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

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.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

One verb has the wrong ending. Tap it.

perfect endingthe perfect stem's changeWhat do the colours mean?

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:

dico, I say; dixi, I said; dixisti, you said

Then add these six endings. They are the same for every verb in Latin, even :

PersonEndingdico (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.

Where the stem comes from

Every verb is cited in four parts, and the third is the perfect. Nothing in the present predicts it:

PresentPerfectEnglish
, I sayI said
, I doI did, made
, I haveI had
, I giveI gave
, I answerI answered (no change)

Those are the five families of perfect stem: an added -s- (here fused into the x), a changed vowel, an added -u- or -v-, a doubled syllable, and no change at all. They have their own page on the principal parts. The rule here is short: learn the perfect with the verb, as , .

I did, or I have done

Latin has one form for both. Context chooses the English:

  • . - He said. / He has said.
  • . - We came. / We have come.

An event finished before another past event takes the pluperfect, , he had said, built on the same stem. That and the future perfect are on the future and pluperfect page.

Perfect against imperfect

Both are past. The perfect is the finished event; the imperfect, in -bam, is what was going on: the scene, a habit, an action in progress.

LatinEnglishTense
.The king said it.perfect
.The king was saying it.imperfect
.I was in the city (then).perfect
.I was in the city (the scene).imperfect

In a story the perfect carries the plot and the imperfect paints the set:

  • . - It was night. (imperfect: the scene)
  • . - Then a man came and said a word. (perfect: what happened)

The imperfect has its own page.

venit: present or perfect?

A few verbs change only a vowel's length in the perfect, and this course, like most Roman texts, writes no macrons. So the spelling is identical:

FormPresentPerfect
he comeshe came
we comewe came

The sentence settles it: . - He came yesterday. A word like , yesterday, or a past tense beside it, tells you it is the perfect.

Three calendar pages along a time arrow: on the left a grey page torn off the pad and lying tilted behind, showing a football and a tick (yesterday, done); in the middle the page on the pad, glowing yellow and showing an open book (today); on the right a dashed-outline page still to come, showing a bicycle (tomorrow).

Heri (yesterday) makes venit the perfect, he came; hodie (today) makes it the present, he comes. Cras (tomorrow) needs the future, veniet.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
(said)the perfect has its own
(they)they is -
(he)one person is -
(once)one finished event takes the perfect

What to do next

  1. Say the six endings on one verb aloud: , , , , , .
  2. Learn every verb with its perfect: , .
  3. Run the drill below, then meet the stem families in the principal parts.

Practise: test yourself

Build the word

0/6

Build the perfect: the perfect stem, then the ending.

  1. dico (stem dix-): I said

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. facio (stem fec-): he made

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. sum (stem fu-): we were

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. video (stem vid-): they saw

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  5. habeo (stem habu-): you (one person) had

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  6. do (stem ded-): you (several) gave

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Matching

0/6

Match each present to its perfect.

Complete the story

0/5

Imperfect for the scene, perfect for what happened. Choose.

A word in the night

Nox . Rex in urbe . Tum homo et verbum . Rex nihil .

Gap 1 of 5

Spot the mistake

0/3

One verb has the wrong ending. Tap it.

Translation drill

0/5

Perfect for a completed event, imperfect for an ongoing one.

  1. Rex dixit.

  2. Rex dicebat.

  3. Deum vidimus.

  4. In urbe eramus.

  5. Non potui.

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The perfect stem and its six endings
  3. Where the stem comes from
  4. Perfect against imperfect
  5. venit: present or perfect?
  6. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

How do you form the perfect tense in Latin?
Take the third principal part, remove the final -i to get the perfect stem, and add -i, -isti, -it, -imus, -istis, -erunt. From you get dix- and then , , , , , . These six endings are identical for every verb in Latin including , which gives , , , , , .
Can you work out the perfect stem from the present?
No, not reliably. gives , gives , do gives , and nothing in the present predicts which. That is why dictionaries list four principal parts, and why the third one, the perfect, has to be learned with the verb. The stems do fall into five recognisable families, set out on the Latin principal parts page.
What is the difference between the perfect and the imperfect in Latin?
Aspect, not time. Both are past. The perfect presents an event as a completed whole: , the king said it. The imperfect presents it as ongoing, repeated or habitual: , the king was saying it, or used to say it. In a story the perfect carries the events forward and the imperfect fills in the scene.
Does the Latin perfect mean I did or I have done?
Both, and Latin does not distinguish them. is he said and he has said; the context decides which reads better in English. If you need an event completed before another past event, that is the pluperfect, , he had said.
Why do and look like both the present and the perfect?
Because classical Latin told them apart by vowel length, and length was not written in ordinary texts. The present has a short e and the perfect a long one, and works the same way. Editions with macrons show the difference; inscriptions, manuscripts and this course do not, so the sentence has to settle it.