Imperfect and Future Tenses
Form and translate the imperfect (continuous past) and future tenses. Distinguish from the present.
A lesson of Latin A1 — Beginner, in Verb Conjugations, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will form and translate the imperfect and future tenses across all four conjugations, and distinguish them from the present tense.
Moving Beyond the Present
The present tense describes what is happening now. Latin has two additional tenses for referring to the past and future:
- Imperfect — continuous or repeated action in the past ("was walking," "used to walk," "kept walking")
- Future — action that will happen ("will walk")
Both are built from the present stem, so knowing your conjugations is the foundation.
The Imperfect Tense
The imperfect expresses ongoing or habitual action in the past. The tense marker is -ba-, which is added between the stem and the personal endings.
Formula: present stem + -ba- + personal endings
The personal endings are the same ones you already know: -m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt (note: 1st sg. uses -m, not -o, in non-present tenses).
Imperfect of amare (1st conj.)
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | amabam | amabamus |
| 2nd | amabas | amabatis |
| 3rd | amabat | amabant |
Imperfect of videre (2nd conj.)
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | videbam | videbamus |
| 2nd | videbas | videbatis |
| 3rd | videbat | videbant |
Imperfect of ducere (3rd conj.)
For 3rd conjugation, the stem vowel becomes -e- before -ba-: duc + eba-
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ducebam |