Latin Conjugation - Tenses of The Imperfective Aspect

Tenses of The Imperfective Aspect

The tenses of the imperfective aspect are present, imperfect, and future tense. Verb forms in the imperfective aspect express an action that has (or had) not been completed. Consider for concreteness the following verbs:

• the first conjugation verb portō, portāre, portāvī, portātum (to carry, to bring)
• the second conjugation verb terreō, terrēre, terruī, territum (to frighten, to deter)
• the third conjugation verb petō, petere, petīvī, petītum (to seek, to attack)
• the fourth conjugation verb audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum (to hear, to listen (to))

In all the conjugations except for the third conjugation, the –re is removed from the second principal part (for example, portāre without the suffix –re becomes portā–) to form the present stem, which is used for all of the tenses in the imperfective aspect. In the third conjugation, the –ō ending of the present indicative is dropped in order to form the present stem (for example, the present indicative form of regere is regō, and without the -ō it is the present stem, reg–). Occasionally, the terminating vowel of the stem is lengthened and/or shortened, and sometimes completely changed. This is often true both in the third conjugation and in the subjunctive mood of all conjugations.