The principles of Latin grammar; comprising the ... - Essan.org

§ 44 THE VERB.—TENSES. 93English verb in the present passive expresses continuance; as,he ins local, feared, hated, respected, &c.158.— 06s. But there are many verbs in which this rendering of thepresent would be incorrect, as it does not express the present receiving ofan action, but rather the presentand continuing effect of an act, which actitself is now past. In all such cases, it is more properly the rendering ofthe perfect than of the present, and it is often so used.Thus, domus ccdificcdaest; opus peractum est; epistola scrip/a est, may be properly rendered," the house is built ;" " the work is finished f "the letter is written ;" becausein the English, as well as in Latin, the building of the house, thefinishing of the work, and the writing of the letter, are represented asacts now past, and which are present only in their effects. The properrendering of such verbs in the present passive, in English, is by the verbto be, and the present participle in ing in the passive sense ; thus, domuscedijicatur, " the house is building ;" opus perogitur, " the work is finishing ;"epistola scribitur, " the letter is writing." When this mode of expressionis not authorized, and when the other would be improper, it will benecessary to express the precise idea of the present by some other formof expression. See An. and Pr. Eng. Gr., App. V, I and II, p. 235.—Principlesof Eng. Gr., App. XIX, p. 211.159.—II. The Imperfect tense represents anaction or event as passing and still unfinished ata certain time past, expressed or implied ; as,domvm cedifiedbat, " he was (then) building ahouse ;" Ibam forte via sacra, " I was accidentally(viz. at the time spoken of,) going along the viasacra."160.—This tense, strictly speaking, corresponds to the pastprogressivein English (An. and Pr. Eng. Gr., 474-2.—Principlesof Eng. Gr., 199-2). It is often rendered, however, bythe past tense in its ordinary form, and shonld always be so,when the verb expresses a continued act or state ;as, amabat,u he loved ;" timebat, " he feared." It is used in a variety ofx ways, as follows :1. It is used to denote what was usual or customary atsome past time ; as, scribebam, " I was accustomed to write."2. It is used to denote an action which had existed for sometime, and was still existing at a certain past time ; as, tot an-