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

;§ 44 THE VERB.—TENSES. 95true at any time; thus, Felix qui potuit rerum co b noscertcausas, " Happy that man who was able to investigate thecauses of things !" Vlrg.3. It is sometimes used in the sense of the pluperfect, ^; z .in narratives after such conjunctions as postquam, ubi, itbiprimum, ut (when), ut primum, quum, quum prtmum, slmulut, simul ac, &c, having the general meaning of the English"as soon as," when followed by a verb denoting past timeas, Quce postqaam evolvit— lic/dvit, " After he had separatedthese things,—he bound them," &c. Ovid.4. It is also used poetically for the imperfect and the pluperfect of the subjunctive; as, nee veni, nisi, &c., "nor wouldI have come, unless," &c. (141, and 624-5.)5. In the passive form, this tense is compound, consistingof the perfect participle of the verb, and the present or perfecttense of sum as an auxiliary ;" I have been loved."as, amdtus sum, or amdtus fui,Note.—In all compound tenses, the participle must be in the same genderand number with the nominative to the verb.165.—IV. The Plupebfect tense represents anaction as completed at, or before, a certain pasttime expressed or implied ; as, scripseram, " I hadwritten."166.—This tense corresponds to the past-perfect in English,and is rendered by it. It bears the same relation to the perfeet, that the imperfect does to the present.1. The pluperfect is sometimes used, especially by thepoets, for the perfect indicative, and also for the pluperfectsubjunctive ; as, dixeram a principio, ut de republica sileretur,.Cic, "I have said from the beginning," &c. ;Si mens non leevafuisset, impulerat, &c, Yirg., " he would have impelled." (141,& 624-5.) The same idiom is found in English, " he had impelled"for " he would have impelled."2. In the passive form, this tense, like the perfect, is compound,consisting of the perfect participle, and the imperfector pluperfect of sum used as an auxiliary ; as, amdtus eram, oramdtus fueram, "I had been loved."Note.—In these compound forms, the participle seems to be consideredsometimes as little different from an adjective. In such cases, sum becomesthe verb, and is rendered by its own tense ; as, opus peractum est, 4> the work1is finished ;" jinltusjam labor erat, " the labor was now finished.''