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The pluperfect is traditionally described as a tense; in modern linguistic terminology it may be said to combine tense with grammatical aspect; namely past tense (reference to past time) and perfect aspect. It is used to refer to an occurrence that at a past time had already been started (but not necessarily completed), (e.g.
A pluperfect can similarly be made using one of the three past tenses of habeō: [282] Caesar equitātum omnem quem ex omnī prōvinciā coāctum habēbat praemittit (Caesar) [283] 'Caesar sent ahead all the cavalry which he had gathered together from the whole province' cultrum, quem sub veste abditum habēbat, eum in corde dēfīgit (Livy) [284]
The past perfect, sometimes called the pluperfect, combines past tense with perfect aspect; it is formed by combining had (the past tense of the auxiliary have) with the past participle of the main verb. It is used when referring to an event that took place prior to the time frame being considered. [10]
The pluperfect and future perfect forms combine perfect aspect with past and future tense respectively. This analysis is reflected more explicitly in the terminology commonly used in modern English grammars, which refer to present perfect, past perfect and future perfect (as well as some other constructions such as conditional perfect).
The three past tenses (imperfect, aorist, and pluperfect), in the classical period, are made by adding a prefix ἐ-(e-), called an "augment", on the beginning of the verb. [36] Thus from γράφω (gráphō) "I write" are made: ἔγραφον (égraphon) "I was writing" ἔγραψα (égrapsa) "I wrote" ἐγεγράφη (egegráphē) "I ...
The tertiary past is realised by a 'pluperfect indicative' auxiliary in either the "sum" perfect periphrasis or the "habeō" perfect periphrasis. Both the compound tertiary past with fueram and the compound tertiary past with habueram are uncommon tenses. [xxxiii]
Virgil has a short i for both tenses; Horace uses both forms for both tenses; Ovid uses both forms for the future perfect, but a long i in the perfect subjunctive. [10] The -v-of the perfect active tenses sometimes drops out, especially in the pluperfect subjunctive: amāssem for amāvissem. Forms such as amārat and amāstī are also found.
The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs sang , went and washed . Most languages have a past tense, with some having several types in order to indicate how far back the action took place.