# Latin for beginners (1911)/Part III/Lesson LXIII

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LESSON LXIII
INFLECTION OF THE IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE THE SEQUENCE OF TENSES
354. The imperfect subjunctive may be formed by adding the personal endings to the present active infinitive.
| Conj. I | Conj. II | Conj. III | Conj. III | Conj. IV |
| ACTIVE |||||
| 1. amā´rem | monē´rem | re´gerem | ca´perem | audī´rem |
| 2. amā´rēs | monē´rēs | re´gerēs | ca´perēs | audī´rēs |
| 3. amā´ret | monē´ret | re´geret | ca´peret | audī´ret |
| 1. amārē´mus | monērē´mus | regerē´mus | caperē´mus | audīrē´mus |
| 2. amārē´tis | monērē´tis | regerē´tis | caperē´tis | audīrē´tis |
| 3. amā´rent | monē´rent | re´gerent | ca´perent | audī´rent |
| PASSIVE |||||
| 1. amā´rer | monē´rer | re´gerer | ca´perer | audī´rer |
| 2. amārē´ris(-re) | monērē´ris(-re) | regerē´ris(-re) | caperē´ris(-re) | audīrē´ris(-re) |
| 3. amārē´tur | monērē´tur | regerē´tur | caperē´tur | audīrē´tur |
| 1. amārē´mur | monērē´mur | regerē´mur | caperē´mur | audīrē´mur |
| 2. amārē´minī | monērē´minī | regerē´minī | caperē´minī | audīre´minī |
| 3. amāren´tur | monēren´tur | regeren´tur | caperen´tur | audīren´tur |
a. In a similar way inflect the imperfect subjunctive, active and passive, of cūrō, iubeō, sūmō, iaciō, mūniō. ​355. The imperfect subjunctive of the irregular verb sum is inflected as follows:
| Sing. | es´sem | Plur. | essē´mus |
| Sing. | 2. es´sēs | Plur. | 2. essē´tis |
| Sing. | 3. es´set | Plur. | 3. es´sent |
356. The three great distinctions of time are present, past, and future. All tenses referring to present or future time are called primary tenses, and those referring to past time are called secondary tenses. Now it is a very common law of language that in a complex sentence the tense in the dependent clause should be of the same kind as the tense in the principal clause. In the sentence He says that he is coming, the principal verb, says, is present, that is, is in a primary tense; and is coming, in the dependent clause, is naturally also primary. If I change he says to he said,—in other words, if I make the principal verb secondary in character,—I feel it natural to change the verb in the dependent clause also, and I say, He said that he was coming. This following of a tense by another of the same kind is called tense sequence, from sequī, “to follow.” I.Latin the law of tense sequence is obeyed with considerable regularity, especially when an indicative in the principal clause is followed by a subjunctive in the dependent clause. Then a primary tense of the indicative is followed by a primary tense of the subjunctive, and a secondary tense of the indicative is followed by a secondary tense of the subjunctive. Learn the following table:
357. Table for Sequence of Tenses
359.
EXAMPLES
I. Primary tenses in principal and dependent clauses:
II. Secondary tenses in principal and dependent clauses:
360.
EXERCISES
I.
II.
* Cæsar encouraged the soldiers in order that they might fight more bravely.
* The Helvetii left their homes to wage war.
* The scouts set out at once lest they should be captured by the Germans.
* Cæsar inflicted punishment on them in order that the others might be more terrified.
* He sent messengers to Rome to announce the victory.
References