Lesson 12: The Pluperfect and Future Perfect Tenses

The pluperfect tense is used to refer to actions that had already happened before some other action. It is usually translated in English with the word had, as in: I had called; we had sailed.

To form the pluperfect, we add the tense-sign -era- to the perfect stem, then add the personal endings that we're familiar with (-o/-m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt) to that. (Note that we don't use the special perfect tense endings we learned in the last lesson; those are only for the perfect tense.) For example, to form the pluperfect of navigo, we take the perfect stem navigav-, add the pluperfect tense-sign -era-, and the person endings:

Note that the -m personal ending follows the tense-sign -era- in the first person singular, just as it followed the -ba- tense-sign we learned for the imperfect tense several lessons ago.

The future perfect tense is used to describe actions that will have been completed at some future time. In English: he will have sailed; you will have walked. The future perfect is also formed from the perfect stem, but with the tense-sign -eri-:

Note that the 'i' is dropped from the tense-sign before the -o ending. Also, unlike the future tense, the third person plural retains the 'i' of the tense-sign, to distinguish it from the -erunt ending of the perfect tense.

• audacia, -ae, f., boldness, daring
• carrus, -i, m., wagon, cart
• cura, -ae, f., care, anxiety
• dominus, -i, m., master, lord
• inopia, -ae, f., lack, want
• ira, -ae, f., anger
• liber, libri, m., book
• locus, -i., m., place
• loca, locorum, n., places
• magister, magistri, m., master, teacher
• poena, -ae, f., penalty, punishment
• populus, -i, m., a people, nation
• socius, soci, m., ally

Dominus and magister may both be translated as master, but dominus carries the meaning of owner or liege, while magister means a tutor or mentor. In Church Latin, God is frequently referred to as Dominus, which can be translated as Lord.

Populus means “people” only in the sense of a nationality, as in “the Roman people.” It never means “persons” as in, “There were three people in the car.” It would only be used in the plural to refer to two “peoples” or nations, as in, “the French and German peoples.”

Locus is unusual in that it is masculine in the singular but neuter in the plural.

1. ambulavero, ambulabo, ambulaverunt
2. laudabat, laudavit, laudaverint
3. vocas, vocavistis, vocaveram
4. portabam, portaverimus, portaverant
5. amant, amavi, amaverit
6. appellamus, appellabunt, appellaveramus
7. dant, dedisti, dederas
8. narraverunt, narro, narrabatis
9. stat, steterint, steteram
10. pugnatis, pugnaveritis, pugnabunt

1. I will watch, you were watching, he will have watched
2. we defeated, they had defeated, you will defeat
3. they will have called, you were calling, he is calling
4. we are flying, I will have flown, you (plural) flew
5. he will have wounded, they wounded, you had wounded
6. I had prepared, we were preparing, they will prepare
7. we were praying, he prayed, they will have prayed
8. they had seized, we seized, you (plural) are seizing
9. I had freed, you were freeing, they will free
10. you labored, they were laboring, we are laboring

1. Cras meae filiae equos feros diu spectaverint.
2. Pugnabuntne viri in Germania cras?
3. Puer puellaque frumentum ad villam carro portaverunt.
4. Poeta in parva villa in magna silva oravit.
5. Dominum semper laudabimus.
6. Nostri filii ludos diu spectaverant ubi vocavimus.
7. Nautae dona feminis dederunt ubi navigaverant.
8. Legatus et viri nostri cum sociis bellum paraverunt.
9. Erant alta amicitia inter agricolam et nautam ante bellum.
10. Puellae in longa via heri ambulaverunt.

1. The lieutenant wounded many men on the plain because of the war.
2. The miserable farmer's cart was always before the horse.
3. The slaves will have labored in the fields for a long time tomorrow.
4. The men will have attacked many towns in Spain with swords and missile weapons when they sail to Italy.
5. Why didn't the boys wait for the pretty girls?
6. Horses don't fly, do they?
7. The envoy assembled the men and women into the town.
8. The boys fought well in the games.
9. The Lord often gives good fortune to good men.
10. We will have prepared for battle with our allies tomorrow.

We've now covered the six major tenses—present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect—so we can talk about actions at any point in the past, present, or future. Next lesson: the indicative mood of verbs and the vocative case of nouns—telling people to do things.

1. ambulavero, ambulabo, ambulaverunt - I will have walked, I will walk, they walked
2. laudabat, laudavit, laudaverint - he was praising, he praised, they will have praised
3. vocas, vocavistis, vocaveram - you are calling, you (plural) called, I had called
4. portabam, portaverimus, portaverant - I was carrying, we will have carried, they had carried
5. amant, amavi, amaverit - they love, I loved, he will have loved
6. appellamus, appellabunt, appellaveramus - we are naming, they will name, we had named
7. dant, dedisti, dederas - they give, you gave, you had given
8. narraverunt, narro, narrabatis - they told, I tell, you (plural) were telling
9. stat, steterint, steteram - he stands, they will have stood, I had stood
10. pugnatis, pugnaveritis, pugnabunt - you (plural) are fighting, you (plural) will have fought, they will fight

1. I will watch, you were watching, he will have watched - spectabo, spectabas, spectaverit
2. we defeated, they had defeated, you will defeat - superavimus, superaverant, superabis
3. they will have called, you were calling, he is calling - vocaverint, vocabas, vocat
4. we are flying, I will have flown, you (plural) flew - volamus, volavero, volavistis
5. he will have wounded, they wounded, you had wounded - vulneraverit, vulneraverunt, vulneraveras
6. I had prepared, we were preparing, they will prepare - paraveram, parabamus, parabunt
7. we were praying, he prayed, they will have prayed - orabamus, oravit, oraverit
8. they had seized, we seized, you (plural) are seizing - occupaverant, occupavimus, occupatis
9. I had freed, you were freeing, they will free - liberaveram, liberabas, liberabunt
10. you labored, they were laboring, we are laboring - laboravisti, laborabant, laboramus

1. Cras meae filiae equos feros diu spectaverint. - Tomorrow my daughters will have watched the wild horses for a long time.
2. Pugnabuntne viri in Germania cras? - Will the men fight in Germany tomorrow?
3. Puer puellaque frumentum ad villam carro portaverunt. - The boy and girl carried grain to the farmhouse with a wagon.
4. Poeta in parva villa in magna silva oravit. - The poet prayed in a small farmhouse in the great forest.
5. Dominum semper laudabimus. - We will always praise the Lord.
6. Nostri filii ludos diu spectaverant ubi vocavimus. - Our sons had watched the games for a long time when we called.
7. Nautae dona feminis dederunt ubi navigaverant. - The sailors gave gifts to the women when they had sailed.
8. Legatus et viri nostri cum sociis bellum paraverunt. - Our lieutenant and men prepared with (their) allies for war.
9. Erant alta amicitia inter agricolam et nautam ante bellum. - There was a deep friendship between the farmer and the sailor before the war.
10. Puellae in longa via heri ambulaverunt. - The girls walked on a long road yesterday.

1. The lieutenant wounded many men on the plain because of the war. - Legatus multos viros in campo ob bellum vulneravit.
2. The miserable farmer's cart was always before the horse. - Miseri agricolae carrus semper ante equum erat.
3. The slaves will have labored in the fields for a long time tomorrow. - Servi in agris diu cras laboraverint.
4. The men will have attacked many towns in Spain with swords and missile weapons when they sail to Italy. - Viri oppida multa in Hispania gladiis et telis oppugnaverint ubi ad Italiam navigant.
5. Why didn't the boys wait for the pretty girls? - Cur pueri puellas pulchras non exspectaverunt?
6. Horses don't fly, do they? - Num equi volant?
7. The envoy assembled the men and women into the town. - Legatus viros et feminas in oppidum convocavit.
8. The boys fought well in the games. - Pueri in ludis bene pugnaverunt.
9. The Lord often gives good fortune to good men. - Dominus bonam fortunam saepe bonis dat.
10. We will have prepared for battle with our allies tomorrow. - Paraverimus proelium cum sociis cras.