The Perfect Active Indicative
The Pluperfect Active Indicative (English Past Perfect)
The Future Perfect Active Indicative
All these tenses express completed action in present, past, or future time respectively.
[186.] The Endings of the Perfect. The perfect active indicative is inflected by adding the endings of the perfect to the perfect stem. These endings are different from those found in any other tense, and are as follows:
| Sing. | 1. -ī, I | Plur. | 1. -imus, we |
| 2. -istī, you | 2. -istis, you | ||
| 3. -it, he, she, it | 3. -ērunt or -ēre, they |
[187.] Inflection of sum in the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect indicative:
| Pres. Indic. | Pres. Infin. | Perf. Indic. |
|---|---|---|
| Prin. Parts sum | esse | fuī |
| Perfect Stem fu- | |
| Perfect | |
|---|---|
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
| fu´ī, I have been, I was | fu´imus, we have been, we were |
| fuis´tī, you have been, you were | fuis´tis, you have been, you were |
| fu´it, he has been, he was | fuē´runt or fuē´re, they have been, theywere |
| Pluperfect (Tense Sign-erā-) | |
| fu´eram, I had been | fuerā´mus, we had been |
| fu´erās, you had been | fuerā´tis, you had been |
| fu´erat, he had been | fu´erant, they had been |
| Future Perfect (Tense Sign-erā-) | |
| fu´erō, I shall have been | fue´rimus, we shall have been |
| fu´eris, you will have been | fue´ritis, you will have been |
| fu´erit, he will have been | fu´erint, they will have been |
1. Note carefully the changing accent in the perfect.
2. Observe that the pluperfect may be formed by adding eram, the imperfect of sum, to the perfect stem. The tense sign is -erā-.
3. Observe that the future perfect may be formed by adding erō, the future of sum, to the perfect stem. But the third person plural ends in -erint, not in -erunt. The tense sign is -eri-.