[TENSE.]
[THE TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE.]
[1587.] The present indicative represents action as going on at the time of speaking or writing: as,
scrībō, I write, or I am writing. nunc prīmum audiō, T. Andr. 936, for the first time I hear. notat ad caedem ūnum quemque nostrūm, C. 1, 2, he is marking us out for death, each and all. domus aedificātur, Att. 4, 2, 7, the house is building.
[1588.] The present is used to denote action customary or repeated at any time, or a general truth: as,
agrī cultūrae nōn student, 6, 22, 1, they do not apply themselves to farming. virī in uxōrēs vītae necisque habent potestātem, 6, 19, 3, the married men have power of life and death over their wives. probitās laudātur et alget, J. 1, 74, uprightness gets extolled, and left out in the cold. dum vītant stultī vitia, in contrāria currunt, H. S. 1, 2, 24, while fools essay a vice to shun, into its opposite they run. mors sōla fatētur quantula sint hominum corpuscula, J. 10, 172, death is the only thing that tells what pygmy things men’s bodies be. stultōrum plēna sunt omnia, Fam. 9, 22, 4, the world is full of fools. rīsū ineptō rēs ineptior nūllast, Cat. 39, 16, there’s nothing sillier than a silly laugh.
[1589.] The present, when accompanied by some expression of duration of time, is often used to denote action which has been going on some time and is still going on.
This present is translated by the English perfect: as, Lilybaeī multōs iam annōs habitat, V. 4, 38, he has lived at Lilybaeum this many a year. iam dūdum auscultō, H. S. 2, 7, 1, I have been listening for an age. satis diū hōc iam saxum vorsō, T. Eu. 1085, I’ve trundled at this boulder long enough as ’t is. nimium diū tē castra dēsīderant, C. 1, 10, the camp has felt your absence altogether too long. iam diū īgnōrō quid agās, Fam. 7, 9, 1, I have not known this long time how you are getting on. This use extends to the subjunctive and to nouns of the verb also. But if the action is conceived as completed, the perfect is used: as, sērō resistimus ē̆ī quem per annōs decem aluimus, Att. 7, 5, 5, it is too late to oppose a man whom we have been supporting ten long years.
[1590.] The present is often used to represent past action as going on now. This is called the Present of Vivid Narration: as,