Sequence of
Tenses
| |
Primary sequence |
Secondary sequence
(=Historical sequence) |
| I. Main verb: |
present or future |
imperfect, perfect, or pluperfect |
II. Subordinate
subjunctive |
|
|
| A. Action the same time or after main verb |
present |
imperfect |
| B. Action before main verb |
perfect |
pluperfect |
Examples:
I. Primary sequence, when subjunctive expresses action at same time or after main verb:
Rogo (rogabo) quid faciat.
I am asking (I will ask) what he is doing, or what he will do.
II. Primary sequence, when subjunctive expresses action before main verb:
Rogo (rogabo) quid fecerit.
I am asking (I will ask) what he did.
III. Secondary sequence, when subjunctive expresses action at same time or after main
verb:
Rogavi (rogabam, rogaveram) quid faceret.
I asked (I was asking, I had asked) what he was doing, or what he would do.
IV. Secondary sequence, when subjunctive expresses action before main verb:
Rogavi (rogabam, rogaveram) quid fecisset.
I asked (I was asking, I had asked) what he had done.
Sample ExCET-type questions:
1. Fill in the blank in the following sentence:
Nescio cur ______________.
a. fugiebas.
b. fugisti
c. fugeris.
d. fugisses.
Answer: c (fugeris, perfect subjunctive) because a subjunctive is required in
an indirect question (hence the indicatives fugiebam and fugisti [a and
b] are impossible), and the pluperfect subjunctive fugisses (d) cannot occur
after a present main verb like nescio.
2. Fill in the blank in the following sentence:
Rogabant quomodo urbs _____________.
a. inventa sit
b. inveniatur
c. inventa esset
d. invenitur.
Answer: c (inventa esset, pluperfect subjunctive) because a subjunctive is
required in an indirect question (hence the indicative invenitur [d] is
impossible), and the perfect subjunctive inventa sit (a) and the present
subjunctive inveniatur (b) cannot occur after an imperfect main verb like rogabant.
3. Read the following
sentence and answer the question below:
Rogat quid fecerit.
In this sentence,
the action expressed by the word fecerit happens
a. after the
action expressed by the word rogat.
b. before the
action expressed by the word rogat.
c. at the same
time as the action expressed by the word rogat.
d. in the future.
Answer: b (before
the action expressed by the word rogat), because
fecerit is a perfect subjunctive, and the perfect subjunctive
expresses action that occurs before the action of the main verb upon which
the perfect subjunctive is dependent.
|
