the infamous Satanic hand symbolism.
there are many more as many of you know by
now.
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-do-the-latin-tenses-mean-121413
ThoughtCo. What Do The Latin Tenses Mean?
*The "shall" is a bit old-fashioned – in the U.S., at least. Here we usually replace "shall" with "will".
by N.S. Gill
Updated March 06, 2017
A reader trying to teach himself Latin asked: What I am trying to find are the meanings for all the other tenses [beyond the Present]. I am new at this and I am tying to make it a little easier for me to understand.
He had designed a chart for the paradigms and was trying to insert English translations for all the forms. This might be a good exercise for other Latin students. In my explanation below I mostly use the 1st person singular (the "I"). In English, generally there is a difference between the 1st singular (I) and the 3rd singular (he), as in "I love" but "he loves". Aside from this, it should be a straightforward project.
Latin has 6 tenses.
1. Present
2. Imperfect
3. Future
4. Perfect
5. Pluperfect
6. Future Perfect
Here is an example (using the active voice of the 1st conjugation verb amare 'to love'):
1. Present: amo I love, I do love, I am loving
2. Imperfect: amabam I loved, I did love, I was loving, I used to love
3. Future:* amabo I shall love, I am going to love, I am about to love
4. Perfect: amavi I loved, I have loved
5. Pluperfect: amaveram I had loved
6. Future Perfect:* amavero I shall have loved
Latin Tenses - Overview
In Latin, there are one present tense, three past tenses, and two future tenses. To understand the differences among the tenses, we need to pay attention to when the action takes place (present), took place (past), or will take place (future).
• In the present tense, the action is taking place in the present. It is happening now.
I am reading. Lego.[Present]
• In the past tenses, it happened in the past, but it may still be going on or it may be finished.
CONTINUED:
If it is finished, it is referred to as perfect, since perfect = completed. You use one of the perfect tenses for such actions. [N.B.: There are 3 perfect tenses. To make matters confusing, one of these tenses is referred to as "the" perfect. It is the most common of the perfects, but be alert.]
For the Perfect - think of the English -ed ending
What the master ORDERED, you NEGLECTED to follow. erus quod imperavit, neglexisti persequi.