Pluperfect and Future Perfect Tenses

Table of contents

1. Verb Tenses
2. The Pluperfect Tense
   1. Conceptual Overview
   2. Pluperfect Active
   3. Pluperfect Passive
3. The Future Perfect Tense
   1. Conceptual Overview
   2. Future Perfect Active
   3. Future Perfect Passive

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Verb Tenses

We have worked with four out of the six tenses in Latin so far: perfect, imperfect, present, and future. We have two more to discuss in terms of concept and formation: the pluperfect and the future perfect.

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The Pluperfect Tense

Conceptual Overview

The pluperfect tense indicates an action that occurred prior to an action in the past. So, we usually translate the pluperfect with the auxiliary verb “had”.

• frātrēs vīdī. eī ex urbe vēnerant. I saw the brothers. They had come out of the city.
• uxor agricolae laeta erat. carmen eī cecinerat. The wife of the farmer was happy. He had sung a song for her.

These examples hopefully make clear that the pluperfect tense is often used in the context of a past tense like the perfect or imperfect and gives a sense of the circumstances around the action of that past tense verb.

Note the difference between the translation of the perfect and the translation of the pluperfect. The perfect tense uses “has” or “have” as a helping verb; the pluperfect tense uses “had” (itself the past tense of “has/have”). This difference in translation indicates two different time periods, so it’s important to be accurate!

Pluperfect Active

To form the pluperfect active indicative, we begin by taking the perfect active stem (the third principal part minus the final -ī) and add the pluperfect active endings. They look exactly like the imperfect forms of sum, esse, but are used as endings, attached to a stem to create a one-word form:

Thus, a sample paradigm chart of the pluperfect active for a verb like videō looks like the following:

Pluperfect Passive

We form the pluperfect passive indicative in a manner very similar to that of the perfect passive indicative. We use the 4th principal part as a 2-1-2 adjective that matches the subject in gender, case, and number, and then we conjugate a form of sum, esse in the appropriate person and number; in this case, with the pluperfect passive, we will use the imperfect forms of sum.

For instance, for the verb videō:

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The Future Perfect Tense

Conceptual Overview

The future perfect tense indicates an action that occurs in the future but before an action further in the future. Take a look at this example in English:

• We will have arrived before you will wake up. (The action of our arriving occurs BEFORE the action of your waking up.)

So, we usually translate the future perfect with the auxiliary verbs “will have”. The “will” part conveys the future part of the tense; the “have” part conveys the perfect part of the tense.

Future Perfect Active

To form the future perfect active indicative, we begin by taking the perfect stem (the third principal part minus the final -ī) and add the future perfect active endings. They look almost exactly like the future forms of sum, esse EXCEPT for the 3rd plural:

So, if we wanted to form the 3rd person plural future perfect active indicative of regō:

rexī -> rex- (perfect active stem) -> (add personal ending) rexerint, “they will have ruled”

Future Perfect Passive

We form the future perfect passive indicative in a manner very similar to that of the perfect passive indicative. We use the 4th principal part as a 2-1-2 adjective that matches the subject in gender, case, and number, and then we conjugate a form of sum, esse in the appropriate person and number; in this case, with the future perfect passive, we will use the future forms of sum. (Note that we use the normal 3rd pl. form, erunt, rather than the -i- present in the future perfect active ending.)

For instance, for the verb moneō:

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