Latonic/Indicative

The Imperfectu

Use of the Imperfectu

The Imperfectu is another past tense, but it is not as important as the Perfectu. It is used to give background information, situations and 'decor' for actions in the Perfectu. Actions in the Perfectu are always finished, while actions in the Imperfectu may not be. Therefore it can also be used as a continuous: We were ...ing. It is also used for habits and general truths in the past that have been finished, and for repeating actions that don't help the action continue. The Imperfectu on it's own can be used to report on a situation or a habit, but otherwise is rarely used to tell anything, only in combination with the Perfectu.

Forming the Imperfectu

The Imperfectu is quite a lot easier to form than the Perfectu. First of all, take the long root of any verb, and in case of the verbs on -are, add an -i- to bind it to the exit.

• carmínare - carmínai-
• dare - dai-
• habíre - habí-
• sentíre - sentí-
• prenere - prené-
• temére - temé-

Then add the following exits: -a, -a, -a, -amo, -ái, -a'
Add these to the long root of verb to form the Imperfectu. However keep in mind that the binding vowel loses -ai- becomes -i- before the exits -amo, iái(this does not count for dare, stare, ire). Also, the exit -ái removes the accent from the binding vowel.

carmínare	dare	habíre	sentíre	prenere	temére
me carmínaia	me daia	me había	me sentía	me prenéa	me teméa
te carmínaia	te daia	te había	te sentía	te prenéa	te teméa
il carmínaia	il daia	il había	il sentía	il prenéa	il teméa
no carmíniamo	no daiamo	no habíamo	no sentíamo	no prenéamo	no teméamo
vo carmíniái	vo daiái	vo habiái	vo sentiái	vo preneái	vo temeái
i carmínaia'	i daia'	i había'	i sentía'	i prenéa'	i teméa'

Irregular forms

There are no irregularities to the Imperfectu the way there are to the Perfectu. Only a few special verbs use a different root, but with the same exits.

• esse - me era, nos eramo/eriamo, vos erái
• posse - me posséra, no posséramo, vo posserái
• ire - me vaia, no vaiamo
• velle - me voléa
• nolle - me noléa
• fêre - me féa

The Future

The Future Tense has three forms: Futuru Simplex, Futuru Irriale and Futuru Arcáicu

Futuru Simplex

The Futuru Simplex replaces our auxilary verbs go to and will.
It is formed with the auxilary ire and the infinitive: me va carmínare, te va carmínare, etc..
Alternatively, the Gerundive may be used instead of the infitive to indicate a very concrete action:
Me va carmínandu. I am going to sing (literally: I go with the intention to sing).

Futuru Irriale

The Futuru Irriale replaces our auxilaries shall, should and surely will. It is formed with the auxilary verb velle/nolle and the infinitive of the verb.
Il vel certu retornare. I'm sure he'll return.
Istu nole cadére. That won't happen.
The Irriale occurs both in written language as in spoken language, though in written language, it is slightly more popular than the Simplex, while the Simplex is pore popular in spoken language.

Futuru Arcáicu

The Futuru Arcáicu is an ancient form which existed in Latin and dissapeared in all later Romance languages. In Latonic it has also dissapears, except for a few verbs which still have it as an alternative to the Futuru Irriale. The Arcáicu of esse and velle. is only used in written language, except in poetry and archaic spoken language. The Arcáicu of the other verbs is only used in archaic language, and might still occur in poetry. Being able to use it will certainly impress people, but it is not required to be able to do this, and is rather hard because all existing forms are irregular.

esse	posse	ire	velle	nolle
me ere	me possére	me ibe	me volbe (volibe)	me nolbe
tu ere	te possére	tu ibe	te volbe (volibe)	te nolbe
il ere	il possére	il ibe	il volbe (volibe)	il nolbe
nos erímo	no possérímo	nos ibímo	no volbímo	no nolbímo
vos eríi	vo posséríi	vos ibíi	vo volbíi	vo nolbíi
i ere'	i possére'	i ibe'	i volbe' (volibe')	i nolbe'

Plus que Perfectu

English has two past tenses: I was and I have been. However these may also be combind to the Past Perfect: I had been.
Latonic also has a Past Perfect, known as the Plus que Perfectu (PqP). The PqP is formed by taking the third person plural of the Perfectu, removing the exit -o' and adding the exits of the Imperfectu:

• carmínare - me carmínâra, te carmínâra, il carmínâra, no carmínaramo, vo carmínarái, i carmínâra'
• finíre - me finîra, te finîra, il finîra, no finiramo, vo finirái, i finîra'
• prenere - me presera, te presera, ..., no preseramo, ...'
• habíre - me habûera, ..., no(s) habueramo, ...'
• esse - me fûera, ..., no fueramo, ...'
• etc.

Future Past

Sentences with an auxilary can always be put in the past:

• me fûi, me fûera - I have been, I had been
• me va esse, me vaia esse - I will be, I will have been
• me îi esse, me îra esse - I was going to be, I would have been

The Future Past Tenses are used when, at a certain point in the past, it seemed something was going to happen.

• Futuru Perfectu - me îi esse (Perfectu ire + infinitive) - Used for an action/event which during one instant seemed was going to happen, but in the end didn't (or hasn't yet)
• Futuru Exactu - me vaia esse (Imperfectu ire + infinitive) - Used for an action/event which during a period of time was known to be going to happen. Whether it has yet happened and/or will ever happen is not specified.
• Futuru Plus que Perfectu or Futuru Perfectu Exacti - me îra esse (PqP ire + infinitive) - Used when, at some point in the past, it was presumed that at some point in the future from that point something would have happened or been done, when at the point itself it had not been happened. Whether it had happened at that point in the future, whether it has happened now and whether it ever will happen is unspecified. Don't try to learn or understand this, you will get what it's all about when you need to use it.