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Luthic: Difference between revisions
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* (active) geverebbi þana buoco. → I would give the book. | * (active) geverebbi þana buoco. → I would give the book. | ||
* (passive) so buocu sarebbe gevatu mina. → The book would be given by me. | * (passive) so buocu sarebbe gevatu mina. → The book would be given by me. | ||
====Imperfect==== | |||
The imperfect is a past tense in Luthic characterised by its imperfective aspect. It stands in direct contrast to the preterite, which presents past events from a perfective viewpoint (i.e., as completed, single occurrences). The imperfect, instead, describes past situations or actions without reference to their beginning or end. Its principal functions are: | |||
* Descriptive: To set the scene or describe states and characteristics in a narrative. | |||
* Habitual: To express actions that were repeated or customary in the past. | |||
* Durative: To depict an ongoing action in the past, often providing a temporal frame that is interrupted by another event (typically expressed in the preterite). | |||
The difference between imperfective and perfective aspects can be illustrated clearly with the verb vetare. The imperfect expresses being in possession of knowledge in the past, while the perfective expresses the moment of acquiring the knowledge. | |||
* (imperfective) vetavo þa treggua. → I knew the truth. | |||
* (perfective) vetai þa treggua. → I found out the truth. | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||