secondary tense
The concept of 'secondary tense' is crucial in understanding how verb tenses relate to each other, especially in languages like Latin and Greek.
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Definition
C2Latin Grammar
(technical, academic)Tenses like the perfect, imperfect, and pluperfect that indicate actions relative to another past action.
Example
- In Latin, the imperfect tense is a secondary tense used to describe an ongoing action in the past.
C2Greek Grammar
(technical, academic)Tenses such as the aorist, imperfect, and pluperfect that describe actions relative to a different point in time.
Example
- The aorist tense in Greek is a secondary tense that often denotes a simple past action.
C1General Grammar
(technical, academic)A tense used to express an action or state that is related to another point in time, often involving combinations of primary tenses.
Example
- In English, 'had been running' is a secondary tense indicating an action completed before another past event.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "secondary tense":