Henle Latin I - Ex. 155

[Kim W.]

Hello,

My student is confused why the word "laudabat." in this exercise is sometimes translated "praised" and other times "was praising."

Specifically, in sentences 1 and 3, the answer key translates "laudabat" as PRAISED which is not the Imperfect Tense translation that we learned for the "bat" ending in Grammar No. 163. (It appears to be the Active, Indicative, Perfect Tense from Grammar No. 174 which we have not learned.)

However, in sentence 4, the answer key translated the same word as WAS PRAISING which is more in line with what we have learned.

Thank you for your insights,
Kim
Merritt Island, FL

[Michael]

Kim,

The technical translation of the imperfect is "was/were praising" as you said. "Praised" is one of the translations of the perfect tense. The distinction that Latin is making is between an ongoing, incomplete (imperfect) action and a completed (perfect) action. In English we don't always make the same distinction, and sometimes it sounds better to translate the imperfect with "praised" even though "praised" is technically incorrect (see Henle text, pp. 108-109 on "was eating" vs. "ate") Your student doesn't need to worry about this too much right now. Just know that was/were is always right when translating the imperfect into English, and if Henle gives a "perfect" meaning in the teacher key, he is just writing the sentence in a way that sounds good in English even if it is less accurate. Does this answer your question?

[Kim W.]

Michael,

Sure does!

Thank you for your time. This forum is a HUGE benefit in our Latin studies.

Sincerely,

Kim W.
Merritt Island, FL