1594. The imperfect indicative represents action as going on in past
time: as,
#scrībēbam#, _I was writing_, or _I wrote_. #ei mihi quālis erat#, V. 2,
274, _woe’s me, how ghastly he appeared_. #multōsque per annōs errābant
āctī fātīs#, V. 1, 31, _and they for many a year were roaming round, by
fates pursued_.
1595. The imperfect often denotes past action lasting while something
else occurred: as,
#an tum erās cōnsul, cum mea domus ardēbat?# _Pis._ 26, _were you
perhaps consul at the time my house was burning down?_ #neque vērō tum
īgnōrābat sē ad exquīsīta supplicia proficīscī#, _Off._ 3, 100, _and all
the time he knew perfectly well that he was starting off to suffer
studied torments_.
1596. The imperfect is used to denote repeated or customary past action
or condition: as,
#commentābar dēclāmitāns cōtīdiē#, _Br._ 310, _I always practised
speaking my compositions every day_. #noctū ambulābat in pūblicō
Themistoclēs#, _TD._ 4, 44, _Themistocles used to promenade the streets
nights_.
1597. The imperfect, when accompanied by some expression of duration of
time, is used to denote action which had been going on for some time,
and was still going on.
This imperfect, which is translated by the English pluperfect, is
analogous to the present in 1589: as, #pater grandis nātū iam diū lectō
tenēbātur#, _V._ 5, 16, _his aged father had long been bedridden_.
#hōram amplius iam permultī hominēs mōliēbantur#, _V._ 4, 95, _something
over an hour a good many men had been prizing away_. But if the action
is conceived as completed at a past time, the pluperfect is used: as,
#diem iam quīntum cibō caruerat#, 6, 38, 1, _four whole days he had gone
without eating_.
1598. In a few examples, the imperfect is used to denote action suddenly
recognized, though going on before: as, #ehem, Parmenō, tūn hīc erās?#
T. _Hec._ 340, _why bless me, Parmeno, were you here all this time?_
1599. In descriptions of place or in general truths, where the present
might be expected, the imperfect is sometimes used, by assimilation to
past action in the context: as, #ipsum erat oppidum Alesia in colle
summō#, 7, 69, 1, _Alesia proper was situated on the top of a hill_.
Often also in subordinate sentences.
1600. For the imperfect indicative of certain verbs relating to action
not performed at the present time, see 1497; for the conative use, see
2302.
1601. In letters, the imperfect may denote action at the time of
writing, the writer transferring himself to the time of the reader: as,
#haec tibi dictābam post fānum putre Vacūnae#, H. _E._ 1, 10, 49,
_I dictate this for thee behind Vacuna’s crumbling shrine_. #nihil
habēbam quod scrīberem#, _Att._ 9, 10, 1, _I have nothing to write_.
Similarly in the delivery of messages: as, #scrībae ōrābant#, H. _S._ 2,
6, 36, _the clerks request_. The present, however, is very often used
where the imperfect would be applicable. Compare 1616.