1732. I. The tense of a subordinate indicative often indicates a close
relation of time with the tense of the leading verb, particularly in
cases of repeated contemporaneous or antecedent action. The subordinate
sentence in such combinations is said to have _Relative_ time.
1733. (1.) The subordinate indicative tense may express action
concurrent with the main action. Two concurrent sentences are usually
put in the same tense.
Concurrent action is said to be (_a._) _congruent_, when two actions
merely cover the same time: as, #dum legō, adsentior#, _TD._ 1, 24, _as
long as I am reading, I assent_. #dum necesse erat, ūnus omnia poterat#,
_RA._ 139, _so long as it had to be, one man controlled the world_. #dum
Latīnae loquentur litterae, quercus huic locō nōn deerit#, _Leg._ 1, 2,
_as long as Latin literature has the gift of speech, this spot will not
lack its oak_. #vīxit, dum vīxit, bene#, T. _Hec._ 461, _he lived well
all the time he lived_. #quoad potuit, fortissimē restitit#, 4, 12, 5,
_as long as he could, he made a manful stand_. Or (_b._) _coincident_,
when one action is virtually the same as the other: as, #cum tacent,
clāmant#, _C._ 1, 21, _while they are dumb, they cry out_, i.e. their
silence is as telling as a shout. #fēcistī mihī̆ pergrātum, quod
Serāpiōnis librum mīsistī#, _Att._ 2, 4, 1, _you have obliged me very
much by sending Serapio’s book_.
1734. (2.) The subordinate indicative tense may express action
contemporaneous, antecedent, or subsequent, in relation to the main
action.
1735. (_a._) Action contemporaneous with a main present is expressed by
a present, with a main future or virtual future, by a future, with a
main secondary tense by an imperfect: as,
#quod est, eō decet ūtī#, _CM._ 27, _what you have, that you should
avail yourself of_. #hōrologium mittam, sī erit sūdum#, _Fam._ 16, 18,
3, _I will send the clock, if it is pleasant_ (1625). #paulātim dabis,
sī sapiēs#, T. _Hau._ 870, _you’ll give in driblets, if you are wise_.
#cum relaxāre animōs volent, caveant intemperantiam#, _Off._ 1, 122,
_when they want to unbend, let them beware of excess_ (1625; 1718).
#omnia deerant, quae ad reficiendās nāvēs erant ūsuī#, 4, 29, 4, _they
were out of everything that was serviceable for repairing their
vessels_.
1736. (_b._) Action antecedent to a main present is expressed by a
perfect, to a main future or virtual future by a future perfect, to a
main secondary tense by a pluperfect: as,
#quōcumque aspexistī tuae tibī̆ occurrunt iniūriae#, _Par._ 18,
_wherever you turn your gaze, you are confronted by your own abominable
acts_. #cum posuī librum, adsēnsiō omnis ēlābitur#, _TD._ 1, 24, _when I
drop the book, all assent melts away_ (1860). #quicquid fēceris,
adprobābō#, _Fam._ 3, 3, 2, _no matter what you do, I shall think it
well_ (1626). #ut quisque istīus animum offenderat, in lautumiās statim
coniciēbātur#, _V._ 5, 143, _any man that wounded his sensibilities was
always flung into the quarries without any ado_.
1737. (_c._) Action subsequent to a main present is expressed by the
future participle with a present form of #sum#, to a main future or
virtual future by the future participle with a future form of #sum#, and
to a main secondary tense by the future participle with an imperfect
form of #sum#: as,
#decem diēs sunt ante lūdōs, quōs Cn. Pompēius factūrus est#, _V. a.
pr_. 31, _there are ten days before the shows which Pompey is to
manage_. #attentōs faciēmus, sī dēmōnstrābimus ea, quae dictūrī erimus,
magna esse#, _Inv._ 1, 23, _we shall make people attentive if we show
that what we are going to say is important_. #rēx, quia nōn interfutūrus
nāvālī certāminī erat, Magnēsiam concessit#, L. 36, 43, 9, _as the king
was not to have a hand in the action at sea, he moved off to Magnesia_.
1738. II. A subordinate indicative tense is said to be _Independent_
when it simply expresses time of its own, without any close relation to
the time of the main action.
Such independent tenses may denote general present action: as, #ībam
forte viā sacrā, sīcut meus est mōs#, H. _S._ 1, 9, 1, _in Sacred
Street, as is my wont, I happened to be promenading_ (relatively, #erat
mōs#, 1735). #nōn mē appellābis, sī sapis#, Pl. _Most._ 515, _you won’t
address me, if you have sense_ (relatively, #sī sapiēs#, 1735). Or past
action, either continuous, completed, or indefinite: as, #ut mōs fuit
Bī̆thȳniae rēgibus, lectīcā ferēbātur#, _V._ 5, 27, _he regularly rode
in a litter, as was the practice of the despots of Bithynia_; here
#fuit# denotes action simply as past, without further definition of time
(1603), whereas #erat#, relative to the time of #ferēbātur#, would imply
_which was then the practice_ (1595).
1739. With #dum#, _in the time while_, an independent present is used:
see 1995. With #postquam#, &c., _after_, an independent perfect is used
of a single action; see 1925.