Perfect in -ere: amavere

Level 6

The ending -ere means the same as -erunt in the perfect.

How It Works

Usual formPoetic formMeaning
amaveruntamaverethey loved
videruntviderethey saw
fueruntfuerethey were
tenuerunttenuerethey held
veneruntvenerethey came

The ending -ere is easy to mix up with the infinitive of the second and third conjugations. A perfect has the perfect stem before -ere, as in tenuere (from tenui). The infinitive does not.

A present infinitive usually depends on another verb, such as volo or possum. A perfect in -ere stands alone with its own subject, as in Tyrii tenuere.

The Vulgate prefers -erunt, so you will meet -ere mostly in classical poetry and history.

Examples (3)

  1. Urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni,

    There was an ancient city, which Tyrian settlers held,

    Aeneid 1.12. Tenuere is the perfect of teneo, equal to tenuerunt.

  2. Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona multi;

    Many brave men lived before Agamemnon;

    Horace, Odes 4.9.25. Vixere is vixerunt.

  3. Cives ad urbem venere.

    The citizens came to the city.

    Venere is venerunt, and the perfect stem is ven-.

How It Connects

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Perfect in -ere: amavereLevel 6

Learn This First

-ere is a poetic ending of the perfect.

Words in This Pattern

-ereamo