What Do the Tenses Mean?

A 50-something reader trying to familiarize himself with Latin after a presumed prolonged absence from school downloaded a chart from this site that explained how to translate the present active indicative of Latin verbs, but not any of the other tenses. He wanted to know how to translate the other tenses. While the information is on the site, it was not all together in one place.

It can be hard to explain basics clearly without getting bogged down in tangents or alternates. Basics often gloss over irregularities and ignore exceptions, but it is almost impossible to get going without them. I have tried to create such a page to explain the differences among the tenses here: What Do the Tenses Mean? I hope there is enough there to help, but not overwhelm.

Photo of the first person singular of the Latin verb amo.