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104 of the Principal Clause, and hence care must be taken to use the proper Tense in the Dependent Clause. Latin is much more exact in this respect than English. Thus:

(1) Latin uses a Future in the Dependent Clause if the Principal Clause is Future, not a Present, as English: respondēbō cum pŏtĕrō I will answer when I am able.

(2) Latin uses a Completed tense if the action in the Dependent Clause is finished before the action in the Principal Clause, not an Incomplete one, as English: cum vēnĕrō, tē vīsam when I come, I will visit you.

For the same reason Latin uses the Perfect and Pluperfect in Dependent sentences, of General or Repeated occurrences: quōcumquĕ aspexistī, tŭae tĭbĭ occurrunt iniūrĭae wherever you look, your offences meet you, cum rŏsam vīdĕrăt, tum incĭpĕrĕ vēr arbĭtrābātŭr when (whenever) he saw a rose, then he thought spring was beginning. (3) Latin uses the Perfect Aorist after postquam and other Temporal Conjunctions, if one action is simply marked as that after or before which some other action occurs, while English often uses the Pluperfect postquam cēnāvĭmŭs, Attĭcŭs advēnĭt after we had dined, Atticus came.

§ 225. —The tense of a Verb in the Subjunctive in a Dependent Sentence is determined by the following considerations:

(A) The Tense of the Verb in the Principal sentence to which it is referred, which usually determines whether it is to be Primary or Secondary. This is called the Sequence of Tenses. See below.

(B) The nature of the action which it expresses. This