Past iterative tense

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Past iterative tense is a grammatical tense in the Lithuanian language, which denotes complete iterative action in the past as opposed to past tense (in the Lithuanian language) with the meaning of non-iterative or progressive one.

This tense which is sometimes referred to as the "past habitual" (in Lithuanian) is similar to the English "used to" construction, but unlike "used to" it does not say anything about whether or not the action is currently carried out. It is formed by adding the suffix -dav- to the stem of the infinitive and then adding personal flexions (endings), for example:

imti + dav + -au = imdavau (=I used to take)

The past iterative tense does not exist in Latvian and its construction is different in the Samogitian dialect of Lithuanian. Most probably this means that this tense is the newest. It developed much later than the other three tenses (present, past simple and future).

The term "past iterative" also refers to an alternative inflection of verbs used in the Epic dialect (also known as Homeric dialect) of Ancient Greek. Past iterative verbs in Greek use "σκ" inside the verb and have the same meaning as aorist or imperfect verbs. Two examples of past iterative verbs are "φθνύθεσκε" ("was pining") and "ποθέεσκε" ("yearned") from verses 491-2 of the first book of the Iliad.