LATIN REVIEW

CHPS. 1-19

VERBS & CONJUGATIONS

Conjugations refer to verbs.

There are four conjugations in Latin,

including the sub-conjugation of 3 rd io
verbs.

1st/2nd conjugation verbs will be conjugated

the same way in all six tenses;
conjugational patterns will differ for 3 rd, 3rd
io and 4th conjugation verbs.

VERBS & CONJUGATIONS

Verbs have five characteristics:

Person 1st/2nd/3rd
Number singular/plural
Tense present/future/imperfect/perfect/
pluperfect/ future perfect
Mood indicative/imperative/subjunctive
Voice active/passive

Overview
Just like nouns and adjectives, we put Lain
verbs into groups that of verbs that are
formed in the same way.
We call these categories of verbs
Conjugations.
Verbs too change their endings, but in a way
different from nouns. The endings of the verb
tell us about who is doing the verbal action.
We call the endings of a verb the Personal
Endings.

The Conjugations
Each of the four Conjugations of Latin
Verbs has what we call a Thematic
Vowel.
When a verb belongs to a particular
conjugation, it means the Thematic
Vowel always appears in the verb in
its Present, Imperfect, and Future
tense forms, so the Conjugation and
Thematic Vowel are crucial to
forming a verb correctly.

The Thematic Vowels

The Thematic Vowels for each of the Conjugations are
the following:
1st Conjugation:
2nd Conjugation:
3rd Conjugation: e
4th Conjugation:
When you encounter a verb in Latin, the first thing you
must do is identify the Conjugation. You identify the
Conjugation by identifying the verbs Thematic
Vowel, which can be told from looking at the First
and Second Principle Parts TOGETHER.

The Four Principle Parts

When you look up a verb in your dictionary, it will be listed
with what are called its Four Principle Parts:
Amo,
Amre,
Amavi,
Amatus,-a, -um
1st Person Present Active
1st Person Perfect
Passive
Singular
Infinitve
Singular
Participle
Present
Perfect
I love
To Love
I loved
Having been
loved
Video,
Vidre,
Vidi, Visus, -a, -um
Duco,
Ducere,
Duxi,
Ductus, -a, -um

Recognizing the
Conjugation from the
Conjugation
1 P.P.
2 P.P.
Principle Parts
st

1st
2nd
3rd
3rd io
4th

o
eo
o
io
io

nd

re
re
ere
ere
re

e
e

T.V.

What is the conjugation of the

following verbs?
1. ambul, ambulre, ambulv, ambultum
2. ascend, ascendere, ascend, ascensum
3. audi, audre, audv, audtum
=
4. dbe, dbre, dbu, dbitum =
5. exerce, exercre, exercu, exercitum =
6. imper, imperre, imperv, impertum
7. capi, capere, cp, captum
=
8. mitt, mittere, ms, missum
=
9. posc, poscere, poposc, =
10. veni, venre, ven, ventum
=

=
=

1. ambul, ambulre, ambulv, ambultum

= 1st
2. ascend, ascendere, ascend, ascensum
= 3rd
3. audi, audre, audv, audtum
= 4th
4. dbe, dbre, dbu, dbitum = 2nd
5. exerce, exercre, exercu, exercitum = 2nd
6. imper, imperre, imperv, impertum
= 1st
7. capi, capere, cp, captum
= 3rd -io
8. mitt, mittere, ms, missum
= 3rd
9. posc, poscere, poposc, = 3rd
10. veni, venre, ven, ventum
= 4th

VERBS & CONJUGATIONS

Thus far, we have only learned the all the

systems except the perfect system passive
of the 3rd and 4th conjugations.

The Present System

As mentioned before, Latin uses different
stems for different tenses. We learn the four
Principle parts of any verb in order to form the
three different verbal stems any Latin verb
has.
Stems
1st + 2nd P.P. Present Active/Passive
3rd P.P.
Perfect Active
4th P.P.
Perfect Passive
Here we will discuss the tenses you form on the
Present Stem, the so-called Present System

The Present System

The Present System refers to the tenses we form
using the Present Active/Passive Stem.
These are:
1. Present
2. Imperfect
3. Future
We form these tenses by adding the Present Active
Personal Endings and the appropriate Tense
Marker to the Present Stem.
To form the Present Stem, we drop the re from
the 2nd Principle Part.

Formation of the Present

Stem
Formation of the Present Stem: Drop the re
from the 2nd Principle Part - Exempla:
1. ambul, ambulre
=
2. ascend, ascendere =
3. audi, audre =
4. dbe, dbre =
5. exerce, exercre
=
6. imper, imperre
=
7. capi, capere =
8. mitt, mittere =
9. posc, poscere =
10. veni, venre =

Stem Vowels and Tense

NB: The Present Stem will always end in a
vowel.
This vowel will change slightly between the
Present Tense and the Imperfect and Future
Tenses according to the following rule:
Tense
1st
2nd 3rd
3rd io 4th
Present
-a
-e
-i
-i
-i
Imperfect

-a

-e

-e

-ie

-ie

Future

-a

-e

-e

-ie

-ie

Now that we have the Present Stem, we must

learn the Active Personal Endings of the
Present System:
- o / m - mus
- s - tis
- t - nt
All active forms of the Present, Imperfect, and
Future Tenses use these endings and only
these endings, which we add to the
Present Stem following a formula for each
tense.

1st/2nd CONJUGATION
amo, amare, amavi, amatum (to love)
habeo, habre, habui, habitum (to have)
Present
Future
Imperfect
amo/habeo

amabo/habebo

amabam/habebam

amas/habes

amabis/habebis

amabas/habebas

amat/habet

amabit/habebit

amabat/habebat

amamus/habemus amabimus/habebimus
amabamus/habebamus
amatis/habetis
amant/habent

amabitis/habebitis

amabatis/habebatis

amabunt/habebunt amabant/habebant

3rd CONJUGATION
duco, ducere, duxi, ductum (to lead)
Present
duco
ducis
ducit
ducimus
ducitis
ducunt

Future
Imperfect
ducam
ducbam
duces
ducbas
ducet
ducbat
ducemus
ducbamus
ducetis
ducbatis
ducent
ducbant

3rd IO/4th CONJUGATION

capio, capere, cepi, captum (to seize/take)
venio, venire, vni, venitum (to come)
Present

Future

Imperfect

capio/venio

capiam/veniam

capibam/venibam

capis/venis

capies/venies

capibas/venibas

capit/venit

capiet/veniet

capibat/venibat

capimus/venimus
capiemus/veniemus
capibamus/venibamus
capitis/venitis
capiunt/veniunt

capietis/venietis
capient/venient

capibatis/venibatis

capibant/venibant

IMPERATIVES
Singular Find the stem; Plural add te to the
stem
1st/2nd Conjugations (amo, amare; habeo, habre)
ama
amat
hab
habet
3rd/3rd io Conjugations (ago, agere; capio, capere)
age
agit
cape
capit
4th Conjugations (venio, venire)
veni
venit

IRREGULAR VERBS
sum, esse, fui, futurus (to be/to
exist)
PresentFuture Imperfect
sum
ero eram
es eris eras
est
erit erat
sumus erimus eramus
estis eritis
eratis
sunt
erunt
erant

IRREGULAR VERBS
possum, posse, potui (to be able)
Present
Future Imperfect
possum
potero poteram
potes poteris poteras
potest poterit poterat
possumus poterimus
poteramus
potestis
poteritis poteratis
possunt
poterunt poterant

SUMMARY OF IDIOMS

amabo t please

gratias agere (+ dative case) to give

thanks

bellum gerere to wage war

poenas dare to pay the penalty/suffer the

consequences

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

Latin's m.o. (modus operand way of

operating) is based on quite a different system of
rules.

Marcus canem amat. (Mark loves his dog.)

Canem Marcus amat. (Mark loves his dog.)
Amat canem Marcus. (Mark loves his dog.)
Marcus amat canem. (Mark loves his dog.)
Canem amat Marcus. (Mark loves his dog.)
Amat Marcus canem. (Mark loves his dog.)

How can all six sentences mean the same thing?!

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

In an English sentence, you know who's

doing what to whom based on which noun
comes before or after the verb. The doer
comes first, then the action, then the doee
(subject-verb-object).
In the Latin version, what comes first really
doesn't matter. The position may change,
but as long as the endings don't, the
meaning remains the same. Inflected
languages like Latin use word endings as
flags to show who's doing what to whom.

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

Although word order is not crucial to Latin

syntax, it does suggest a bit of nuance. A
grammatical subject has immediate association
with a verb. A topic, however, comes as if an
answer to a question the most important bit.
Marcum canis amat would stress whom the
dog loves.
Canis Marcum amat, on the other hand,
tells who loves Mark.
Same endings + different order = different
emphasis.

RULES OF LATIN SYNTAX

The grammar ofLatin is highlyinflected;

consequently, it allows for a large
degree of flexibility in choosing word
order.
Word order for prose sentences,
however, is generallysubjectobject
verb, although variations on this are
especially common in poetry and
express subtle nuances in prose.