Latin:Verbs

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Indo-european Italic la.png Vatican City, Ancient Rome Latin

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Overview

Latin verbs are split into four conjugations all of which are modified using similar endings to [possibly] express person, number, gender, mood, tense, and voice. There are three persons which can be separated into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Number is either singular or plural. Gender is masculine, feminine, and neuter, and only applies when conjugating participles. There are five main moods in Latin: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative, Infinitive, and the participle. The tense of the verbs can be either perfective or imperfective (perfect, pluperfect, future perfect and present, imperfect, and future respectively).

When first learning a Latin verb, or looking one up in a dictionary four forms are usually listed. These forms are known as the principle parts and show the four forms of the verb necessary to fully conjugate it in all tenses, moods, and voices. Each of the conjugations is separated by the dominant vowel in the infinitive stem of the verb. The four principle parts of a verb are shown in this example:


Examples:

amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus (to like, love)

In the example above for the verb amāre the first form given is the first person singular present active indicative form of the verb, which can be simply translated as "I love".

The second form given is the present active infinitive which can be translated as "to love".

The third form is the first person singular perfect active indicative form which gives the stem for the perfective tenses known as the historic stem. This form can be translated as "I loved/I have loved".

The final form given is the perfect passive participle masculine singular which can be translated as "(the masculine thing) having been loved".

Conjugations

Below are the four conjugations of Latin verbs. Important irregular verbs which do not belong in any of the four conjugations will be listed at the end in full.

Coniugatio Prīma (First conjugation)

The first conjugation is characterized by the long ā. This ā is most recognizable in the present active infinitive in the principle parts of the verb. The model verb for this conjugation will be the verb "amāre" (to like, love), whose principle parts are "amo, amāre, amāvī, amātum".

Coniugatio Secunda (Second conjugation)

The second conjugation is characterized by the long ē. This ā is most recognizable in the present active infinitive in the principle parts of the verb. The model verb for this conjugation will be the verb "implēre" (to fill), whose principal parts are "impleō, implēre, implēvī, implētum".

Coniugatio Tertia (Third conjugation)

The third conjugation is characterized by the short thematic vowel which differs between verbs. Verbs of this kind are most recognizable in the present active infinitive in the principle parts of the verb which is "ere". The model verb for this conjugation will be the verb "crēscere" (to increase, grow larger), whose principal parts are "crēscō, crēscere, crēvī, crētum".

A smaller subset of these verbs which lies as a bridge between the third and fourth conjugations are the so-called "-iō" verbs which differ in some respects from the third conjugation. The model verb for these will be "capiō" (to capture, take, seize) whose principle parts are "capiō, capere, cēpī, captum".

Coniugatio Quarta (Fourth conjugation)

The fourth (and final) conjugation is characterized by the long ī. This ī is most recognizable in the present active infinitive in the principle parts of the verb. The model verb for this conjugation will be the verb "audiō" (to hear, listen to), whose principal parts are "audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum".

Tenses

As stated above, tenses are split into imperfective and perfective. A summary of what each tense was and meant to the Romans as well as how it is translated into English will be given below.

Imperfective Tenses

Tempus Praesēns (Present Tense)

The present tense shows an ongoing action that is happening at the present time. The personal endings are added to the first principle part of the verb. The personal endings for the active voice are: -ō/-m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt. The personal endings for the passive voice are: -or/-r, -ris/-re, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur.

The present active system is basic statement in the present. For instance "amō" can be translated as "I love.

Present Active Indicative
amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Ego amō impleō crēscō capiō audiō
Tū amās implēs crēscis capis audīs
Is/Ea/Id amat implet crēscit capit audit
Nōs amāmus implēmus crēscimus capimus audīmus
Vōs amātis implētis crēscitis capitis audītis
Eī/Eae/Ea amant implent crēscunt capiunt audiunt

The present passive system is a basic statement in the present in which the subject of the verb is object of the verb also. For instance, "amor" can be translated as "I am loved".

Present Passive Indicative
amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Ego amor impleor crēscor capior audior
Tū amāris (-re) implēris (-re) crēsceris (-re) caperis (-re) audīris (-re)
Is/Ea/Id amātur implētur crēscitur capitur audītur
Nōs amāmur implēmur crēscimur capimur audīmur
Vōs amāminī implēminī crēsciminī capiminī audīminī
Eī/Eae/Ea amantur implentur crēscuntur capiuntur audiuntur

The subjunctive voice in Latin is hard to translate into English mainly given to the fact that it can be used in a myriad of ways. At the core however, the subjunctive expresses something uncertain and words like "may" or "might" in English can sometimes cover the translation. The subjunctive also offers an alternative to the imperative, call the hortatory subjunctive and the jussive subjunctive.
Examples:

Arbores portēmus. Let us carry the trees.
Cives urbem defendant. Let the citizens defend the city.

The subjunctive is not too different from the Indicative voice, since it uses the same personal endings. However, the vowel of the verb changes. For the first conjugation, the ā changes to an e or ē. For the second, the ē changes to ea and ēa. The third changes to an a or ā, and finally for the fourth the i changes to ia or iā. A useful mnemonic for remembering the endings of the present subjunctive is: Defeat all liars.

Present Active Subjunctive
amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Ego amem impleam crēscam capiam audiam
Tū amēs impleās crēscās capiās audiās
Is/Ea/Id amet impleat crēsct capiat audiat
Nōs amēmus impleāmus crēscāmus capiāmus audiāmus
Vōs amētis impleātis crēscātis capiātis audiātis
Eī/Eae/Ea ament impleant crēscant capiant audiant

The present passive subjunctive is translated similarly to the present active subjunctive. The difference is that, as with all passives, the subject is the object. The only difference in form is the use of the passive personal endings with the subjunctive vowels of the present tense.

Present Passive Subjunctive
amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Ego amer implear crēscar capiar audiar
Tū amēris (-re) impleāris (-re) crēscāris (-re) capiāris (-re) audiāris (-re)
Is/Ea/Id ametur impleatur crēsctur capiatur audiatur
Nōs amēmur impleāmur crēscāmur capiāmur audiāmur
Vōs amēminī impleāminī crēscāminī capiāminī audiāminī
Eī/Eae/Ea amentur impleantur crēscantur capiantur audiantur

The imperative of the present represents a simple command in the second person. For instance the imperative singular form of amāre -- "amā" can be translated as "love (this person/thing)". The singular form of the infinitive is formed from the stem of the noun with no personal endings while the plural adds to suffix -te.

Present Active Imperative
amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Tū amā implē crēsce cape audī
Vōs amāte implēte crēscete capite audite

The present passive imperative, unlike the active, does not simply use the stem of the verb. Instead, for the singular it uses the alternate second person singular passive ending, while the plural uses the second person plural passive ending.

Present Passive Imperative
amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Tū amāre implēre crēscere capere audīre
Vōs amāminī implēminī crēsciminī capiminī audīminī
Tempus Imperfectum (Imperfect Tense)
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