Latin conjugation
Latin grammar |
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In linguistics and grammar, conjugation has two basic meanings.[1] One meaning is the creation of derived forms of a verb from basic forms, or principal parts.
The second meaning of the word conjugation is a group of verbs which all have the same pattern of inflections. Thus all those Latin verbs which in the present tense have 1st singular -ō, 2nd singular -ās, and infinitive -āre are said to belong to the 1st conjugation, those with 1st singular -eō, 2nd singular -ēs and infinitive -ēre belong to the 2nd conjugation, and so on. The number of conjugations of regular verbs is usually said to be four.
The word "conjugation" comes from the Latin coniugātiō, a calque of the Greek συζυγία (syzygia), literally "yoking together (horses into a team)".
For examples of verbs and verb groups for each inflectional class, see the Wiktionary appendix pages for first conjugation, second conjugation, third conjugation, and fourth conjugation.
Number of conjugations
The ancient Romans themselves, beginning with Varro (1st century BC), originally divided their verbs into three conjugations (coniugationes verbis accidunt tres: prima, secunda, tertia "there are three different conjugations for verbs: the first, second, and third" (Donatus), 4th century AD), according to whether the ending of the 2nd person singular had an a, an e or an i in it.[2] However, others, such as Sacerdos (3rd century AD), Dositheus (4th century AD) and Priscian[3] (c. 500 AD), recognised four different groups.[4]
In modern times grammarians[5] generally recognise four conjugations according to the ending of the active infinitive: namely -āre, -ēre, -ere, or -īre, for example: (1) amō, amāre "to love", (2) videō, vidēre "to see", (3) regō, regere "to rule" and capiō, capere "to capture", (4) audiō, audīre "to hear". (3rd conjugation verbs ending in -iō such as capiō are sometimes known as "mixed conjugation" since they use a mixture of 3rd and 4th conjugation endings.)
In addition to regular verbs, which belong to one or other of the four regular conjugations, there are also a few irregular verbs, which have a different pattern of endings. The most frequent of these is the verb sum, esse "to be" together with its prefixed derivatives.
There also exist deponent Latin verbs, which though active in meaning have endings identical to the passive endings of ordinary verbs. Examples in the different conjugations are: (1) moror, morārī "to delay", (2) polliceor, pollicērī "to promise", (3) sequor, sequī "to follow" and regredior, regredī "to go back", (4) mentior, mentīrī "to lie (tell a lie)". Some verbs are semi-deponent, using passive forms for the perfect tenses only.
Principal parts
A verb's full paradigm relies on multiple stems. The present indicative active and the present infinitive are both based on the present stem.
It is not possible to infer the stems for other tenses from the present stem. This means that, although the infinitive active form normally shows the verb conjugation, knowledge of several different forms is necessary to be able to confidently produce the full range of forms for any particular verb.
In a dictionary, Latin verbs are listed with four "principal parts" (or fewer for deponent and defective verbs), which allow the student to deduce the other conjugated forms of the verbs. These are:
- the first person singular of the present indicative active
- the present infinitive active
- the first person singular of the perfect indicative active
- the supine or, in some grammars, the perfect passive participle, which uses the same stem. (Texts that list the perfect passive participle use the future active participle for intransitive verbs.) Some verbs lack this principal part altogether.
Regular conjugations
First conjugation
The first conjugation is characterized by the vowel ā and can be recognized by the -āre ending of the present active infinitive form. The non-perfect tenses conjugate as follows:
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I love | I will love | I was loving | I may love | I might love | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
amō amās amat amāmus amātis amant |
amābō amābis amābit amābimus amābitis amābunt |
amābam amābās amābat amābāmus amābātis amābant |
amem amēs amet amēmus amētis ament |
amārem amārēs amāret amārēmus amārētis amārent | ||
Passive | I am loved | I will be loved | I was being loved | I may be loved | I might be loved | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
amor amāris amātur amāmur amāminī amantur |
amābor amāberis/e* amābitur amābimur amābiminī amābuntur |
amābar amābāris/e* amābātur amābāmur amābāminī amābantur |
amer amēris/e* amētur amēmur amēminī amentur |
amārer amārēris/e* amārētur amārēmur amārēminī amārentur |
* The 2nd person singular passive amāberis, amābāris, amēris, amārēris can be shortened to amābere, amābāre, amēre, amārēre. -re was the regular form in early Latin and (except in the present indicative) in Cicero; -ris was preferred later.[6]
In early Latin (Plautus), the 3rd singular endings -at and -et were pronounced -āt and -ēt with a long vowel.[6]
Other forms:
- Infinitive: amāre "to love"
- Passive infinitive: amārī "to be loved" (in early Latin often amārier)[6]
- Imperative: amā! (pl. amāte!) "love!"
- Future imperative: amātō! (pl. amātōte!) "love! (at a future time)"
- Indirect imperative: amātō! (pl. amantō!) "let him love!"
- Passive imperative: amāre! (pl. amāminī!) "be loved!" (usually only found in deponent verbs)
- Passive future imperative: amātor! (pl. amātōminī!) "be loved! (at a future time)"
- Passive indirect imperative: amātor! (pl. amantor!) "let him be loved!"
- Present participle: amāns (pl. amantēs) "loving"
- Future participle: amātūrus (pl. amātūrī) "going to love"
- Gerundive: amandus (pl. amandī) "needing to be loved"
- Gerund: amandī "of loving", amandō "by/for loving", ad amandum "in order to love"
The principal parts usually adhere to one of the following patterns:
- The perfect has the suffix -āvī. The majority of first-conjugation verbs follow this pattern, which is considered to be "regular", for example:
- amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum, "to love";
- imperō, imperāre, imperāvī, imperātum, "to order";
- laudō, laudāre, laudāvī, laudātum, "to praise";
- negō, negāre, negāvī, negātum, "to deny";
- nūntiō, nūntiāre, nūntiāvī, nūntiātum, "to announce, report";
- ōrō, ōrāre, ōrāvī, ōrātum, "to beg, pray";
- parō, parāre, parāvī, parātum, "to prepare";
- portō, portāre, portāvī, portātum, "to carry";
- pugnō, pugnāre, pugnāvī, pugnātum, "to fight";
- putō, putāre, putāvī, putātum, "to think";
- rogō, rogāre, rogāvī, rogātum, "to ask";
- servō, servāre, servāvī, servātum, "to save";
- vocō, vocāre, vocāvī, vocātum, "to call";
- The perfect has the suffix -uī, for example:
- fricō, fricāre, fricuī, frictum, "to rub";
- secō, secāre, secuī, sectum, "to cut, to divide";
- vetō, vetāre, vetuī, vetitum, "to forbid, to prohibit";
- The perfect has the suffix -ī and vowel lengthening in the stem, for example:
- iuvō, iuvāre, iūvī, iūtum, "to help, to assist";
- lavō, lavāre, lāvī, lautum, "to wash, to bathe";
- The perfect is reduplicated, for example:
- dō, dare, dedī, datum, "to give"
- stō, stāre, stetī, statum, "to stand";
The verb dō "I give" is irregular in that except in the 2nd singular dās and imperative dā, the a is short, e.g. dabō "I will give".
The a is also short in the supine statum and its derivatives, but the other parts of stō "I stand" are regular.
Deponent verbs in this conjugation all follow the pattern below, which is the passive of the first type above:[7]
- arbitror, arbitrārī, arbitrātus sum "to think"
- cōnor, cōnārī, cōnātus sum "to try"
- cūnctor, cūnctārī, cūnctātus sum "to hesitate"
- hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum "to exhort"
- mīror, mīrārī, mīrātus sum "to be surprised, to be amazed at"
- moror, morārī, morātus sum "to delay, stay"
Perfect tenses
The three perfectum tenses of the 1st conjugation go as in the following table:
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Perfect | Future perfect | Pluperfect | Perfect | Pluperfect | |||
Active | I loved | I will have loved | I had loved | I loved | I had loved | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
amāvī amāvistī amāvit amāvimus amāvistis amāvērunt/-ēre* |
amāverō amāverīs/is amāverit amāverīmus/-imus amāverītis/-itis amāverint |
amāveram amāverās amāverat amāverāmus amāverātis amāverant |
amāverim amāverīs amāverit amāverīmus amāverītis amāverint |
amā(vi)ssem* amāvissēs amāvisset amāvissēmus amāvissētis amāvissent | ||
Passive | I was loved | I will have been loved | I had been loved | I was loved | I had been loved | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
amātus sum amātus es amātus est amātī sumus amātī estis amātī sunt |
amātus erō amātus eris amātus erit amātī erimus amātī eritis amātī erunt |
amātus eram amātus erās amātus erat amātī erāmus amātī erātis amātī erant |
amātus sim amātus sīs amātus sit amātī sīmus amātī sītis amātī sint |
amātus essem amātus essēs amātus esset amātī essēmus amātī essētis amātī essent |
In poetry (and also sometimes in prose, e.g. Livy), the 3rd person plural of the perfect indicative is often amāvēre instead of amāvērunt. Occasionally the form amāverunt is also found.[8]
In early Latin, the future perfect indicative had a short i in amāveris, amāverimus, amāveritis, but by the time of Cicero these forms were usually pronounced with a long i, in the same way as in the perfect subjunctive.[9] Virgil has a short i for both tenses; Horace uses both forms for both tenses; Ovid uses both forms for the future perfect, but a long i in the perfect subjunctive.[10]
The -v- of the perfect active tenses sometimes drops out, especially in the pluperfect subjunctive: amāssem for amāvissem. Forms such as amārat and amāstī are also found.
The passive tenses also have feminine and neuter forms, e.g. amāta est "she was loved", nūntiātum est "it was announced".
Forms made with fuī instead of sum and forem instead of essem are also found, for example amātus fuī, amātus fuerō, amātus forem and so on, but these are not common in classical Latin. See Latin tenses.
For other meanings of the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive, see Latin tenses#Jussive subjunctive.
Other forms:
- Perfect infinitive active: amāvisse (amāsse) "to have loved"
- Perfect infinitive passive: amātus esse (amātum esse) "to have been loved"
- Perfect participle passive: amātus, -a, -um "loved (by someone)"
Second conjugation
The second conjugation is characterized by the vowel ē, and can be recognized by the -eō ending of the first person present indicative and the -ēre ending of the present active infinitive form:
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I see | I will see | I was seeing | I may see | I might see | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
videō vidēs videt vidēmus vidētis vident |
vidēbō vidēbis vidēbit vidēbimus vidēbitis vidēbunt |
vidēbam vidēbās vidēbat vidēbāmus vidēbātis vidēbant |
videam videās videat videāmus videātis videant |
vidērem vidērēs vidēret vidērēmus vidērētis vidērent | ||
Passive | I am seen | I will be seen | I was being seen | I may be seen | I might be seen | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
videor vidēris vidētur vidēmur vidēminī videntur |
vidēbor vidēberis/e vidēbitur vidēbimur vidēbiminī vidēbuntur |
vidēbar vidēbāris/e vidēbātur vidēbāmur vidēbāminī vidēbantur |
videar videāris/e videātur videāmur videāminī videantur |
vidērer vidērēris/e vidērētur vidērēmur vidērēminī vidērentur |
The passive videor also often means "I seem".
Other forms:
- Infinitive: vidēre "to see"
- Passive infinitive: vidērī "to be seen"
- Imperative: vidē! (pl. vidēte!) "see!"
- Future imperative: vidētō! (pl. vidētōte!) "see! (at a future time)"
- Passive imperative: vidēre! (pl. vidēminī!) "be seen!" (usually only found in deponent verbs)
- Present participle: vidēns (pl. videntēs) "seeing"
- Future participle: vīsūrus (pl. vīsūrī) "going to see"
- Gerundive: videndus (pl. videndī) "needing to be seen"
- Gerund: videndī "of seeing", videndō "by /for seeing", ad videndum "in order to see"
The principal parts usually adhere to one of the following patterns:
- The perfect has the suffix -uī. Verbs which follow this pattern are considered to be "regular". Examples:
- dēbeō, dēbēre, dēbuī, dēbitum "to owe, be obliged"
- doceō, docēre, docuī, doctum "to teach, to instruct"
- iaceō, iacēre, iacuī, iacitum "to lie (on the ground/bed)"
- mereō, merēre, meruī, meritum "to deserve"
- misceō, miscēre, miscuī, mixtum "to mix"
- moneō, monēre, monuī, monitum "to warn, advise"
- noceō, nocēre, nocuī, nocitum "to be harmful"
- praebeō, praebēre, praebuī, praebitum "to provide, show"
- teneō, tenēre, tenuī, tentum "to hold, to keep"
- terreō, terrēre, terruī, territum "to frighten, to deter"
- timeō, timēre, timuī, – "to fear"
- valeō, valēre, valuī, (valitum) "to be strong"
- The perfect has the suffix –ēvī. Example:
- dēleō, dēlēre, dēlēvī, dēlētum "to destroy"
- fleō, flēre, flēvī, flētum "to weep"
In verbs with perfect in -vī, syncopated (i.e. abbreviated) forms are common, such as dēlēram, dēlēssem, dēlēstī for dēlēveram, dēlēvissem, dēlēvistī.[11]
- The perfect has the suffix –īvī. Example:
- cieō, ciēre, cīvī, citum "to arouse, to stir"
- The perfect has the suffix -sī (which combines with a preceding c or g to –xī). Examples:
- ārdeō, ārdēre, ārsī, ārsum "to burn"
- augeō, augēre, auxī, auctum "to increase, to enlarge"
- haereō, haerēre, haesī, haesum "to stick, to adhere, to get stuck"
- iubeō, iubēre, iussī, iussum "to order"
- maneō, manēre, mānsī, mānsum "to remain"
- persuādeō, persuādēre, persuāsī, persuāsum "to persuade"
- rīdeō, rīdēre, rīsī, rīsum "to laugh"
- The perfect is reduplicated with -ī. Examples:
- mordeō, mordēre, momordī, morsum "to bite"
- spondeō, spondēre, spopondī, spōnsum "to vow, to promise"
- The perfect has suffix -ī and vowel lengthening in the stem. Examples:
- caveō, cavēre, cāvī, cautum "to be cautious"
- faveō, favēre, fāvī, fautum "to favour"
- foveō, fovēre, fōvī, fōtum "to caress, to cherish"
- sedeō, sedēre, sēdī, sessum "to sit"
- videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsum "to see"
- The perfect has suffix -ī. Examples:
- respondeō, respondēre, respondī, respōnsum "to reply"
- strīdeō, strīdēre, strīdī, – "to hiss, to creak" (also strīdō 3rd conj.)
Deponent verbs in this conjugation are few. They mostly go like the passive of terreō, but fateor and confiteor have a perfect participle with ss:[12]
- fateor, fatērī, fassus sum "to confess"
- mereor, merērī, meritus sum "to deserve"
- polliceor, pollicērī, pollicitus sum "to promise"
The following are semi-deponent, that is, they are deponent only in the three perfect tenses:[13]
- audeō, audēre, ausus sum "to dare"
- gaudeō, gaudēre, gāvīsus sum "to rejoice, to be glad"
- soleō, solēre, solitus sum "to be accustomed"
Third conjugation
The third conjugation has a variable short stem vowel, which may be e, i, or u in different environments. Verbs of this conjugation end in -ere in the present active infinitive. Deponent verbs have the infinitive -ī.
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I lead | I will lead | I was leading | I may lead | I might lead | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
dūcō dūcis dūcit dūcimus dūcitis dūcunt |
dūcam dūcēs dūcet dūcēmus dūcētis dūcent |
dūcēbam dūcēbās dūcēbat dūcēbāmus dūcēbātis dūcēbant |
dūcam dūcās dūcat dūcāmus dūcātis dūcant |
dūcerem dūcerēs dūceret dūcerēmus dūcerētis dūcerent | ||
Passive | I am led | I will be led | I was being led | I may be led | I might be led | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
dūcor dūceris dūcitur dūcimur dūciminī dūcuntur |
dūcar dūcēris/re dūcētur dūcēmur dūcēminī dūcentur |
dūcēbar dūcēbāris/re dūcēbātur dūcēbāmur dūcēbāminī dūcēbantur |
dūcar dūcāris/re dūcātur dūcāmur dūcāminī dūcantur |
dūcerer dūcerēris/re dūcerētur dūcerēmur dūcerēminī dūcerentur |
The future tense in the 3rd and 4th conjugation (-am, -ēs, -et etc.) differs from that in the 1st and 2nd conjugation (-bō, -bis, -bit etc.).
Other forms:
- Infinitive: dūcere "to lead"
- Passive infinitive: dūcī "to be led" (the 3rd conjugation has no r)
- Imperative: dūc! (pl. dūcite!) "lead!"
- Future imperative: dūcitō! (pl. dūcitōte!) "lead! (at a future time)"
- Passive imperative: dūcere! (pl. dūciminī!) "be led!" (usually only found in deponent verbs)
- Present participle: dūcēns (pl. dūcentēs) "leading"
- Future participle: ductūrus (pl. ductūrī) "going to lead"
- Gerundive: dūcendus (pl. dūcendī) "needing to be led"
- Gerund: dūcendī "of leading", dūcendō "by /for leading", ad dūcendum "in order to lead"
Four 3rd conjugation verbs usually have no ending in the imperative singular: dūc! "lead!", dīc! "say!", fer! "bring!", fac! "do!".
Others, like curre "run!", have the ending -e.[6]
There is no regular rule for constructing the perfect stem of third-conjugation verbs, but the following patterns are used:
- The perfect has suffix -sī (-xī when c or h comes at the end of the root). Examples:
- carpō, carpere, carpsī, carptum "to pluck, to select"
- cēdō, cēdere, cessī, cessum "to yield, depart"
- claudō, claudere, clausī, clausum "to close"
- contemnō, contemnere, contempsī, contemptum "to despise, disdain, treat with contempt"
- dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictum "to say"
- dīvidō, dīvidere, dīvīsī, dīvīsum "to divide"
- dūcō, dūcere, dūxī, ductum "to lead"
- flectō, flectere, flexī, flexum "to bend, to twist"
- gerō, gerere, gessī, gestum "to wear, to bear; wage (war)"
- mittō, mittere, mīsī, missum "to send"
- regō, regere, rēxī, rēctum "to rule"
- scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptum "to write"
- tegō, tegere, tēxī, tēctum "to cover, conceal"
- trahō, trahere, trāxī, trāctum "to drag, to pull"
- vīvō, vīvere, vīxī, victum "to live"
- The perfect is reduplicated with suffix –ī. Examples:
- cadō, cadere, cecidī, cāsum "to fall"
- caedō, caedere, cecīdī, caesum "to kill, to slay"
- currō, currere, cucurrī, cursum "to run, to race"
- discō, discere, didicī, – "to learn"
- fallō, fallere, fefellī, falsum "to cheat"
- pēdō, pēdere, pepēdī, pēditum "to fart"
- pellō, pellere, pepulī, pulsum "to beat, to drive away"
- pōscō, pōscere, popōscī, – "to claim, request"
- tangō, tangere, tetigī, tāctum "to touch, to hit"
- tendō, tendere, tetendī, tentum/tēnsum "to stretch"
Although dō, dare, dedī, datum "to give" is 1st conjugation, its compounds are 3rd conjugation and have internal reduplication:
- condō, condere, condidī, conditum "to found"
- crēdō, crēdere, crēdidī, crēditum "to entrust, believe"
- dēdō, dēdere, dēdidī, dēditum "to surrender"
- perdō, perdere, perdidī, perditum "to destroy, lose"
- reddō, reddere, reddidī, redditum "to give back"
- trādō, trādere, trādidī, trāditum "to hand over"
Likewise the compounds of sistō have internal reduplication. Although sistō is transitive, its compounds are intransitive:[14]
- sistō, sistere, (stitī), statum "to cause to stand"
- cōnsistō, cōnsistere, cōnstitī, cōnstitum "to come to a halt"
- dēsistō, dēsistere, dēstitī, dēstitum "to stand off"
- resistō, resistere, restitī, restitum "to resist"
- The perfect has suffix -vī. Examples:
- linō, linere, lēvī (līvī), litum "to smear, to daub" (also 4th conj. liniō, linīre, līvī, lītum)
- petō, petere, petīvī, petītum "to seek, to attack"
- quaerō, quaerere, quaesīvī, quaesītum "to look for, ask"
- serō, serere, sēvī, satum "to sow, to plant"
- sternō, sternere, strāvī, strātum "to spread, to stretch out"
- terō, terere, trīvī, trītum "to rub, to wear out"
- The perfect has suffix -ī and vowel lengthening in the stem. If the present stem has an n infix, as in fundō, relinquō and vincō, the infix disappears in the perfect. In some cases, the long vowel in the perfect is thought to be derived from an earlier reduplicated form, e.g. *e-agī > ēgī, *e-emī > ēmī.[15] Examples:
- agō, agere, ēgī, āctum "to do, to drive"
- cōgō, cōgere, coēgī, coāctum "to compel, gather together"
- emō, emere, ēmī, ēmptum "to buy"
- fundō, fundere, fūdī, fūsum "to pour"
- legō, legere, lēgī, lēctum "to collect, to read"
- relinquō, relinquere, relīquī, relictum "to leave behind"
- rumpō, rumpere, rūpī, ruptum "to burst"
- vincō, vincere, vīcī, victum "to conquer, to defeat"
- The perfect has suffix -ī only. Examples:
- ascendō, ascendere, ascendī, ascēnsum "to climb, to go up"
- cōnstituō, cōnstituere, cōnstituī, cōnstitūtum "to establish, decide, cause to stand"
- dēfendō, dēfendere, dēfendī, dēfēnsum "to defend"
- expellō, expellere, expulī, expulsum "to drive out, expel"
- īcō, īcere, īcī, ictum "to strike"
- metuō, metuere, metuī, metūtum "to fear, be apprehensive"
- occīdō, occīdere, occīdī, occīsum "to kill"
- ostendō, ostendere, ostendī, ostentum (ostensum) "to show"
- tollō, tollere, sustulī, sublātum "to lift, raise, remove"
- vertō, vertere, vertī, versum "to turn"
- vīsō, vīsere, vīsī, vīsum "to visit"
- The perfect has suffix –uī. Examples:
- colō, colere, coluī, cultum "to cultivate, to till"
- cōnsulō, consulere, cōnsuluī, cōnsultum "to consult, act in the interests of"
- gignō, gignere, genuī, genitum "to beget, to cause"
- molō, molere, moluī, molitum "to grind"
- pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positum "to place"
- texō, texere, texuī, textum "to weave, to plait"
- vomō, vomere, vomuī, vomitum "to vomit"
- The present tense indicative first person singular form has suffix –scō. Examples:
- adolēscō, adolēscere, adolēvī, adultum "to grow up, to mature"
- nōscō, nōscere, nōvī, nōtum "to get to know, to learn"
- pāscō, pāscere, pāvī, pāstum "to feed upon, to feed (an animal)"
- quiēscō, quiēscere, quiēvī, quiētum "to rest, keep quiet"
Deponent verbs in the 3rd conjugation include the following:
- complector, complectī, complexus sum "to embrace"
- fruor, fruī, frūctus sum "to enjoy" (fruitus is occasionally found)
- fungor, fungī, fūnctus sum "to perform, discharge, busy oneself with"
- lābor, lābī, lāpsus sum "to glide, slip"
- loquor, loquī, locūtus sum "to speak"
- nītor, nītī, nīxus sum "to lean on; to strive" (nīsus is occasionally found)
- queror, querī, questus sum "to complain"
- sequor, sequī, secūtus sum "to follow"
- ūtor, ūtī, ūsus sum "to use"
- vehor, vehī, vectus sum "to ride"
There are also a number of 3rd conjugation deponents with the ending -scor:
- adipīscor, adipīscī, adeptus sum "to obtain"
- īrāscor, īrāscī, īrātus sum "to get angry"
- nancīscor, nancīscī, nactus sum "to obtain"
- nāscor, nāscī, nātus sum "to be born"
- oblīvīscor, oblīvīscī, oblītus sum "to forget"
- proficīscor, proficīscī, profectus sum "to set out"
- ulcīscor, ulcīscī, ultus sum "to avenge, take vengeance on"
Deponent in some tenses only is the following:[13]
- fīdō, fīdere, fīsus sum "to trust"
The following is deponent only in the non-perfect tenses:
- revertor, revertī, revertī "to turn back"
Third conjugation -iō verbs
Intermediate between the third and fourth conjugation are the third-conjugation verbs with suffix –iō. These resemble the fourth conjugation in some forms.
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I capture | I will capture | I was capturing | I may capture | I might capture | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
capiō capis capit capimus capitis capiunt |
capiam capiēs capiet capiēmus capiētis capient |
capiēbam capiēbās capiēbat capiēbāmus capiēbātis capiēbant |
capiam capiās capiat capiāmus capiātis capiant |
caperem caperēs caperet caperēmus caperētis caperent | ||
Passive | I am captured | I will be captured | I was being captured | I may be captured | I might be captured | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
capior caperis capitur capimur capiminī capiuntur |
capiar capiēris/re capiētur capiēmur capiēminī capientur |
capiēbar capiēbāris/re capiēbātur capiēbāmur capiēbāminī capiēbantur |
capiar capiāris/re capiātur capiāmur capiāminī capiantur |
caperer caperēris/re caperētur caperēmur caperēminī caperentur |
Other forms:
- Infinitive: capere "to capture, to take"
- Passive infinitive: capī "to be captured" (the 3rd conjugation has no r)
- Imperative: cape! (pl. capite!) "capture!"
- Future imperative: capitō! (pl. capitōte!) "capture! (at a future time)"
- Passive imperative: capere! (pl. capiminī!) "be captured!" (usually only found in deponent verbs)
- Future passive imperative: capitor! (pl. capitōminī!) "be captured! (at a future time)" (usually only found in deponent verbs)
- Present participle: capiēns (pl. capientēs) "capturing"
- Future participle: captūrus (pl. captūrī) "going to capture"
- Gerundive: capiendus (pl. capiendī) "needing to be captured" (capiundus is also sometimes found)
- Gerund: capiendī "of capturing", capiendō "by /for capturing", ad capiendum "in order to capture"
Some examples are:
- accipiō, accipere, accēpī, acceptum "to receive, accept"
- capiō, capere, cēpī, captum "to take, capture"
- cōnspiciō, cōnspicere, cōnspexī, cōnspectum "to watch, examine"
- cupiō, cupere, cupīvī, cupītum "to desire, long for"
- faciō, facere, fēcī, factum "to do, to make"
- fugiō, fugere, fūgī, fugitum "to flee"
- iaciō, iacere, iēcī, iactum "to throw"
- interficiō, interficere, interfēcī, interfectum "to kill"
- rapiō, rapere, rapuī, raptum "to plunder, seize"
- respiciō, respicere, respexī, respectum "to look back"
Deponent verbs in this group include:
- aggredior, aggredī, aggressus sum "to attack"
- ēgredior, ēgredī, ēgressus sum "to go out"
- morior, morī, mortuus sum "to die"
- patior, patī, passus sum "to suffer, to allow"
- prōgredior, prōgredī, prōgressus sum "to attack"
- regredior, regredī, regressus sum "to go back"
Fourth conjugation
The fourth conjugation is characterized by the vowel ī and can be recognized by the -īre ending of the present active infinitive. Deponent verbs have the infinitive -īrī:
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I hear | I will hear | I was hearing | I may hear | I might hear | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
audiō audīs audit audīmus audītis audiunt |
audiam audiēs audiet audiēmus audiētis audient |
audiēbam audiēbās audiēbat audiēbāmus audiēbātis audiēbant |
audiam audiās audiat audiāmus audiātis audiant |
audīrem audīrēs audīret audīrēmus audīrētis audīrent | ||
Passive | I am heard | I will be heard | I was being heard | I may be heard | I might be heard | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
audior audīris audītur audīmur audīminī audiuntur |
audiar audiēris/re audiētur audiēmur audiēminī audientur |
audiēbar audiēbāris/re audiēbātur audiēbāmur audiēbāminī audiēbantur |
audiar audiāris/re audiātur audiāmur audiāminī audiantur |
audīrer audīrēris/re audīrētur audīrēmur audīrēminī audīrentur |
Other forms:
- Infinitive: audīre "to hear"
- Passive infinitive: audīrī "to be heard"
- Imperative: audī! (pl. audīte!) "hear!"
- Future imperative: audītō! (pl. audītōte!) "hear! (at a future time)"
- Passive imperative: audīre! (pl. audīminī!) "be heard!" (usually only found in deponent verbs)
- Present participle: audiēns (pl. audientēs) "hearing"
- Future participle: audītūrus (pl. audītūrī) "going to hear"
- Gerundive: audiendus (pl. audiendī) "needing to be heard"
- Gerund: audiendī "of hearing", audiendō "by /for hearing", ad audiendum "in order to hear"
Principal parts of verbs in the fourth conjugation generally adhere to the following patterns:
- The perfect has suffix -vī. Verbs which adhere to this pattern are considered to be "regular". Examples:
- audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum "to hear, listen (to)"
- custōdiō, custōdīre, custōdīvī, custodītum "to guard"
- dormiō, dormīre, dormīvī (dormiī), dormītum "to sleep"
- impediō, impedīre, impedīvī, impedītum "to hinder, impede"
- mūniō, mūnīre, mūnīvī, mūnītum "to fortify, to build"
- pūniō, pūnīre, pūnīvī, pūnītum "to punish"
- sciō, scīre, scīvī, scītum "to know"
- The perfect has suffix -uī. Examples:
- aperiō, aperīre, aperuī, apertum "to open, to uncover"
- The perfect has suffix -sī (-xī when c comes at the end of the root). Examples:
- saepiō, saepīre, saepsī, saeptum "to surround, to enclose"
- sanciō, sancīre, sānxī, sānctum "to confirm, to ratify"
- sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsum "to feel, to perceive"
- vinciō, vincīre, vīnxī, vīnctum "to bind"
- The perfect has suffix -ī and reduplication. Examples:
- reperiō, reperīre, repperī, repertum "to find, discover"
- The perfect has suffix -ī and vowel lengthening in the stem. Examples:
- veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventum "to come, to arrive"
- inveniō, invenīre, invēnī, inventum "to find"
Deponent verbs in the 4th conjugation include the following:[16]
- assentior, assentīrī, assēnsus sum "to assent"
- experior, experīrī, expertus sum "to experience, test"
- largior, largīrī, largītus sum "to bestow"
- mentior, mentīrī, mentītus sum "to tell a lie"
- mētior, mētīrī, mēnsus sum "to measure"
- mōlior, mōlīrī, mōlītus sum "to exert oneself, set in motion, build"
- potior, potīrī, potītus sum "to obtain, gain possession of"
- sortior, sortīrī, sortītus sum "to cast lots"
The verb orior, orīrī, ortus sum "to arise" is also regarded as 4th conjugation, although some parts, such as the 3rd singular present tense oritur and imperfect subjunctive orerer, have a short vowel like the 3rd conjugation. But its compound adorior "to rise up, attack" is entirely 4th conjugation.
In the perfect tenses, shortened forms without -v- are common, for example, audīstī, audiērunt, audierat, audīsset for audīvistī, audīvērunt, audīverat, audīvisset. Cicero, however, prefers the full forms audīvī, audīvit to audiī, audiit.[11]
Irregular verbs
Sum and possum
The verb sum, esse, fuī "to be" is the most common verb in Latin. It is conjugated as follows:[17]
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I am | I will be | I was | I may be | I might be | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
sum es est sumus estis sunt |
erō eris erit erimus eritis erunt |
eram erās erat erāmus erātis erant |
sim sīs sit sīmus sītis sint |
essem essēs esset essēmus essētis essent | ||
Active | I am able | I will be able | I was able | I may be able | I might be able | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
possum potes potest possumus potestis possunt |
poterō poteris poterit poterimus poteritis poterunt |
poteram poterās poterat poterāmus poterātis poterant |
possim possīs possit possīmus possītis possint |
possem possēs posset possēmus possētis possent |
In early Latin (e.g. Plautus), siem, siēs, siēt can be found for the present subjunctive sim, sīs, sit. In poetry the subjunctive fuam, fuās, fuat also sometimes occurs.[18]
An alternative imperfect subjunctive is sometimes made using forem, forēs, foret etc. See further: Latin tenses#Foret.
Other forms:
- Infinitive: esse "to be", posse "to be able"
- Perfect infinitive: fuisse "to have been", potuisse "to have been able"
- Future infinitive: fore "to be going to be" (also futūrus esse)
- Imperative: es! (pl. este!) "be!"
- Future imperative: estō! (pl. estōte!) "be! (at a future time)"
- Future participle: futūrus (pl. futūrī) "going to be" (Possum has no future participle or future infinitive.)
The present participle is found only in the compounds absēns "absent" and praesēns "present".[18]
In Plautus and Lucretius, an infinitive potesse is sometimes found for posse "to be able".
The principal parts of these verbs are as follows:
- sum, esse, fuī "to be"
- absum, abesse, āfuī "to be away"
- adsum, adesse, adfuī "to be present"
- dēsum, dēesse, dēfuī "to be wanting"
- possum, posse, potuī "to be able"
- prōsum, prōdesse, prōfuī "to be for, to profit" (adds d before a vowel)[18]
The perfect tenses conjugate in the regular way.
For the difference in meaning between eram and fuī, see Latin tenses#Difference between eram and fuī
Volō, nōlō, and mālō
The verb volō and its derivatives nōlō and mālō (short for magis volō) resemble a 3rd conjugation verb, but the present subjunctive ending in -im is different:
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I want | I will want | I was wanting | I may want | I might want | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
volō vīs vult volumus vultis volunt |
volam volēs volet volēmus volētis volent |
volēbam volēbās volēbat volēbāmus volēbātis volēbant |
velim velīs velit velīmus velītis velint |
vellem vellēs vellet vellēmus vellētis vellent | ||
Active | I am unwilling | I will be unwilling | I was unwilling | I may be unwilling | I might be unwilling | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
nōlō nōn vīs nōn vult nōlumus nōn vultis nōlunt |
nōlam nōlēs nōlet nōlēmus nōlētis nōlent |
nōlēbam nōlēbās nōlēbat nōlēbāmus nōlēbātis nōlēbant |
nōlim nōlīs nōlit nōlīmus nōlītis nōlint |
nōllem nōllēs nōllet nōllēmus nōllētis nōllent | ||
Active | I prefer | I will prefer | I was preferring | I may prefer | I might prefer | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
mālō māvīs māvult mālumus māvultis mālunt |
mālam mālēs mālet mālēmus mālētis mālent |
mālēbam mālēbās mālēbat mālēbāmus mālēbātis mālēbant |
mālim mālīs mālit mālīmus mālītis mālint |
māllem māllēs māllet māllēmus māllētis māllent |
The spellings volt and voltis were used up until the time of Cicero for vult and vultis.[19]
These verbs are not used in the passive.
Other forms:
- Infinitive: velle "to want", nōlle "to be unwilling", mālle "to prefer"
- Present participle: volēns "willing", nōlēns "unwilling"
- Imperative: nōlī, pl. nōlīte (used in expressions such as nōlī mīrārī "don't be surprised!")
Principal parts:
- volō, velle, voluī "to want"
- nōlō, nōlle, nōluī "not to want, to be unwilling"
- mālō, mālle, māluī "to prefer"
The perfect tenses are formed regularly.
Eō and compounds
The verb eō "I go" is an irregular 4th conjugation verb, in which the i of the stem sometimes becomes e. Like 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs, it uses the future -bō, -bis, -bit:[20]
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I go | I will go | I was going | I may go | I might go | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
eō īs it īmus ītis eunt |
ībō ībis ībit ībimus ībitis ībunt |
ībam ībās ībat ībāmus ībātis ībant |
eam eās eat eāmus eātis eant |
īrem īrēs īret īrēmus īrētis īrent |
Other forms:
- Infinitive: īre "to go"
- Passive infinitive: īrī "to go" (used impersonally, e.g. quō īrī dēbēret ignōrantēs "not knowing which way to go")
- Imperative: ī! (pl. īte!) "go!"
- Future imperative: ītō! (pl. ītōte!) "go! (at a future time)" (rare)
- Present participle: iēns (pl. euntēs) "going"
- Future participle: itūrus (pl. itūrī) "going to go"
- Gerundive: eundum "necessary to go" (used impersonally only)
- Gerund: eundī "of going", eundō "by / for going", ad eundum "in order to go"
The impersonal passive forms ītur "they go", itum est "they went" are sometimes found.[21]
The principal parts of some verbs which conjugate like eō are the following:
- eō, īre, iī/(īvī), itum "to go"
- abeō, abīre, abiī, abitum "to go away"
- adeō, adīre, adiī, aditum "to go up to"
- coeō, coīre, coiī, coitum "to meet, assemble"
- exeō, exīre, exiī/(exīvī), exitum "to go out"
- ineō, inīre, iniī, initum "to enter"
- intereō, interīre, interiī, interitum "to perish"
- introeō, introīre, introiī, introitum "to enter"
- pereō, perīre, periī, peritum "to die, to perish"
- praetereō, praeterīre, praeteriī, praeteritum "to pass by"
- redeō, redīre, rediī, reditum "to return, to go back"
- subeō, subīre, subiī, subitum "to go under, to approach stealthily, to undergo"
- vēneō, vēnīre, vēniī, vēnitum "to be sold"
In the perfect tenses of these verbs, the -v- is almost always omitted, especially in the compounds,[22] although the form exīvit is common in the Vulgate Bible translation.
Ferō and compounds
The verb ferō, ferre, tulī, lātum "to bring, to bear, to carry" is 3rd conjugation, but irregular in that the vowel following the root fer- is sometimes omitted. The perfect tense tulī and supine stem lātum are also irregularly formed.[23]
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I bring | I will bring | I was bringing | I may bring | I might bring | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
ferō fers fert ferimus fertis ferunt |
feram ferēs feret ferēmus ferētis ferent |
ferēbam ferēbās ferēbat ferēbāmus ferēbātis ferēbant |
feram ferās ferat ferāmus ferātis ferant |
ferrem ferrēs ferret ferrēmus ferrētis ferrent | ||
Passive | I am brought | I will be brought | I was being brought | I may be brought | I might be brought | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
feror ferris fertur ferimur feriminī feruntur |
ferar ferēris/re ferētur ferēmur ferēminī ferentur |
ferēbar ferēbāris/re ferēbātur ferēbāmur ferēbāminī ferēbantur |
ferar ferāris/re ferātur ferāmur ferāminī ferantur |
ferrer ferrēris/re ferrētur ferrēmur ferrēminī ferrentur |
The future tense in the 3rd and 4th conjugation (-am, -ēs, -et etc.) differs from that in the 1st and 2nd conjugation (-bō, -bis, -bit etc.).
Other forms:
- Infinitive: ferre "to bring"
- Passive infinitive: ferrī "to be brought"
- Imperative: fer! (pl. ferte!) "bring!"
- Passive imperative: ferre! (pl. feriminī!) "be carried!" (rare)
- Present participle: ferēns (pl. ferentēs) "bringing"
- Future participle: lātūrus (pl. lātūrī) "going to bring"
- Gerundive: ferendus (pl. ferendī) "needing to be brought"
- Gerund: ferendī "of bringing", ferendō "by /for bringing", ad ferendum "in order to bring"
Compounds of ferō include the following:[24] The principal parts of some verbs which conjugate like ferō are the following:
- afferō, afferre, attulī, allātum "to bring (to)"
- auferō, auferre, abstulī, ablātum "to carry away, to steal"
- cōnferō, cōnferre, contulī, collātum "to collect"
- differō, differre, distulī, dīlātum "to put off"
- efferō, efferre, extulī, ēlātum "to carry out"
- offerō, offerre, obtulī, oblātum "to offer"
- referō, referre, rettulī, relātum "to refer"
The perfect tense sustulī, however, belongs to the verb tollō:
- tollō, tollere, sustulī, sublātum "to raise, to remove"
Fīō
The irregular verb fīō, fierī, factus sum "to become, to happen, to be done, to be made" as well as being a verb in its own right serves as the passive of faciō, facere, fēcī, factum "to do, to make".[25] The perfect tenses are identical with the perfect passive tenses of faciō.
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I become | I will become | I was becoming | I may become | I might become | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
fīō fīs fit (fīmus) (fītis) fīunt |
fīam fīēs fīet fīēmus fīētis fīent |
fīēbam fīēbās fīēbat fīēbāmus fīēbātis fīēbant |
fīam fīās fīat fīāmus fīātis fīant |
fierem fierēs fieret fierēmus fierētis fierent |
The 1st and 2nd plural forms are almost never found.
Other forms:
- Infinitive: fierī "to become, to be done, to happen"
- Imperative: fī! (pl. fīte!) "become!"
Edō
The verb edō, edere/ēsse, ēdī, ēsum "to eat" has regular 3rd conjugation forms appearing alongside irregular ones:[26]
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present | Imperfect | |||
Active | I eat | I will eat | I was eating | I may eat | I might eat | ||
I you sg. he, she, it we you pl. they |
edō edis, ēs edit, ēst edimus editis, ēstis edunt |
edam edēs edet edēmus edētis edent |
edēbam edēbās edēbat edēbāmus edēbātis edēbant |
edam edās edat edāmus edātis edant |
ederem, ēssem ederēs, ēssēs ederet, ēsset ederēmus, ēssēmus ederētis, ēssētis ederent, ēssent |
Other forms:
- Infinitive: edere/ēsse "to eat"
- Passive infinitive: edī "to be eaten"
- Imperative: ede!/ēs! (pl. edite!/ēste) "eat!"
- Present participle: edēns (pl. edentēs) "eating"
- Future participle: ēsūrus (pl. ēsūrī) "going to eat"
- Gerundive: edendus (pl. edendī) "needing to be eaten"
- Gerund: edendī "of eating", edendō "by /for eating", ad edendum "in order to eat" / "for eating"
The passive form ēstur "it is eaten" is also found.
In early Latin a present subjunctive edim, edīs, edit etc. is found.
In writing, there is a possibility of confusion between the forms of this verb and those of sum "I am" and ēdō "I give out, put forth"; for example, ēsse "to eat" vs. esse "to be"; edit "he eats" vs. ēdit "he gives out".
The compound verb comedō, comedere/comēsse, comēdī, comēsum "to eat up, consume" is similar.
Non-finite forms
The non-finite forms of verbs are participles, infinitives, supines, gerunds and gerundives. The verbs used are:
- 1st conjugation: laudō, laudāre, laudāvī, laudātum – to praise
- 2nd conjugation: terreō, terrēre, terruī, territum – to frighten, deter
- 3rd conjugation: petō, petere, petīvī, petītum – to seek, attack
- 3rd conjugation (-i stem): capiō, capere, cēpī, captum – to take, capture
- 4th conjugation: audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum – to hear, listen (to)
Participles
There are four participles: present active, perfect passive, future active, and future passive (= the gerundive).
- The present active participle is declined as a 3rd declension adjective. The ablative singular is -e, but the plural follows the i-stem declension with genitive -ium and neuter plural -ia.
- The perfect passive participle is declined like a 1st and 2nd declension adjective.
- In all conjugations, the perfect participle is formed by removing the –um from the supine, and adding a –us (masculine nominative singular).
- The future active participle is declined like a 1st and 2nd declension adjective.
- In all conjugations the -um is removed from the supine, and an -ūrus (masculine nominative singular) is added.
- The future passive participle, more usually called the gerundive, is formed by taking the present stem, adding "-nd-", and the usual first and second declension endings. Thus laudare forms laudandus. The usual meaning is "needing to be praised", expressing a sense of obligation.
Participles | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
laudāre | terrēre | petere | capere | audīre | ||||||
Present active | laudāns, -antis | terrēns, -entis | petēns, -entis | capiēns, -entis | audiēns, -entis | |||||
Perfect passive | laudātus, -a, -um | territus, -a, -um | petītus, -a, -um | captus, -a, -um | audītus, -a, -um | |||||
Future active | laudātūrus, -a, -um | territūrus, -a, -um | petītūrus, -a, -um | captūrus, -a, -um | audītūrus, -a, -um | |||||
Gerundive | laudandus, -a, -um | terrendus, -a, -um | petendus, -a, -um | capiendus, -a, -um | audiēndus, -a, -um |
Infinitives
There are seven main infinitives. They are in the present active, present passive, perfect active, perfect passive, future active, future passive, and potential active. Further infinitives can be made using the gerundive.
- The present active infinitive is the second principal part (in regular verbs). It plays an important role in the syntactic construction of Accusative and infinitive, for instance.
- laudāre means, "to praise."
- The present passive infinitive is formed by adding a –rī to the present stem. This is only so for the first, second and fourth conjugations. In the third conjugation, the thematical vowel, e, is taken from the present stem, and an –ī is added.
- laudārī translates as "to be praised."
- The perfect active infinitive is formed by adding an –isse onto the perfect stem.
- laudāvisse/laudāsse translates as "to have praised."
- The perfect passive infinitive uses the perfect passive participle along with the auxiliary verb esse. The perfect passive infinitive must agree with what it is describing in number, gender, and case (nominative or accusative).
- laudātus esse means, "to have been praised."
- The future active infinitive uses the future active participle with the auxiliary verb esse.
- laudātūrus esse means, "to be going to praise." The future active infinitive must agree with what it is describing in number, gender, and case (nominative or accusative).
- Esse has two future infinitives: futurus esse and fore
- The future passive infinitive uses the supine with the auxiliary verb īrī. Because the first part is a supine, the ending -um does not change for gender or number.
- laudātum īrī is translated as "to be going to be praised." This is normally used in indirect speech. For example: Spērat sē absolūtum īrī.[27] "He hopes that he will be acquitted."
- The potential infinitive uses the future active participle with the auxiliary verb fuisse.
- laudātūrus fuisse is used only in indirect statements to represent a potential imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive of direct speech. It is translated with "would" or "would have". For example: nōn vidētur mentītūrus fuisse, nisī dēspērāsset (Quintilian)[28] 'it seems unlikely that he would have told a lie, if he had not been desperate'
laudāre | terrēre | petere | capere | audīre | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present active | laudāre | terrēre | petere | capere | audīre |
Present passive | laudārī | terrērī | petī | capī | audīrī |
Perfect active | laudāvisse | terruisse | petīvisse | cēpisse | audīvisse |
Perfect passive | laudātus esse | territus esse | petītus esse | captus esse | audītus esse |
Future active | laudātūrus esse | territūrus esse | petītūrus esse | captūrus esse | audītūrus esse |
Future passive | laudātum īrī | territum īrī | petītum īrī | captum īrī | audītum īrī |
Potential | laudātūrus fuisse | territūrus fuisse | petītūrus fuisse | captūrus fuisse | audītūrus fuisse |
The future passive infinitive was not very commonly used. The Romans themselves often used an alternate expression, fore ut followed by a subjunctive clause.
Supine
The supine is the fourth principal part of the verb, as given in Latin dictionaries. It resembles a masculine noun of the fourth declension. Supines only occur in the accusative and ablative cases.
- The accusative form ends in a –um, and is used with a verb of motion in order to show purpose. Thus it is only used with verbs like īre "to go", venīre "to come", etc. The accusative form of a supine can also take an object if needed.
- Pater līberōs suōs laudātum vēnit. – The father came to praise his children.
- The ablative, which ends in a –ū, is used with the Ablative of Specification.
- Arma haec facillima laudātū erant. – These arms were the easiest to praise.
Supine | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
laudāre | terrēre | petere | capere | audīre | |
Accusative | laudātum | territum | petītum | captum | audītum |
Ablative | laudātū | territū | petītū | captū | audītū |
Gerund
The gerund is formed similarly to the present active participle. However, the -ns becomes an -ndus, and the preceding ā or ē is shortened. Gerunds are neuter nouns of the second declension, but the nominative case is not present. The gerund is a noun, meaning "the act of doing (the verb)", and forms a suppletive paradigm to the infinitive, which cannot be declined. For example, the genitive form laudandī can mean "of praising", the dative form laudandō can mean "for praising", the accusative form laudandum can mean "praising", and the ablative form laudandō can mean "by praising", "in respect to praising", etc.
Gerund | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
laudāre | terrēre | petere | capere | audīre | ||
Accusative | laudandum | terrendum | petendum | capiendum | audiendum | |
Genitive | laudandī | terrendī | petendī | capiendī | audiendī | |
Dative | laudandō | terrendō | petendō | capiendō | audiendō | |
Ablative |
One common use of the gerund is with the preposition ad to indicate purpose. For example, paratus ad oppugnandum could be translated as "ready to attack". However the gerund was avoided when an object was introduced, and a passive construction with the gerundive was preferred. For example, for "ready to attack the enemy" the construction paratus ad hostes oppugnandos is preferred over paratus ad hostes oppugnandum.[29]
Gerundive
The gerundive has a form similar to that of the gerund, but it is a first and second declension adjective, and functions as a future passive participle (see § Participles above). It means "(which is) to be ...ed". Often, the gerundive is used with part of the verb esse, to show obligation.
- Puer laudandus est "The boy needs to be praised"
- Oratio laudanda est means "The speech is to be praised". In such constructions a substantive in dative may be used to identify the agent of the obligation (dativus auctoris), as in Oratio nobis laudanda est meaning "The speech is to be praised by us" or "We must praise the speech".
Gerundive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
laudāre | terrēre | petere | capere | audīre |
laudandus, -a, -um | terrendus, -a, -um | petendus, -a, -um | capiendus, -a, -um | audiendus, -a, -um |
An older form of the 3rd and 4th conjugation gerundive ends in -undum, e.g. (faciundum for faciendum).[6] This ending is also found with the gerundive of eō 'I go': eundum est 'it is necessary to go'.
For some examples of uses of Latin gerundives, see the Gerundive article.
Periphrastic conjugations
There are two periphrastic conjugations. One is active, and the other is passive.
Active
The first periphrastic conjugation uses the future participle. It is combined with the forms of esse. It is translated as "I am going to praise," "I was going to praise", etc.
Conjugation | Translation | |
---|---|---|
Pres. ind. | laudātūrus sum | I am going to praise |
Imp. ind. | laudātūrus eram | I was going to praise |
Fut. ind. | laudātūrus erō | I shall be going to praise |
Perf. ind. | laudātūrus fuī | I have been going to praise |
Plup. ind. | laudātūrus fueram | I had been going to praise |
Fut. perf. ind. | laudātūrus fuerō | I shall have been going to praise |
Pres. subj. | laudātūrus sim | I may be going to praise |
Imp. subj. | laudātūrus essem | I should be going to praise |
Perf. subj. | laudātūrus fuerim | I may have been going to praise |
Plup. subj. | laudātūrus fuissem | I should have been going to praise |
Passive
The second periphrastic conjugation uses the gerundive. It is combined with the forms of esse and expresses necessity. It is translated as "I am needing to be praised", "I was needing to be praised", etc., or as "I have to (must) be praised", "I had to be praised," etc.
Conjugation | Translation | |
---|---|---|
Pres. ind. | laudandus sum | I am needing to be praised |
Imp. ind. | laudandus eram | I was needing to be praised |
Fut. ind. | laudandus erō | I will be needing to be praised |
Perf. ind. | laudandus fuī | I was needing to be praised |
Plup. ind. | laudandus fueram | I had been needing to be praised |
Fut. perf. ind. | laudandus fuerō | I will have been needing to be praised |
Pres. subj. | laudandus sim | I may be needing to be praised |
Imp. subj. | laudandus essem | I should be needing to be praised |
Perf. subj. | laudandus fuerim | I may have been needing to be praised |
Plup. subj. | laudandus fuissem | I should have been needing to be praised |
Pres. inf. | laudandus esse | To be needing to be praised |
Perf. inf. | laudandus fuisse | To have been needing to be praised |
Peculiarities
Deponent and semi-deponent verbs
Deponent verbs are verbs that are passive in form (that is, conjugated as though in the passive voice) but active in meaning. These verbs have only three principal parts, since the perfect of ordinary passives is formed periphrastically with the perfect participle, which is formed on the same stem as the supine. Some examples coming from all conjugations are:
- 1st conjugation: mīror, mīrārī, mīrātus sum – to admire, wonder
- 2nd conjugation: polliceor, pollicērī, pollicitus sum – to promise, offer
- 3rd conjugation: loquor, loquī, locūtus sum – to speak, say
- 4th conjugation: mentior, mentīrī, mentītus sum – to tell a lie
Deponent verbs use active conjugations for tenses that do not exist in the passive: the gerund, the supine, the present and future participles and the future infinitive. They cannot be used in the passive themselves (except the gerundive), and their analogues with "active" form do not in fact exist: one cannot directly translate "The word is said" with any form of loquī, and there are no forms like loquō, loquis, loquit, etc.
Semi-deponent verbs form their imperfective aspect tenses in the manner of ordinary active verbs; but their perfect tenses are built periphrastically like deponents and ordinary passives; thus, semi-deponent verbs have a perfect active participle instead of a perfect passive participle. An example:
- audeō, audēre, ausus sum – to dare, venture
Unlike the proper passive of active verbs, which is always intransitive, some deponent verbs are transitive, which means that they can take an object. For example:
- hostes sequitur. – he follows the enemy.
Note: In the Romance languages, which lack deponent or passive verb forms, the Classical Latin deponent verbs either disappeared (being replaced with non-deponent verbs of a similar meaning) or changed to a non-deponent form. For example, in Spanish and Italian, mīrārī changed to mirar(e) by changing all the verb forms to the previously nonexistent "active form", and audeō changed to osar(e) by taking the participle ausus and making an -ar(e) verb out of it (note that au went to o).
Defective verbs
Defective verbs are verbs that are conjugated in only some instances.
- Some verbs are conjugated only in the perfective aspect's tenses, yet have the imperfective aspect's tenses' meanings. As such, the perfect becomes the present, the pluperfect becomes the imperfect, and the future perfect becomes the future. Therefore, the defective verb ōdī means, "I hate." These defective verbs' principal parts are given in vocabulary with the indicative perfect in the first person and the perfect active infinitive. Some examples are:
- ōdī, ōdisse (future participle ōsūrus) – to hate
- meminī, meminisse (imperative mementō, mementōte) – to remember
- coepī, coeptum, coepisse – to have begun
- A few verbs, the meanings of which usually have to do with speech, appear only in certain occurrences.
- Cedo (plur. cette), which means "Hand it over" is only in the imperative mood, and only is used in the second person.
The following are conjugated irregularly:
Aio
Conjugation of aiō | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative present |
Indicative imperfect |
Subjunctive present |
Imperative present | |||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | ||
First person | aiō | — | aiēbam | aiēbāmus | — | — | — | |
Second person | ais | aiēbās | aiēbātis | aiās | ai | |||
Third person | ait | aiunt | aiēbat | aiēbant | aiat | aiant | — |
- Present Active Participle: – aiēns, aientis
Inquam
Conjugation of inquam | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present indicative | Future indicative |
Perfect indicative |
Imperfect indicative | |||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Singular | Singular | ||||
First person | inquam | inquimus | — | inquiī | — | |||
Second person | inquis | inquitis | inquiēs | inquistī | ||||
Third person | inquit | inquiunt | inquiet | inquit | inquiēbat |
For
Conjugation of for | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present indicative |
Future indicative |
Perfect indicative |
Pluperfect indicative |
Present imperative | ||||||
Singular | Plural | Singular | Singular | Singular | Singular | Plural | ||||
First person | for | — | fābor | fātus sum | fātus eram | — | — | |||
Second person | — | — | — | — | fāre | fāminī | ||||
Third person | fātur | fantur | fābitur | — | — |
- Present Active Participle – fāns, fantis
- Present Active Infinitive – fārī (variant: fārier)
- Supine – (acc.) fātum, (abl.) fātū
- Gerund – (gen.) fandī, (dat. and abl.) fandō, no accusative
- Gerundive – fandus, –a, –um
The Romance languages lost many of these verbs, but others (such as ōdī) survived but became regular fully conjugated verbs (in Italian, odiare).
Impersonal verbs
Impersonal verbs are those lacking a person. In English impersonal verbs are usually used with the neuter pronoun "it" (as in "It seems," or "it is raining"). Latin uses the third person singular. These verbs lack a fourth principal part. A few examples are:
- pluit, pluere, plūvit/pluit – to rain (it rains)
- ningit, ningere, ninxit – to snow (it snows)
- oportet, oportēre, oportuit – to be proper (it is proper, one should/ought to)
- licet, licēre, licuit – to be permitted [to] (it is allowed [to])
Irregular future active participles
The future active participle is normally formed by removing the –um from the supine, and adding a –ūrus. However, some deviations occur.
Present active infinitive |
Supine | Future active participle |
Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
iuvāre | iūtum | iuvātūrus | going to help |
lavāre/lavere | lavātum (but PPP lautus) | lavātūrus | going to wash |
parere | partum | paritūrus | going to produce |
ruere | rutum | ruitūrus | going to fall |
secāre | sectum | secātūrus | going to cut |
fruī | frūctum/fruitum | fruitūrus | going to enjoy |
nāscī | nātum | nātūrus/nascitūrus | going to be born |
morī | mortuum | moritūrus | going to die |
orīrī | ortum | oritūrus | going to rise |
Alternative verb forms
Several verb forms may occur in alternative forms (in some authors these forms are fairly common, if not more common than the canonical ones):
- The ending –ris in the passive voice may be –re as in:
- laudābāris → laudābāre
- The ending –ērunt in the perfect may be –ēre (primarily in poetry) as in:
- laudāvērunt → laudāvēre
- The ending –ī in the passive infinitive may be –ier as in:
- laudārī → laudārier, dicī → dicier
Syncopated verb forms
Like in most Romance languages, syncopated forms and contractions are present in Latin. They may occur in the following instances:
- Perfect stems that end in a –v may be contracted when inflected.
- laudāvisse → laudāsse
- laudāvistī → laudāstī
- laudāverant → laudārant
- laudāvisset → laudāsset
- The compounds of nōscere (to learn) and movēre (to move, dislodge) can also be contracted.
- nōvistī → nōstī
- nōvistis → nōstis
- commōveram → commōram
- commōverās → commōrās
See also
Bibliography
- Bennett, Charles Edwin (1918). New Latin Grammar.
- Gildersleeve, B.L. & Gonzalez Lodge (1895). Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar. 3rd Edition. (Macmillan)
- J.B. Greenough; G.L. Kittredge; A.A. Howard; Benj. L. D'Ooge, eds. (1903). Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and College. Ginn and Company.
References
- ^ Merriam-Webster online dictionary "Conjugation".
- ^ Donatus [Ars Maior], 10.16.
- ^ Priscian, Liber octauus de uerbo (Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum)
- ^ Daniel J. Taylor "Latin declensions and conjugations: from Varro to Priscian" Historie Épistémologie Langage 13.2 (1991), pp. 85–93.
- ^ e.g. Gildersleeve and Lodge, 3rd edition (1895), §120.
- ^ a b c d e Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 89.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge, Latin Grammar (1895), §163.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 91.
- ^ C.J. Fordyce (1961), Catullus, note on Catullus 5.10.
- ^ Wackernagel (2009) Lectures on Syntax, p. 305, note 7.
- ^ a b Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 90.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge, Latin Grammar (1895), §164.
- ^ a b Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 114.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 105.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 107.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge Latin Grammar (1985), §166.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 66–68.
- ^ a b c Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 68.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 121.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 115–6.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 116.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 116, 90.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 117–8.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 118.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 119.
- ^ Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 118–119.
- ^ Cicero, Sull. 21.
- ^ Quintilian, 5.12.3.
- ^ Eitrem, S. (2006). Latinsk grammatikk (3 ed.). Oslo: Aschehoug. p. 111.
External links
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- Verbix automatically conjugates verbs in Latin.
- Latin Verb Synopsis Drill tests a user on his ability to conjugate verbs correctly.
- Arbuckle Latin Conjugator automatically conjugates and translates verbs in Latin.