FOURTH CONJUGATION
REVIEW of Conjugations and Qualities of Verbs
 Latin groups its verbs into four families called “conjugations.” Verbs
within the same conjugation will follow a similar pattern of principal
parts and the same paradigms (pattern of endings) in each tense. Now
take note of some general features of Latin verbs:
o Most regular Latin verbs have 4 principal parts:
 1st principal part: the 1st person singular, present active
indicative form, e.g. audio
 2nd principal part: the present active infinitive, e.g. audīre
 3rd principal part: the 1st person singular, perfect active
indicative form, e.g. audīvī
 4th principal part (can be one of the following, depending
on the book):
 the perfect passive participle, e.g. audītus, -a, -um
 the accusative supine, e.g. audītum
 the future active participle, e.g. audītūrus, -a, -um
o Latin verbs are one of 3 PERSONS (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and one of 2
NUMBERS (singular, plural)
o Latin verbs can be conjugated in 6 TENSES:
 Present System: tenses formed from the “present stem”
 Present tense, e.g. “I hear,” “I do hear,” and “I am
hearing”
 Imperfect tense, e.g. “I was hearing,” “I heard,” “I
used to hear”
 Future tense, e.g. “I will hear”
 Perfect System
 Perfect tense, e.g. “I have heard,” “I did hear,” and “I
heard”
 Pluperfect tense, e.g. “I had heard”
 Future Perfect tense, e.g. “I will have heard”
o Latin verbs can be conjugated in 2 VOICES:
 Active Voice: e.g. “We hear,” “She hears,” “They will
hear”
i
FOURTH CONJUGATION
 Passive Voice: e.g. “We are heard,” “She was (being)
hear,” “They will be heard”
o Latin verbs also have 3 MOODS:
 Indicative: e.g. You hear me. You do hear me. You are
hearing me.
 Imperative: e.g. Hear me!
 Subjunctive: e.g. Should you hear me? You may hear me.
Would that you were leading me! Let you lead me!
 The active voice personal endings of Latin verbs (cf. p. 9 of your
textbook) are as follows.
singular
plural
1st person
-ō or m
-mus
2nd person
-s
-tis
3rd person
-t
-nt
 Now study this PRESENT (tense), active (voice), indicative (mood)
paradigm of the fourth conjugation verb audīre, to hear. The
additional vowel needed for fourth conjugation will be in red. The
traditional personal endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
singular
plural
1st person
audiō
audīmus
2nd person
audīs
audītis
3rd person
audit
audiunt
ii
FOURTH CONJUGATION
Conjugating 4th Conjugation verbs in the PRESENT SYSTEM
 To conjugate ANY Latin verb in the present system (present,
imperfect, and future tenses), you need to follow a few simple steps.
o STEP #1: Start with the verb in its 2nd principal part.
 N.B. All Latin dictionaries list the first principal part of
the verb followed by the other principal parts
 SAMPLE ENTRY: mun·iō, -īre, -īvī or -iī, -sītus, tr
to built, fortify; to strengthen
o muniō is the 1st principal part
o mun- + -īre = munīre, the 2nd principal part
o mun- + -īvī (or -iī) = munīvī (or muniī), the 3rd
principal part
o mun- + -ītus = munītus, the 4th principal part
 All fourth conjugation verbs will have a -īre for the
second principal part.
o STEP #2: Remove the –re from the verb’s second principal part
 TIP: you may want to think of conjugating like a simple
math problem.
 Memorize this “formula” for conjugating:
 (2nd principal part) –– (-re) = present stem of the
verb
 EXAMPLE:
o 2nd conjugation: (docēre) –– (-re) = doceo 4th conjugation: (munīre) –– (-re) = munīo STEP #3: Add an ending to the verb’s present stem (you will
need to and an –ē for before the standard endings for imperfect
tense for both third and fourth conjugation)
 Now that you have the present stem of the verb, you can
change the verb to whatever person, number, and tense
you want (of present, imperfect, and future)
 The steps, you can see, are consistent with the steps followed in
conjugation of verbs in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conjugation.
iii
FOURTH CONJUGATION
A Closer Look at the 4th Conjugation
 Now look at this IMPERFECT (tense), active (voice), indicative
(mood) paradigm of the fourth conjugation verb audīre, to hear. The
additional vowel needed for 4th conjugation will be in red. The
endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
singular
plural
1st person
audiēbam
audiēbāmus
2nd person
audiēbās
audiēbātis
3rd person
audiēbat
audiēbant
 Now look at this FUTURE (tense), active (voice), indicative (mood)
paradigm of the fourth conjugation verb audīre, to hear. The future
endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
 N.B. You do NOT use the endings –bō, bis, bit,bimus, bitis, bunt
for either the 3rd or 4th conjugations.
singular
plural
1st person
audiam
audiēmus
2nd person
audiēs
audiētis
3rd person
audiet
audiēnt
iv
FOURTH CONJUGATION
1st
Conjugation
2nd
Conjugation
3rd
Conjugation
3rd-io
Conjugation
4th
Conjugation
Pres. stem +
ending
par-ō
parā-s
para-t
parā-mus
parā-tis
para-nt
Pres. stem +
ending
doce-ō
docē-s
doce-t
docē-mus
docē-tis
doce-nt
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ endings
Pres. stem (+ i) +
endings
reg-ō
reg-i-s
reg-i-t
reg-i-mus
reg-i-tis
reg-u-nt
capi-ō
capi-s
capi-t
capi-mus
capi-tis
capi-u-nt
Pres. stem +
ending
audi-ō
audī-s
audi-t
audī-mus
audī-tis
audi-u-nt
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem (+ ē) +
tense sign + endings
Pres. stem (+ iē) +
tense sign + endings
Pres. stem (+ ē) +
tense sign + endings
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
FUTURE
parā-ba-m
parā-bā-s
parā-ba-t
parā-bā-mus
parā-bā-tis
parā-ba-nt
docē-ba-m
docē-bā-s
docē-ba-t
docē-bā-mus
docē-bā-tis
docē-ba-nt
reg-ē-ba-m
reg-ē-bā-s
reg-ē-ba-t
reg-ē-bā-mus
reg-ē-bā-tis
reg-ē-ba-nt
capi-ē-ba-m
capi-ē-bā-s
capi-ē-ba-t
capi-ē-bā-mus
capi-ē-bā-tis
capi-ē-ba-nt
audi-ē-ba-m
audi-ē-bā-s
audi-ē-ba-t
audi-ē-bā-mus
audi-ē-bā-tis
audi-ē-ba-nt
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem +tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem +tense
sign + ending
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
parā-b-ō
parā-bi-s
parā-bi-t
parā-bi-mus
parā-bi-tis
parā-bu-nt
docē-b-ō
docē-bi-s
docē-bi-t
docē-bi-mus
docē-bi-tis
docē-bu-nt
reg-a-m
reg-ē-s
reg-e-t
reg-ē-mus
reg-ē-tis
reg-e-nt
capi-a-m
capi-ē-s
capi-e-t
capi-ē-mus
capi-ē-tis
capi-e-nt
audi-a-m
audi-ē-s
audi-e-t
audi-ē-mus
audi-ē-tis
audi-e-nt
ACTIVE
VOICE
Indicative
Mood
PRESENT
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
IMPERFECT
 What about the Imperative mood?
o Like 1st conjugation verbs, getting the present stem is the same
as creating the singular imperative:
 STEP #1: Start with the verb in its 2nd principal part.
 STEP #2: Remove the –re from the verb’s second
principal part
 EXAMPLES:
o 1st conjugation: (amāre) –– (-re) = amā
o 2nd conjugation: (sedēre) –– (-re) = sedē
o 3rd conjugation: (mittere) –– (-re) = mitte
o 4th conjugation*: (audīre) –– (-re) = audī
 STEP #3: To make the imperative form plural, add –te to
the singular form
 EXAMPLE: audī + -te = audīte
v
FOURTH CONJUGATION
Conjugating 4th Conjugation verbs in the PERFECT SYSTEM
 To conjugate ANY Latin verb in the perfect system (perfect,
pluperfect, and future perfect tenses), you need to follow a few
simple steps.
o STEP #1: Start with the verb in its 3rd principal part.
 N.B. All Latin dictionaries list the first principal part of
the verb followed by the other principal parts
 If a dictionary includes a dot ( · ), it does that to
show you where you can remove the first principal
part ending and add the additional information listed
to form the second, third, and fourth principal parts
 SAMPLE ENTRY: aud·iō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum tr to
hear
o STEP #2: Remove the –ī from the verb’s 3rd principal part
 TIP: you may want to think of conjugating like a simple
math problem.
 Memorize this “formula” for conjugating:
 (3rd principal part) –– (-ī) = perfect stem of the verb
 EXAMPLE:
o 1st conjugation: (amāvī) –– (-ī) = amāvo 2nd conjugation: (docuī) –– (-ī) = docuo 3rd conjugation: (rēxī) –– (-ī) = rēxo 4th conjugation: (audīvī) –– (-ī) = audīvo STEP #3: Add an ending to the verb’s perfect stem
 Now that you have the perfect stem of the verb, you can
change the verb to whatever person, number, and tense
you want for the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect
tenses.
 Fourth conjugation follows the same steps and uses the
same endings for the perfect system as first, second, and
third conjugation. There is no difference between any of
the conjugations in how they conjugate these three tenses.
vi
FOURTH CONJUGATION
ACTIVE
VOICE
1st
Conjugation
2nd
Conjugation
3rd
Conjugation
3rd-io
Conjugation
4th
Conjugation
Perf. stem +
ending
parāv-ī
parāv-istī
parāv-it
parāv-imus
parāv-istis
parāv-ērunt
(-ēre)
Perf. stem +
ending
parāv-eram
parāv-erās
parāv-erat
parāv-erāmus
parāv-erātis
parāv-erant
Perf. stem +
ending
parāv-erō
parāv-eris
parāv-erit
parāv-erimus
parāv-eritis
parāv-erint
Perf. stem +
ending
docu-ī
docu-istī
docu-it
docu-imus
docu-istis
docu-ērunt
(-ēre)
Perf. stem +
ending
docu-eram
docu-erās
docu-erat
docu-erāmus
docu-erātis
docu-erant
Perf. stem +
ending
docu-erō
docu-eris
docu-erit
docu-erimus
docu-eritis
docu-erint
Perf. stem +
ending
rēx-ī
rēx-istī
rēx-it
rēx-imus
rēx-istis
rēx-ērunt
(-ēre)
Perf. stem +
ending
rēx-eram
rēx-erās
rēx-erat
rēx-erāmus
rēx-erātis
rēx-erant
Perf. stem +
ending
rēx-erō
rēx-eris
rēx-erit
rēx-erimus
rēx-eritis
rēx-erint
Perf. stem +
ending
cēp-ī
cēp-istī
cēp-it
cēp- imus
cēp-istis
cēp-ērunt
(-ēre)
Perf. stem +
ending
cēp-eram
cēp-erās
cēp-erat
cēp-erāmus
cēp-erātis
cēp-erant
Perf. stem +
ending
cēp-erō
cēp-eris
cēp-erit
cēp-erimus
cēp-eritis
cēp-erint
Perf. stem +
ending
audīv-ī
audīv-istī
audīv-it
audīv-imus
audīv-istis
audīv-ērunt
(-ēre)
Perf. stem +
ending
audīv-eram
audīv-erās
audīv-erat
audīv-erāmus
audīv-erātis
audīv-erant
Perf. stem +
ending
audīv-erō
audīv-eris
audīv-erit
audīv-erimus
audīv-eritis
audīv-erint
Indicative
Mood
PERFECT
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
PLUPERFECT
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
FUTURE
PERFECT
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
 PERFECT SYSTEM SYNOPSIS: Now study this perfect system
(tenses), active (voice), indicative (mood) synopsis of the second
conjugation verb docēre, to teach, done in the third person.
singular
plural
PERFECT
PLUPERFECT
FUT. PERFECT
audīvīt
audīvērunt
he (has) heard
they (have) heard
audīverat
audīverant
she had heard
they had heard
audīverit
audīverint
(s)he will have heard they will have heard
vii
FOURTH CONJUGATION
What is Voice?
Voice is the relationship of the subject to the action of the verb.
Voice defines whether the subject performs the action of the
verb or receives the action of the verb.
 If the subject performs the action of the verb, the verb is in the
active voice.
a. “The mailman delivers my DVD.”
b. “The dog bites the mailman in the butt.”
 If the action of the verb is received by the subject, the verb is
considered passive voice. e.g. “My DVD is delivered by the
mailman.”
a. “My DVD is delivered by the mailman.”
b. “The mailman is bitten in the butt by the dog.”
How does Passive Voice Sound in English?
In English, the Passive Voice is going to require the verb “to be”
in some form with the past participle.
Active Voice
Passive Voice
He hits me.
He is hitting me.
I am hit by him.
I am being hit by him.
He will hit me.
I will be hit by him.
viii
FOURTH CONJUGATION
How does it work in Latin?
1. In the present system the passive is conjugated like the active,
but with a different set of personal endings.
a. Passive Personal Endings:
st
1
2nd
3rd
Singular
-or, r
-ris
-tur
Plural
-mur
-minī
-ntur
b. Rule for Conjugation:
i. Present Stem (+ tense signifier) + passive
personal endings
ii. Note that forming the present stem may differ
based on the conjugation of the verb
c. Examples:
Present:
auditur
she is (being) heard
Imperfect:
audiēbātur
he was being heard
Future:
audiētur
it will be heard
2. See pp. 104, 109, 128, and 169 for further paradigms and
examples, including for other conjugations.
ix
FOURTH CONJUGATION
PERFECT SYSTEM: PASSIVE VOICE, INDICATIVE MOOD
PASSIVE
VOICE
1st
Conjugation
2nd
Conjugation
3rd
Conjugation
3rd-io
Conjugation
4th
Conjugation
PRESENT
Pres. stem +
endings
par-or
parā-ris (-re)
para-tur
parā-muur
parā-mini
para-ntur
Pres. stem +
endings
doce-or
docē-ris (-re)
doce-tur
docē-mur
docē-minī
doce-ntur
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ endings
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ endings
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ endings
reg-or
reg-e-ris (-re)
reg-i-tur
reg-i-minī
reg-i-minī
reg-u-ntur
capi-or
cap-eris (-re)
capi-tur
capi-mur
capi-minī
capi-untur
audi-or
audī-ris (-re)
audī-tur
audī-mur
audī-minī
audi-ntur
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ tense sign +
endings
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ tense sign +
endings
Pres. stem (+ vowel)
+ tense sign +
endings
parā-ba-r
parā-bā-ris (re)
parā-bā-tur
parā-bā-mur
parā-bā-minī
para-ba-ntur
docē-ba-r
docē-bā-ris (re)
docē-bā-tur
docē-bā-mur
docē-bā-minī
docē-ba-ntur
reg-ē-ba-r
reg-ē-bā-ris (re)
reg-ē-bā-tur
reg-ē-bā-mur
reg-ē-bā-minī
reg-ē-ba-ntur
capi-ē-ba-r
capi-ē-bā-ris (re)
capi-ē-bā-tur
capi-ē-bā-mur
capi-ē-bā-minī
capi-ē-ba-ntur
audi-ē-ba-r
audi-ē-bā-ris (re)
audi-ē-bā-tur
audi-ē-bā-mur
audi-ē-bā-minī
audi-ē-ba-ntur
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
Pres. stem + tense
sign + ending
parā-b-or
parā-bē-ris (re)
parā-bi-tur
parā-bi-mur
parā-bi-minī
parā-bu-ntur
docē-b-or
docē-bē-ris (re)
docē-bi-tur
docē-bi-mur
docē-bi-minī
docē-bu-ntur
reg-a-r
reg-ē-ris (-re)
capi-a-r
capi-ē-ris (-re)
audī-a-r
audī-ē-ris (-re)
reg-ē-tur
reg-ē-mur
reg-ē-minī
reg-e-ntur
capi-ē-tur
capi-ē-mur
capi-ē-minī
capi-e-ntur
audī-ē-tur
audī-ē-mur
audī-ē-minī
audī-e-ntur
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
IMPERFECT
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
FUTURE
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
x
FOURTH CONJUGATION
How does it work in Latin? (continued)
1. The perfect system forms in the passive voice are created by
combining the perfect passive participle (the fourth
principal part) with forms of sum (for the perfect), eram
(for the pluperfect), and erō (for the future perfect).
a. Passive Personal Endings: NA, just use
sum, etc. / eram, etc. / erō, etc.
b. Rule for Conjugation:
i. 4th principal part + a form of esse
ii. Make 4th principal part agree in no. and gender to
the subject
c. Examples:
Perfect:
audītus, -a, -um est
(s)he/it was heard
(s)he/it has been heard
Pluperfect:
audītus, -a, -um erat
(s)he/it had been heard
Future perfect:
audītī, -ae, -a erunt (pl.)
they will have been
heard
2. All conjugations form the passive voice forms in the perfect
system in the same way.
xi
FOURTH CONJUGATION
PERFECT SYSTEM: PASSIVE VOICE, INDICATIVE MOOD
PASSIVE
VOICE
1st
Conjugation
2nd
Conjugation
3rd
Conjugation
3rd-io
Conjugation
4th
Conjugation
PERFECT
4 principal
part + present
forms of esse
parātus sum
parātus es
parātus est
parātī sumus
parātī estis
parātī sunt
4 principal
part + present
forms of esse
docta sum
docta es
docta est
doctae sumus
doctae estis
doctae sunt
4 principal
part + present
forms of esse
rectum sum
rectum es
rectum est
recta sumus
recta estis
recta sunt
4 principal
part + present
forms of esse
captus sum
captus es
captus est
captī sumus
captī estis
captī sunt
4 principal
part + present
forms of esse
audita sum
audita es
audita est
auditae sumus
auditae estis
auditae sunt
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
4 principal
part +
imperfect
forms of esse
parātus eram
parātus erās
parātus erat
parātī erāmus
parātī erātis
parātī erant
4 principal
part + future
forms of esse
parātus erō
parātus eris
parātus erit
parātī erimus
4 principal
part +
imperfect
forms of esse
docta eram
docta erās
docta erat
doctae erāmus
doctae erātis
doctae erant
4 principal
part + future
forms of esse
docta erō
docta eris
docta erit
doctae erimus
4 principal
part +
imperfect
forms of esse
rectum eram
rectum erās
rectum erat
recta erāmus
recta erātis
recta erant
4 principal
part + future
forms of esse
rectum erō
rectum eris
rectum erit
recta erimus
4 principal
part +
imperfect
forms of esse
auditus eram
auditus erās
auditus erat
auditī erāmus
auditī erātis
auditī erant
4 principal
part + future
forms of esse
auditus erō
auditus eris
auditus erit
auditī erimus
2
3
parātī eritis
parātī erunt
doctae eritis
doctae erunt
recta eritis
recta erunt
4 principal
part +
imperfect
forms of esse
capta eram
capta erās
capta erat
captae erāmus
captae erātis
captae erant
4 principal
part + future
forms of esse
capta erō
capta eris
capta erit
captae
essēmus
captae eritis
captae erunt
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
PLUPERFECT
1 singular
2
3
1 plural
2
3
FUTURE
PERFECT
auditī eritis
auditī erunt
xii