Present Tense – Regular Verbs
Personal Endings
The personal endings of a verb will indicate what or who the subject is. In
Latin the same personal endings are used for many different tenses.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) ō or m
(you) s
(he/she/it/singular noun) t
Plural
(we) mus
(you) tis
(they/plural noun) nt
Verb Conjugations
Most Latin verbs can be broken down into four main groups which are
known as 1st conjugation, 2nd conjugation, 3rd conjugation, and 4th
conjugation.
You can tell which conjugation a verb is in by its infinitive. The infinitive
is also known as the 2nd Principal Part because it is the 2nd form listed in a
dictionary entry. When you get to the blue book (Unit 2), the glossary will
list the verbs the same as in a Latin dictionary. Most infinitives end in “re”. Often an infinitive is translated as “to + verb”.
1st Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ā” in their infinitive. Examples are:
clāmō, clāmāre; labōrō, labōrare.
To conjugate a 1st conjugation verb, you must first form the stem. Take
the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add the personal
endings. Notice there is no “ā” in 1st person singular.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I shout) clāmō
(you shout) clāmās
(he/she/it/singular noun
shouts) clāmat
Plural
(we shout) clāmāmus
(you shout) clāmātis
(they/plural noun shout)
clāmant
2nd Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ē” in their infinitive. Examples are:
videō, vidēre; rīdeō, rīdēre.
To conjugate a 2nd conjugation verb, you must first form the stem. Take
the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add the personal
endings.
Singular
1st Person
(I see) videō
2nd Person
(you see) vidēs
rd
3 Person (he/she/it/singular noun sees)
videt
Plural
(we see) vidēmus
(you see) vidētis
(they/plural noun see)
vident
3rd Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “e” in their infinitive. Examples are: currō,
currere; dūcō, dūcere.
To conjugate a 2nd conjugation verb, you must first form the stem. Take
the 1st Principal Part (the 1st person singular form). Drop the –o. Add “i”
to everything except 1st person singular and 3rd person plural. Add a “u”
to 3rd person plural. Add the personal endings.
Singular
1st Person
(I run) currō
2nd Person
(you run) curris
3rd Person (he/she/it/singular noun runs)
currit
Plural
(we run) currimus
(you run) curritis
(they/plural noun run)
currunt
4th Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ī” in their infinitive. Examples are: audiō,
audīre; dormiō, dormīre.
To conjugate a 2nd conjugation verb, you must first form the stem. Take
the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add the personal
endings. Add a “u” to 3rd person plural. Add the personal endings.
Singular
Plural
1st Person
(I sleep) dormiō
(we sleep) dormīmus
2nd Person
(you sleep) dormīs
(you sleep) dormītis
rd
3 Person (he/she/it/singular noun sleeps) (they/plural noun sleep)
dormit
dormiunt
Present Tense – Irregular Verbs
Personal Endings
The personal endings of a verb will indicate what or who the subject is. In
Latin the same personal endings are used for many different tenses.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) ō or m
(you) s
(he/she/it/singular noun) t
Plural
(we) mus
(you) tis
(they/plural noun) nt
We have studied 3 different irregular verbs so far. We have also studied
verbs which are based on these 3 verbs. An irregular verb must be
memorized because it does not follow the rules for the 4 conjugations.
sum, esse (adsum, adesse; absum, abesse)
st
1 Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I am) sum
(you are) es
(he/she/it/singular noun is)
est
Plural
(we are) sumus
(you are) estis
(they/plural noun are)
sunt
eo, īre (exeo, exīre)
Singular
1st Person
(I go) eō
2nd Person
(you go) īs
rd
3 Person (he/she/it/singular noun goes)
it
Plural
(we go) īmus
(you go) ītis
(they/plural noun go)
eunt
fero, ferre (offero, offerre)
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I bring) ferō
(you bring) fers
(he/she/it/singular noun
brings) fert
Plural
(we bring) ferimus
(you bring) fertis
(they/plural noun
bring) ferunt
Imperfect Tense – Regular Verbs
Personal Endings
The personal endings of a verb will indicate what or who the subject is. In
Latin the same personal endings are used for many different tenses.
Notice that imperfect tense uses “m” for 1st person singular.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) m
(you) s
(he/she/it/singular noun) t
Plural
(we) mus
(you) tis
(they/plural noun) nt
Tense Sign
The imperfect tense uses –ba- to indicate the imperfect tense in regular
verbs.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I) bam
(you) bas
(he/she/it/singular noun) bat
Plural
(we) bamus
(you) batis
(they/plural noun) bant
Imperfect Tense Translation
The imperfect tense can be translated in several different ways. It can
show action that was:
 going on for a time (past continuous)
o Puellae currēbant.
The girls were running.
 repeated
o Puellae currēbant.
The girls kept on running.
 habitual or customary
o Puellae currēbant.
The girls used to run.
Verb Conjugations
Most Latin verbs can be broken down into four main groups which are
known as 1st conjugation, 2nd conjugation, 3rd conjugation, and 4th
conjugation.
You can tell which conjugation a verb is in by its infinitive. The infinitive
is also known as the 2nd Principal Part because it is the 2nd form listed in a
dictionary entry. Most infinitives end in “-re”. Often an infinitive is
translated as “to + verb”.
1st Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ā” in their infinitive. Examples are:
clāmō, clāmāre; labōrō, labōrare.
To conjugate a 1st conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form
the stem. Take the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add ba-. Add the personal endings.
1st
Person
2nd
Person
3rd
Person
Singular
(I was shouting)
clāmābam
(you were shouting)
clāmābās
(he/she/it/singular noun
was shouting) clāmābat
Plural
(we were shouting)
clāmābāmus
(you were shouting)
clāmābātis
(they/plural noun were
shouting) clāmābant
2nd Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ē” in their infinitive. Examples are:
videō, vidēre; rīdeō, rīdēre.
To conjugate a 2nd conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form
the stem. Take the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add ba-. Add the personal endings.
st
1
Person
2nd
Person
3rd
Person
Singular
(I was seeing) vidēbam
(you were seeing)
vidēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun
was seeing) vidēbat
Plural
(we were seeing)
vidēbāmus
(you were seeing)
vidēbātis
(they/plural noun were
seeing) vidēbant
3rd Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “e” in their infinitive. Examples are: currō,
currere; dūcō, dūcere.
To conjugate a 3rd conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form
the stem. Take the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add ba-. Add the personal endings.
1st
Person
2nd
Person
3rd
Person
Singular
(I was running)
currēbam
(you were running)
currēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun
was running) currēbat
Plural
(we were running)
currēbāmus
(you were running)
currēbātis
(they/plural noun were
running) currēbant
3rd Conjugation “i" Stem Verbs
These are verbs which have an “e” in their infinitive but their 1st Principal
Part ends with –io. Examples are: faciō, facere, capiō, capere.
To conjugate a 3rd conjugation “i” stem verb in the imperfect, you must
first form the stem. Take the 1st Principal Part. Drop the –o. Add an “iē".
Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
1st
Person
2nd
Person
3rd
Person
Singular
(I was doing) faciēbam
(you were doing)
faciēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun
was doing) faciēbat
Plural
(we were doing)
faciēbāmus
(you were doing)
faciēbātis
(they/plural noun were
doing) faciēbant
4th Conjugation Verbs
These are verbs which have an “ī” in their infinitive. Examples are: audiō,
audīre; dormiō, dormīre.
To conjugate a 4th conjugation verb in the imperfect, you must first form
the stem. Take the 2nd Principal Part (the infinitive). Drop the –re. Add
an “ē”. Add -ba-. Add the personal endings.
1st
Person
2nd
Person
3rd
Person
Singular
(I was sleeping)
dormiēbam
(you were sleeping)
dormiēbās
(he/she/it/singular noun
was sleeping) dormiēbat
Plural
(we were sleeping)
dormiēbāmus
(you were sleeping)
dormiēbātis
(they/plural noun were
sleeping) dormiēbant
Imperfect Tense – Irregular Verbs
Most irregular verbs use -ba- + the personal endings. sum, esse and its
compounds do not
sum, esse (adsum, adesse, absum, abesse)
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
(I was) eram
(you were) erās
(he/she/it/singular noun
was) erat
Plural
(we were) erāmus
(you were) erātis
(they/plural noun were)
erant