Latin Made Easy
Part I
As with any language, there are but two tenets to mastering the language: What
Needs to be Understood and What Needs to Be Memorized. This packet will
address both and provide suggestions to assist your mastery in both areas.
Section I: The nature of language and the relationship between
the form of a word in a sentence and its meaning
within the sentence.
Section II: Nouns and Their Declensions – Their Nature and
Forms
Section III: Verbs and Their Conjugations – The Information
Contained Within Each Form (Mood, Voice, Tense,
Person, Number), and How to Create Each Form
Section IV: Adjectives and Adverbs – Types and Forms
Section V: Vocabulary – All Forms of the Words and Mnemonic
Devices That Will Assist in Remembering the
Words
Section I
Some English Background and Terminology
Function: Both in English and Latin, words by themselves only have
“dictionary” meaning. However, when they are used in a
sentence, they take on a particular role/function. There are only
basically eight possible Functions:
Subject: The answer to Who?/What? in front of the Verb
(Example: The girl is giving.
Who/What is giving?
The answer is the girl.
Therefore, the girl is the Subject.)
Verb: If you place “he,” “she,” “it,” or “they” in front of the word that you
think is a verb and it sounds like an English language construction,
then the word is a verb.
(Example: The girl is giving.
He/She/It is giving. Since it sound
like an English language
construction, is giving is the verb.)
Direct Object: The answer to (if Verb is Transitive) whom?/What? after
the verb.
(Example: The girl is giving food.
The girl is giving whom?/what? The
answer is food. Therefore, food is
the Direct Object)
Indirect Object: The answer to for/to whom?/What? the Direct Object is
given.
(Example: The girl is giving the boy food.)
The food is being given to whom? /
is for whom? The answer is boy.
Therefore, boy is the Indirect
Object)
Predicate
Nominative or Predicate Adjective: The answer to
who?/what? after the verb (if the main verb is a form of the
verb “to be,” which, if it were a mathematical symbol, would
be an equal sign and, therefore, would take the same Case
after it as before it – and, since the Case before is Nominative
as the word before a verb is the Subject and all Subjects of
sentences are Nominative, the Case after is also Nominative).
(Examples: The boy is a fireman.
The boy is who?/what? The
answer is a fireman. Therefore, a
fireman is the Predicate
Nominative (since fireman is a
Noun and appears in the
Predicate, i.e., after the Verb..
The girl is athletic.
The girl is who?/what? The
answer is athletic. Therefore,
athletic is a Predicate Adjective
(since athletic is an Adjective and
appears in the Predicate, i.e., after
the Verb.)
Adjective: Any word that answers one of the following questions: Which
one? What kind of? How many? Whose? What condition?
(Example: He gave her two beautiful roses.
How many roses? Answer is two.
Since the answer to how many? is
two, two is an Adjective.
What kind of roses? Answer is
beautiful. Since the answer to
what kind of? is beautiful,
beautiful is an Adjective. )
Adverb: Any word that answers one of the following questions: When?
Where? How? Why? To what extent?
(Example: She ran home quickly.)
Where did she run? Answer is
home. Since the answer to where?
is home, home is an Adverb.
How did she run? Answer is
quickly. Since the answer to how?
is quickly, quickly is an Adverb.)
Preposition: A word such as to, in, and with that shows a relationship
between words. [N.B. Prepositions never stand alone; there
is always an Object of the Preposition (the word that
answers whom?/what? after the Preposition). Also, there
are only 64 Prepositions in the English language. Basically,
anything that you can do with a rock and a bucket is a
preposition. Example, you can put a rock into a bucket.
Thus, into is a preposition.]
(Example: We went to New York City with friends.
Question: to what? Since the
answer is New York City, New
York City is the Object of the
Preposition to.
Question: with whom? Since the
answer is friends, friends is the
Object of the Preposition with.
Nota Bene: In Latin, Prepositions
always have a particular Case that
follows them.)
Section II
Case Function Correlation
The easiest way to understand the need to have a particular form (Case) correspond
to how the word is used (Function) in a sentence is to think in terms of dressing for a
particular sport. You would not dress in a bathing suit to play football; nor would you
dress in a football uniform to compete in a swim meet. It certainly would not be
appropriate. Likewise, it would not be appropriate to “dress” a word that is being
used as a Subject in the “dress” of an Accusative. A person seeing the Accusative
form would automatically be led to believe it is being used as a Direct Object – which
would then result in misconstruing the meaning of the sentence within which the
word appears.
CASE
FUNCTIONS
Nominative=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>Subject
Predicate Nominative
Predicate Adjective
Genitive=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>Possession (an ‘ or of
)
Dative=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>Indirect Object
Accusative=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>>Direct Object
After Certain Prepositions
Ablative=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>Show “by means of”
Show “accompaniment” (w/”cum”)
Show “place”
Show “agent” (with ”a”/”ab”)
Show “manner” (w/”cum”)
Show “time when”
Show “time within which”
Show “description”
After Certain Prepositions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Vocative=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>>Direct Address
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Locative=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>=>>At/In Towns, house (domus, domūs –
f), Country (Rural), and Small Islands
Some Uses of the Ablative
(or now you know why most Romance languages, notably Italian, use the Ablative form for their non-declined vocabulary)
Exempli Gratia
Analyses
Function/Form
The grain was carried by the
carriages.
The carriages are the means by which the
grain was carried.
Ablative of Means: Ablative without
a preposition . . . raedīs
The grain was carried with
care.
This indicates the manner in which the grain
was carried.
Ablative of Manner: Ablative after
the preposition “cum” . . . cum curā
I saw the farmer with his son.
This indicates that the son is in the company
of the father.
Ablative of Accompaniment:
Ablative after the preposition “cum”
. . . cum fīliō
The grain was harvested in the
summer.
This indicates the time when (the specific
moment in time) that the grain was harvested.
Ablative of Time When: Ablative
without a preposition . . . aestāte
The grain was planted several
times during the year.
This indicates the time range within which the
grain was planted.
Ablative of Time Within Which:
Ablative without a preposition . . .
annō
The slaves were working in the
fields.
This indicates where the slaves were working.
Ablative of Where: Ablative with the
preposition . . . in agrīs
The overseer went out of the
country house.
This indicates from where the overseer had
gone.
Ablative of From Where: Ablative
with the preposition . . . ex villā
Nota Bene: Regardless of the Declension to which a word belongs, the root of
the Declension is found by dropping the Genitive Ending. (An
example will be given with each Declension examined.)
1st Declension (-ae)
The 1st Declension not only has the distinction of being the first, but its
characteristics are also the easiest to remember. First of all, the dominant vowel
within the endings is “a.” Secondly, with the exception of five words, all the
words in the 1st Declension are Feminine.
Let us look at a typical 1st Declension word: aqua, aquae (f). First, we begin with
the root: aquae. Then, we add the endings (see Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
aqua
aquae
aquae
aquam
aquā
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
aquae
aquārum
aquīs
aquās
aquīs
You will note if you repeat the endings aloud several times, you will notice a
“pattern” or “rhythm.”
Nota Bene: Again, regardless of the Declension to which a word belongs, the
root of the Declension is found by dropping the Genitive Ending.
(An example follows.)
2nd Declension (-ī)
The 2nd Declension is not quite as simple as the 1st Declension, but its
characteristics are still quite easy to remember. First of all, the dominant vowels
within the endings are “i” and “o.” Secondly, all the words in the 2nd Declension
that have a “us” or an “er” ending in the Nominative are Masculine. (Nota
Bene: If the Nominative ends in “er” and the letter in front of the “er” is a
consonant, then you need to drop the “e” in the root before you add your Case
endings. Examples: ager, agrī, but puer, puerī.)
Let us look at a typical 2nd Declension masculine word: servus, servī (m). Again,
we begin with the root: servi. Then, we add the endings (see Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
servus
servī
servō
servum
servō
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
servī
servōrum
servīs
servōs
servīs
Now, let’s look at a typical 2nd Declension Neuter noun: bellum, bellī (n).
Again, we begin with the root: belli. Then, we add the endings (see Bold below).
The first distinction is that the Nominative singular ending is “um” for all 2nd
Declension Neuter nouns rather than the “us” or “er” Nominative endings for
the 2nd Declension masculine nouns. The next distinction is that the Nominative
Plural ending is “a,” (which is the case with all Neuter Nominative and Accusative
Plural endings regardless of Declension). The third distinction is the Nominative
and Accusative endings for all Neuter noun are the same.
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
bellum
bellī
bellō
bellum
bellō
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
bella
bellōrum
bellīs
bella
bellīs
Not only will you note if you repeat the endings aloud several times, you will
notice a “pattern” or “rhythm,” but there are a number of similarities between the
1st Declension endings and the 2nd Declension endings.
Nota Bene: Again, regardless of the Declension to which a word belongs, the
root of the Declension is found by dropping the Genitive Ending.
(An example follows.)
3rd Declension (-is)
The 3rd Declension is not quite as simple as either the 1st or 2nd Declensions.
Thus, its characteristics will require significant more study, but still can be easily
remembered with repetition.
First of all, the words in the 3rd Declension may either be masculine, feminine, or
neuter and the Nominative form varies. Thus, it is very important that you
memorize not only the Nominative and Genitive endings, but also the Gender
when studying the words. However, there is some help. Nouns in the 3rd
Declension with Nominative Singular endings in S-O-X are often Feminine;
endings in –ER and –OR (ERROR) are often Masculine; and endings in -L, -AN,
-C, -E, -T (LANCET) are usually Neuter.
Secondly, there are two types of 3rd Declension nouns: Regular and “i” stem.
Although there are two types, they share the same characteristic endings – with
the exception of the Genitive plural, where the “i” stem noun ending is “ium”
instead of “um.” (You know that the word is a 3rd Declension “i” stem if any of the
following three characteristics occur:

there are the same number of syllables in the Nominative and Genitive
Singulars: civis, civis (m) – citizen

the root of the word ends in two or more consecutive consonants:
urbs, urbis (f) – city (Exceptions: pater, mater, and frater.)

the few Neuter nouns whose Nominative Singular ends in -e, -al, or –
ar: mare, maris (n) – sea.
Now, let us look at the endings for a Regular 3rd Declension word: lex, legis (f) law. Again, we begin with the root: legis. Then, we add the endings (see Bold
below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
lex
legis
legī
legem
lege
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
legēs
legume
legibus
legēs
legibus
Now, let’s look at one of the 3rd Declension “i” stem nouns mentioned
above. Again, we begin with the root: urbis. Then, we add the endings (see
Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
urbs
urbis
urbī
urbem
urbe
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
urbēs
urbium
urbibus
urbēs
urbibus
Nota Bene: Remember that all Neuter Nominative and Accusative plurals end in
an “a” regardless of their Declension.
In addition. the few Neuter -i stem nouns whose Nominative
Singular ends in -e, -al, or –ar such as mare, maris have an -i in
their Ablative Singular instead of an -e (mari) and an –ia (maria) in
their Nominative and Accusative Plural.
Let’s look at one of the 3rd Declension Neuter “i” stem nouns mentioned
above.
Again, we begin with the root: maris. Then, we add the endings – remembering
the “i” in the Ablative Singular and the “ia” in the Nominative and Accusative
Plural (see Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
mare
maris
marī
mare
marī
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
maria
marium
maribus
maria
maribus
Nota Bene: Again, regardless of the Declension to which a word belongs, the
root of the Declension is found by dropping the Genitive Ending.
(An example follows.)
4th Declension
The 4th Declension, unlike the 3rd, is rather simple. (It is often referred to as the
“monkey” declension because of the sound the endings make when they are
recited quickly.) The nouns of the 4th Declension are primarily Masculine – with
the notable exceptions of hand: manus, ūs (f); house: domus, ūs (f); horn: cornu,
ūs (n); and knee: genu, ūs (n) (and a few others). (Notice that nouns of the 4th
Declension whose Nominative singular ends in ū are Neuter and their
Dative Singular is ū, not uī, and their Nominative Plural ends in ua.)
Now, let us look at the endings for the 4th Declension word: portus, portus (m) harbor. Again, we begin with the root: portus. Then, we add the endings (see
Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
portus
portūs
portuī
portum
portū
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
portūs
portuum
portibus
portūs
portibus
Now, let’s look at one of the 4th Declension Neuter nouns mentioned above.
(Nota Bene: With the exceptions of the Accusative Singular and the Nominative
and Accusative Plurals, the endings are the same as the other 4 th Declension
Nouns.) Again, we begin with the root: genus. Then, we add the endings (see
Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
genū
genūs
genū
genū
genū
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
genua
genuum
genibus
genua
genibus
Nota Bene: Again, regardless of the Declension to which a word belongs, the
root of the Declension is found by dropping the Genitive Ending.
(An example follows.)
5th Declension
The 5th (and final) Declension, like the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Declensions, is rather
simple and shares a number of endings with the 3 rd and 4th Declensions. In
addition, all of the nouns in the 5th declension are Feminine –with the exception
of the word for day (dies, diei), which is generally Masculine unless it
means a set date or period of time - then it is Feminine.
Now, let us look at the endings for the 5th Declension word: res, reī (f) - thing.
Again, we begin with the root: reī. Then, we add the endings (see Bold below):
S I N
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
G
U
L A
rēs
rei
rei
rem
rē
R
P
L
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Ablative
U
R
A
L
rēs
rērum
rēbus
rēs
rēbus
Now before we leave the world of Declensions, let’s take a look at two Specific
Use Cases mentioned earlier: the Vocative and the Locative.
Vocative
The Vocative Case (as we can see from its name, voco, call) is equivalent to the
English Direct Address (which is always set off in commas to avoid confusion as
in Did you eat, Charlie? [which is an inquiry as to whether or not Charlie has
eaten] vs. Did you eat Charlie? [which suggests the person spoken to is a
cannibal]. In Latin, the Vocative Case form is the same as the Nominative
Case Form EXCEPT if the noun ends in –us or –ius. If the noun ends in –us,
replace the –us with an –e. However, if the noun ends in an –ius, then replace
the –ius with an –i. Examples,
Nominative
Cornelius
Cornelia
puer
senator
Marcus
Julius
senatores
puerī
amicī, Romanī, et cives
Vocative
Cornelī
Cornelia
puer
senator
Marce
Julī
senatores
puerī
amicī, Romanī, et cives
Locative
Names of towns, home (domus, domūs - f), country (rural), and small islands use
the Locative Case to express Where. In the 1st and 2nd Declensions, the
Locative Form is the same as the Genitive Form. Example: at/in Rome:
Rōmae. In all other Declensions, the Locative Form is the same as the
Ablative Form. Example: at/in Carthage: Carthāgine. However, rus (country)
may have either rūrī or rūre as its Locative Form. (Nota Bene: With verbs of
motion, when a specific town, home, country, or island is not mentioned, then ad
+ Accusative is used. Example: to the city: ad urbem.)
Section III
MOODS
The first observation we have to make regarding verbs is the Mood of the Verb.
Basically, the Mood reveals “purpose” of the Verb. In English and in Latin, there
are four Moods: the Indicative (which is used when making factual statements),
the Imperative (which is used when giving a command),
and the
Subjunctive/Conditional (which is used when making hypothetical statements
or statements contrary to reality or statements denoting a wish/desire or
imaginary statements.
(In Latin, the Subjunctive is primarily the Mood of
Subordination.)
PERSON
The next observation we have to make regarding verbs is that, unlike English,
which indicates the Person (who is speaking, whom is being spoken to, or whom
is being spoken about) by using a Pronoun (I, you [S], he/she/it, we, you [P],
they), Latin indicates the Person by the ending (o, s, t, mus, tis, nt). Thus, the
correlation for the Basic Endings are: I = o, you (S) = s, he/she/it = t, we = mus,
you (P) = tis, they = nt.
TENSE
In order to understand verbs, we also have to understand that, when we talk
about anything, we are always talking in a time period – either the Present, the
Past, the Remote Past, or the Future or the periods in between those time
periods. Once we understand that, we next need to understand that we express
those time periods (Tenses) through our Verbs – and that we do so by changing
the form of the Verb to fit the time (Tense) we are expressing. Thus, when we
express that we eat in the






Present, we say: we eat.
When we express that we eat in the Past, we say: we ate.
When we express that we eat in the Remote Past, we say: we had eaten.
When we express that we eat in a period from Past to the Present, we
say: we have eaten.
When we express that we eat in the Future, we say: we will eat.
When we express that we eat From the Present to the Future, we say:
we will have eaten.
Notice that, for each time period, the form of the verb changes to fit the
particular time period. Also, note that, upon close analysis, there is a formula
for each time period. (However, in order to discern the formula, you first need
to note the Principle Parts of the Verb (1st Principle Part: 1st person singular
Present; 2nd Principle Part: Infinitive; 3rd Principle Part: Past Tense; 4th
Principle Part: Past Participle):

I eat (1st Person because it is “I,” singular because “I” is
one person, Present Tense because the action is
happening in the present, and Active Voice because the
Subject “I” is doing the action);

to eat (the Infinitive because that is the label we use for a
verb form immediately preceded by “to”);

ate (Past Tense because the action is taking place in the
past);

eaten (Past Participle because, as with all participles, it
functions as an Adjective and the action occurs in the
past)
Once you have noted the Principle Parts, you realize that every Tense
is formed by using a standard formula (remember Verbs are always
Conjugated in the order of I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they) and the
Principle Parts. For example:
Present Tense = the appropriate pronoun + the 2nd Principle
Part (Infinitive) minus the “to”: I eat, you eat,
he/she/it eats, we eat, you eat, they eat.
Past Tense = the appropriate pronoun + the 3rd Principle Part
(the Past): I ate, you ate, he/she/it ate, we ate,
you ate, they ate.
Remote Past / Past Perfect = the appropriate pronoun + had
+ the 4th Principle Part (Past Participle): I
had eaten, you had eaten, he/she/it had eaten,
we had eaten, you had eaten, they had eaten.
Present Perfect = the appropriate pronoun + has/have + the
4th Principle Part (Past Participle): I have
eaten, you have eaten, he/she/it has eaten, we
have eaten, you have eaten.
Future = the appropriate pronoun + shall/will + the 2nd
Principle Part (Infinitive) minus the “to”: I
shall eat, you will eat, he/she/it will eat, we will
eat, you will eat, they will eat.
Future Perfect = the appropriate pronoun + will have + the
4th Principle Part (Past Participle): I will have
eaten, you will have eaten, he/she/it will have
eaten, we will have eaten, you will have eaten.
Now, once you have “digested” the formulae for English Verbs, all you need to do
is keep it in mind with Latin Verbs. (However, note that a few of the Tense labels
are different: The Remote Past/Past Perfect = PluPerfect; the Past = the
Perfect; and the Present Perfect = Imperfect. Everything else has the same
label.
With that in mind, let’s look at Latin Verb Forms. To begin with, the pronoun is
not expressed; it is imbedded in the Verb form and is expressed by the
particular ending. Secondly, unlike English which uses separate words to
express certain Tenses, the Tense “signals” are built onto the Verb between
its Stem and its Ending.
Thirdly, the Infinitive usually reveals the
Conjugation to which the Verb belongs. However, with certain Infinitives, you
also have to look at the 1st Principle Part. For example,

Infinitives ending in “-are” indicate 1st Conjugation verbs;
Example: portō, portāre, portāvī, portātus, a, um

Infinitives ending in a long “-ēre” indicate 2nd Conjugation
verbs when the 1st Principle Part ends in “-eō”;
Example: sedeō, sedēre, sēdī, sessuus, a, um

Infinitives ending in a short “-ere” indicate 3rd Conjugation
verbs when the 1st Principle Part ends in “-o” or “-io”; and
Examples: pōnō, pōnere, posuī, posītus, a, um
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus, a, um

Infinitives ending in “-īre” indicate 4th Conjugation verbs
Example: veniō, venīre, vēnī, venturus, a, um
Once we have established the Conjugation to which a verb belongs, we are now
ready to form the different Tenses of that verb.
Present Tense
1st, 2nd, and 4th Conjugation Verbs: the Present Stem (the 2nd
Principle Part [Infinitive]
minus the “re” ending) +
the Present Endings.
Examples: portō portās,portat, portāmus, portātis, portant.
sedeō, sedēs,sedet, sedēmus, sedētis, sedent
veniō, venīs, venit, venīmus, venītis, veniunt*
*Nota Bene: For pronunciation purposes, there
is a change in the 3rd person plural, which adds
a “u” after the “i” before adding the ending, “nt.”
However, unlike the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Conjugations, the 3rd Conjugation
Regular and “io” verbs change their stem vowel from an “e” to and “i”
before adding the Endings.
Examples: ponō, ponis, ponit, ponimus, ponits, ponunt*
*Nota Bene: Again, for pronunciation
purposes, there is a change in the 3rd person,
plural, wherein the “i” changes to a “u.”
capiō, capis, capit, capimus, capitis, capiunt*
*Nota Bene: Again, for pronunciation
purposes, there is a change in the 3rd person,
plural, which adds a “u” after the “i” before
adding the ending, “nt.”
Imperfect Tense
Like the Present Tense, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regular Conjugation Verbs in the
Imperfect Tense are built on the Present
Stem (the 2nd Principle Part [Infinitive]
minus the “re” ending). However, before
the basic endings are added, a “ba”
must be placed in front of them.
Examples: portābam,* portābās, portābat, portābāmus, portābātis, portābant.
sedēbam,* sedēbās,sedēbat, sedēbāmus, sedēbātis, sedēbant
ponēbam,* ponēbās,ponēbat, ponēbāmus, ponēbātis, ponēbant
*Nota Bene: The 1st Person, singular ends in an “m” rather
than the expected “o” of the Present Tense.
However, there is a slight difference with regard to the 3rd “i” Stem (“-io”)
and 4th Conjugation Imperfects. In the 3rd “i” Stem (“-io”), you need to insert
an “i” in front of the Stem Vowel before adding the “ba” and the Basic Endings;
but with the 4th Conjugation, you need to place an “e” after the “-i” stem vowel
before adding the Basic Endings. (Nota Bene: The “bridge” between the 3rd “i”
Stem (“-io”) and the 4th is so well “anchored” that they “mirror” each other.)
Examples: capiēbam,* capiēbās, capiēbat, capiēbāmus, capiēbātis, capiēbant.
veniēbam,* veniēbās,veniēbat, veniēbāmus, veniēbātis, veniēbant
Future Tense
Like the Present Tense, 1st and 2nd Conjugation Verbs in the Future Tense
are built on the Present Stem (the 2nd Principle
Part [Infinitive] minus the “re” ending). However,
before the basic endings are added, a “bi” must
be placed in front of them.
Examples: portābō,* portābis, portābit, portābimus, portābitis, portābunt**
sedebō,* sedebis,sedebit, sedebimus, sedebitis, sedebunt**
*Nota Bene: The 1st Person, singular ends in an “o” rather
than the expected “io.”
**Nota Bene: Again, for pronunciation purposes, there is a
change in the 3rd person, plural, wherein the
“i” changes to a “u.”
Like the 1st and 2nd Conjugation Verbs in the Future Tense, the 3rd and 4th
Conjugation Verbs are built on the Present Stem (the 2nd
Principle Part [Infinitive] minus the “re” ending). However,
unlike the 1st and 2nd Conjugations, they do not add “bi” before
the basic endings. Instead, they follow the following formulae:
For Regular 3rd Conjugation Verbs, you simply add the basic endings (*am
for the 1st Person Singular) to the
Present Stem.
Example:
ponam,* ponēs, ponet, ponēmus, ponētis, ponent
However, 3rd Conjugation “io” Verbs and 4th Conjugation Verbs, as
mentioned before, tend to “mirror” each other. With these you
have an “ie” in front of the basic endings (*iam for the 1st Person
Singular). (Think of the 3rd Conjugation “io” Verbs as a marriage
between the 3rd Regular Conjugation and the 4th Conjugation, for
you are inserting an “i” before the Present Tense stem vowel in
3rd Conjugation “io” Verbs and adding an “e” to the Present
Tense stem vowel of 4th Conjugation Verbs.
Examples: capiam,* capiēs, capiet, capiēmus, capiētis, capient.
veniam,* venies, veniet, veniemus, venietis, venient
Perfect Tense
The Perfect Tense is Perfect in that it is formed the same way for every
Conjugation: the Perfect Stem (the 3rd Principle Part
minus the “i” ending) + the PERFECT Endings (ī, istī, it,
imus, istis, ērunt).
Examples: portavī => portāvī, portāvistī, portāvit, portāvimus, portāvistis, portāvērunt
sēdī => sēdī, sēdistī, sēdit, sēdimus, sēdistis, sēdērunt
posuī => posuī, posuistī, posuit, posuimus, posuistis, posuērunt
cēpī => cēpī, cēpistī, cēpit, cēpimus, cēpistis, cēpērunt
vēnī => vēnī, vēnistī, vēnit, vēnimus, vēnistis, vēnērunt
PluPerfect Tense
The PluPerfect Tense as with the Perfect Tense is formed the same way for
every Conjugation: the Perfect Stem (the 3rd Principle
Part minus the “i” ending) + the IMPERFECT PERFECT
Endings, which are the same as the Imperfect Forms of
the Verb “to be” (eram, erās, erat, erāmus, erātis, erant).
Examples: portavi => portāveram, portāverās, portāverat, portāverāmus,
portāverātis, portāverant
sēdī => sēderam, sēderās, sēderat, sēderāmus, sēderātis, sēderant
posuī => posueram, posuerās, posuerat, posuerāmus, posuerātis,
posuerant
cēpī => cēperam, cēperās, cēperat, cēperāmus, cēperātis, cēperant
vēnī => vēneram, vēnerās, vēnerat, vēnerāmus, vēnerātis, vēnerant
Future Perfect Tense
The Future Perfect Tense as with the Perfect Tense is formed the same way
for every Conjugation: the Perfect Stem (the 3rd
Principle Part minus the “i” ending) + the FUTURE
PERFECT Endings, which, with the exception of the 3rd
Person Plural, are the same as the Future Forms of the
Verb “to be” (erō, eris, erit, erimus, eritis, erint).
Examples: portavi => portāverō, portāveris, portāverit, portāverimus, portāveritis,
portāverint
sēdī => sēderō, sēderis, sēderit, sēderimus, sēderitis, sēderint
posuī => posuerō, posueris, posuerit, posuerimus, posueritis,
posuerant
cēpī => cēperō, cēperis, cēperit, cēperimus, cēperitis, cēperint
vēnī => vēnerō, vēneris, vēnerit, vēnerimus, vēneritis, vēnerint
The Verb to be: sum, esse, fui, futurus, a, um
Present Tense
S I N G
I am
you are
he, she, it is
U
L
A
sum
es
est
R
P
L
we are
you are
they are
U
R
A
L
sumus
estis
sunt
R
A
L
erāmus
erātis
errant
R
A
L
erimus
eritis
erunt
Imperfect Tense (era + Basic Endings)
S I N G
I was
you were
he, she, it was
U
L
A R
eram
erās
erat
P
L
we were
you were
they were
U
Future Tense (eri + Basic Endings)
S I N G U
I will/shall be
you will be
he, she, it will be
L
A
erō
eris
erit
R
P
L
we will be
you will be
they will be
U
Perfect Tense (Perfect Stem + Perfect Endings)
S I N G
I have been
you have been
he, she, it has been
U
L
A R
fuī
fuistī
fuit
P
L
U
we have been
you have been
they have been
R
A
L
fuimus
fuistis
fuērunt
PluPerfect Tense (Perfect Stem + Imperfect Endings of the Verb “to be”)
S I N G
I had been
you had been
he, she, it had been
U
L A R
fueram
fuerās
fuerat
P
L
U
we had been
you had been
they had been
R
A
L
fuerāmus
fuerātis
fuerant
Future Perfect Tense (Perfect Stem + Future Endings of the Verb “to be”)
S I N G
I will have been
you will have been
he, she, it will have
been
U
L
A R
fuerō
fueris
fuerit
P
L
U
R
we will have been
you will have been
they will have been
A
L
fuerimus
fueritis
fuerint
IMPERATIVE MOOD
As mentioned previously, the Imperative Mood is the Mood used to give a
command. Keeping in mind that a command may be given either to one person
or to a group of people, mastering the Imperative is quite easy as it only appears
in two forms: the Singular and the Plural. What makes it even easier is that the
Stem of a Verb is the same form as the Imperative Singular and the
Imperative Plural is the Stem + “te” (except with the 3rd Conjugation Verbs
where the Stem vowel “e” must be changed to an “i” prior to adding the “te”
ending).
Examples:
Spectō:
Spectā
(S)
Spectāte
(Pl)
Terreō:
Terrē
(S)
Terrēte
(Pl)
Mittō:
Mitte
(S)
Mittite
(Pl)
Accipiō:
Accipe
(S)
Accipite
(Pl)
Mūniō:
Mūnī
(S)
Mūnīte
(Pl)
VOICE
Another function revealed in the form of a Verb is Voice. Voice indicates
“direction through” the verb. The Active Voice indicates that the “action” or “state
of being” “flows” from the Subject and goes “through the Verb” (S V >) to a
Complement (DO, PN, PAdj.) or to a “null” in the case of Intransitive verbs. On
the other hand, the Passive Voice indicates that the “action” is going “through the
Verb” to the Subject (S<V). For instance, the action, “The arrow struck the
target” (S V > DO), is in the Active Voice. However, expressed in the Passive
Voice, the same information would be: “The target was struck by the arrow
(S<V).” Note that the Subject now is “target” rather than “arrow.” (Another way
of looking at that is to realize that there is an answer to “whom” or “what” with an
Active Voice construction, but never in the case of a Passive Voice construction.
In addition, in English, another “giveaway” for the Passive Voice construction is
the almost universal presence of the adverbial phrase “by…” [as in “by the
arrow”] associated with the verb.) Also, note that using the Passive Voice
construction allows for variety in style, clearer pronoun antecedents, and, in
certain cases, greater clarity as well as a means of conveying/shifting emphasis.
Now, a quick review of the Active Voice formulae for English using the Principal
Parts of “to eat” as a model:
Remote Past/Past Perfect: Past Perfect Signal (had) + Past Participle (eaten)
Past: The Second Principal Part (ate)
Present Perfect: Present Perfect Signal (has/have) + Past Participle (eaten)
Present: Infinitive minus “to” (eat)
Future Perfect: Future Signal (will) + Perfect Signal (have) + Past Participle
(eaten)
Future: Future Signal (will) + Infinitive minus “to” (eat)
Likewise, let us take a quick review of the corresponding Tense terminology:
English
Remote Past/Past Perfect
Past
Present Perfect
Present
Future Perfect
Future
Latin
Plu-Perfect
Perfect
Imperfect
Present
Future Perfect
Future
Now, as far as the Passive Voice is concerned, again there are formulae:
Past Perfect: Past Perfect Signal (had) + Passive Signal (been) + Past
Participle (eaten)
Past: Passive Past Tense Signal (was/were) + Past Participle (eaten)
Present Perfect: Present Perfect Signal (has/have) + Passive Signal (been) +
Past Participle (eaten)
Present: Passive Present Signal (is/are or is being/are being) + Past Participle
(eaten)
Future Perfect: Future Signal (will) + Perfect Signal (have) + Passive Signal
(been) + Past Participle (eaten)
Future: Future Signal (will) + Passive Signal (be) + Past Participle (eaten)
(By now, you have noted that all the Passive Signals are the appropriate forms of
the verb “to be.” In addition, as mentioned above, as you encounter the use of
the Passive Voice, almost universally, you will find along with it the adverbial
phrase “by…”)
Now, when you transfer this concept to Latin, you will understand why the 4th
Principal Part is referred to as the “Perfect Passive Participle.”
The “standard” Passive Voice endings that are used throughout the three nonperfect tenses are distinctively different from those of the Active Voice.
Singular
1st
2nd
3rd
Plural
-r
-ris
-tur
-mur
-minī
-ntur
Although the Passive Voice endings are distinctively different from those of the
Active Voice, the formulae are basically the same:
Present Tense (1st and 2nd Conjugations): Present Stem + Passive Voice
Endings (remembering to add an “r” to “o” ending of the 1st Principal Part ).
Examples: laudor, laudāris, laudātur, laudāmur, laudāminī, laudantur
doceor, docēris, docētur, docēmur, docēminī, docentur
Present Tense (3rd Regular and “io” Conjugations): Present Stem + Passive
Voice Endings (remembering to add an “r” to “o” ending of the 1 st Principal
Part and remembering the “vowel shift”). Also, note that the Stem Vowel is
retained in the 2nd Person Singular* and the “i” in the 3rd Person Plural
Regular** is changed to a “u” while the 3rd Person Plural “io”*** adds a “u”
after the “i.”
Examples: pōnor, pōneris*, pōnitur, pōnimur, pōniminī, pōnuntur**
capior, caperis*, capitur, capimur, capiminī, capuntur***
Present Tense (4th Conjugation): Present Stem + Passive Voice Endings
(remembering to add an “r” to “o” ending of the 1st Principal Part). Also, as
with the 3rd Conjugation “io,” the 3rd Person Plural adds a “u” after the “i.”
Examples: audior, audiris, auditur, audimur, audiminī, audiuntur***
Imperfect Tense (1st, 2nd, 3rd Regular Conjugations): Present Stem +
Imperfect Signal “ba” + Passive Voice Endings.
Examples: laudābar, laudābāris, laudābātur, laudābāmur, laudābāminī, laudābantur
docēbar, docēbāris, docēbātur, docēbāmur, docēbāminī, docēbantur
pōnebar, pōnebāris*, pōnebātur, pōnebāmur, pōnebāminī, pōnebantur
Imperfect Tense (3rd “io” and 4th Conjugations): Present Stem (inserting an
“i” before the Stem Vowel “e” with the 3rd “io” and adding an “e” to the
Stem Vowel of the 4th) + Imperfect Signal “ba” + Passive Voice Endings.
Examples: capiēbar, capiēbāris, capiēbātur, capiēbāmur, capiēbāmini, capiēbantur
audiēbar, audiēbāris, audiēbātur, audiēbāmur, audiēbāmini, audiēntur
Future Tense (1st and 2nd Conjugations): Present Stem + Future Signal “bi”
+ Passive Voice Endings. Also, note that the “bi” of the 2nd Person
Singular* is changed to “be” before adding the ending and “bi” of the 3rd
Person Plural** is changed to “bu” before adding the ending.
Examples: laudābor, laudāberis*, laudābitur, laudābimur, laudābiminī, laudābuntur**
docēbor, docēberis*, docēbitur, docēbimur, docēbiminī, docēbuntur**
Future Tense (3rd Regular Conjugation): Present Stem + Passive Voice
Endings (remembering to change the Stem Vowel in the 1st Person Singular
from “e” to “a”*).
Examples: pōnar*, pōnēris*, pōnētur, pōnēmur, pōnēminī, pōnentur
Future Tense (3rd “io” and 4th Conjugations): Present Stem (inserting an “i”
before the Stem Vowel “e” with the 3rd “io” and adding an “e” to the Stem
Vowel of the 4th) + Passive Voice Endings (remembering to change the
Stem Vowel in the 1st Person Singular from “e” to “a”*).
Examples: capiar*, capiēris, capiētur, capiēmur, capiēminī, capientur
audiar, audiēris, audiētur, audiēmur, audiēminī, audientur
Perfect Tense: Perfect Passive Participle (4th Principal Part) + the
appropriate conjugated forms of the Present Tense of the esse. (Remember
that all Participles are Adjectives. Therefore, the Perfect Passive Participle
must agree with the Subject in Gender and Number.)
Examples: laudātus sum, laudātus es, laudātus est, laudātī sumus, laudātī estis, laudātī sunt
doctus sum, doctus es, doctus est, doctī sumus, doctī estis, doctī sunt
positus sum, positus es, positus est, positī sumus, positī estis, positī sunt
captus sum, captus es, captus est, captī sumus, captī estis, captī sunt
audītus sum, audītus es, audītus est, audītī sumus, audītī estis, audītī sunt
PluPerfect Tense: Perfect Passive Participle (4th Principal Part) + the
appropriate conjugated forms of the Imperfect Tense of the esse.
(Remember that all Participles are Adjectives. Therefore, the Perfect
Passive Participle must agree with the Subject in Gender and Number.)
Examples: laudātus eram, laudātus erās, laudātus erat, laudātī erāmus, laudātī erātis, laudātī erant
doctus eram, doctus erās, doctus erat, doctī erāmus, doctī erātis, doctī sunt
positus eram, positus erās, positus erat, positī erāmus, positī erātis, positī sunt
captus eram, captus erās, captus erat, captī erāmus, captī erātis, captī sunt
audītus eram, audītus erās, audītus erat, audītī erāmus, audītī erātis, audītī sunt
Future Perfect Tense: Perfect Passive Participle (4th Principal Part) + the
appropriate conjugated forms of the Future Tense of the esse. (Remember
that all Participles are Adjectives. Therefore, the Perfect Passive Participle
must agree with the Subject in Gender and Number.)
Examples: laudātus erō, laudātus eris, laudātus erit, laudātī erimus, laudātī eritis, laudātī erunt
doctus erō, doctus eris, doctus erit, doctī erimus, doctī eritis, doctī erunt
positus erō, positus eris, positus erit, positī erimus, positī eritis, positī erunt
captus erō, captus eris, captus erit, captī erimus, captī eritis, captī erunt
audītus erō, audītus eris, audītus erit, audītī erimus, audītī eritis, audītī erunt
Section IV
Adjectives: As stated in Section I, an adjective is any word that answers one of
the following questions: Which one? What kind of? How many?
Whose? What condition?
(Example: He gave her two beautiful roses.
How many roses? Answer is two.
Since the answer to how many? is
two, two is an Adjective.
What kind of roses? Answer is
beautiful. Since the answer to
what kind of? is beautiful,
beautiful is an Adjective. )
In Latin, Adjectives must agree with the word they modify in Gender,
Number, and Case. Thus, all Adjectives have endings for all three Genders.
(Example: The overseer saw many lazy slaves in the field.)
Since many answers the question How many?
and lazy answers the question What kind of?,
both are Adjectives modifying slaves. Since
slaves is the Direct Object and, therefore in the
Accusative Case, and is Masculine and Plural,
both many and lazy have to have a Masculine,
Plural, Accusative Endings: Vilicus multos
servos ignavos vidit. [Nota Bene: Adjectives of
Quantity are p[laced in front of the noun they
modify and Adjectives of Quality are placed
after the noun they modify.])
In Latin, there are two distinct categories of Adjectives: 1st and 2nd Declension
Adjectives and 3rd Declension Adjectives. Unlike Nouns, you are able to
determine which declension an adjective belongs to (and thus what endings to
use) by its Genitive Feminine Singular Ending – if the Genitive Feminine Singular
Ending ends in –ae, it is a 1st and 2nd Declension Adjective; if it ends in –is, it is
a 3rd Declension Adjective; and all Single Form Adjectives are 3rd Declension
Adjectives.
(Examples: magnus, a, um would use 1st and 2nd Declension
Endings because its Feminine Genitive Singular Ending is
-ae.
However, celer,celeris,celere would use 3rd
Declension Endings because its Feminine Genitive Singular
Ending is –is.)
Adverbs: As stated in Section I, an adverb is any word that answers one of the
following questions: When? Where? How? Why? To what extent?
(Example: She ran home quickly.)
Where did she run? Answer is
home. Since the answer to where?
is home, home is an Adverb.
How did she run?
Answer is
quickly. Since the answer to how?
is quickly, quickly is an Adverb.)
Now just as in English, you build most Adverbs from Adjectives by adding “-ly” to
the Adjective form quick => quickly, you build most Adverbs in Latin from an
Adjective form.
Now, with regard to Latin, we have a similar set of
circumstances. Most of the Adverbs that are formed from the 1st and 2nd
Declension Adjectives are formed by adding an “ē” to their roots. Examples:
strenuus, a, um => strenuē and lentus, a, um => lentē.
However, most of the Adverbs that are formed from 3rd Declension
Adjectives are formed by adding –iter to their roots. Examples:
celer,celeris,celere => celeriter and ferox, ferocis => ferociter. In addition,
Adjectives ending in “-ns” form their Adverbs by adding “-er” to the Stem.
Example: dīlīgēns, dīlīgentis => dīlīgenter. Also, there are several Adjectives
(particularly those of quantity and number) that form their Adverbs by using the
Neuter Singular Accusative. Examples: multus, a, um => multum and facilis,
facile => facile.
Section V
To being with, vocabulary is critical to every language. Without a vocabulary, we
would be reduced to grunts and groans and be constantly frustrated because we
couldn’t express our needs, desires, and thoughts.
Although Latin vocabulary can appear intimidating at first (particularly since you
need to memorize not only the Nominative form, but also the Genitive form and
the Gender), you really have a great advantage since better than 75% of English
vocabulary comes from Latin.
Thus, you have a wonderful symbiotic
relationship: the better your English vocabulary is, the easier it is to develop your
Latin vocabulary and the more you develop your Latin vocabulary, the greater
your English vocabulary becomes.
Now, there are two methods that you can use to facilitate your mastery of Latin
vocabulary. Both grow out of a common source: flash cards.
The first is repetition since Repetītiō intensa est māter reminiscendī (Focused
repetition is the mother of retention).
The second goes hand-and-hand with the first. When you create a flash card,
use a mnemonic device (something that helps you remember). For instance,
when you create a flash card for raeda, ae (f), you might use the pronunciation
for the word (rīda) on the Latin side of the card. This would help you “connect”
the word to its definition by triggering off in you mind, “What do I ride in?” The
answer “car” (which is the abbreviation for “carriage”) would then help you
remember that the word raeda, ae (f) means carriage. Likewise, on the English
side of the card, you might use the sentence, “What does a person do in a
carriage?” This would suggest “ride,” which, in turn, would help you remember
the Latin word for “carriage,” raeda, ae (f). (Since everyone is unique, each
person needs to develop his/her own mnemonic device. Even if the mnemonic is
“strange” or something of a “stretch,” just the exercise of creating one will prove
most beneficial and be a definite asset in your remembering the vocabulary.)
It should be noted that the “bottom line” in both of the above is study. However,
remember that just as you can’t digest an entire meal in one swallow, you can’t
digest a vast number of words in one sitting. You should dedicate 5-10 minutes
a night to learning new Latin vocabulary and reviewing previously learned Latin
vocabulary. If you do this, you will discover that rather than being intimidating,
learning the Latin vocabulary will be quite easy and enjoyable.