THIRD 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. dūcō
 2nd principal part: the present active infinitive, e.g. dūcere
 3rd principal part: the 1st person singular, perfect active
indicative form, e.g. dūxī
 4th principal part (can be one of the following, depending
on the book):
 the perfect passive participle, e.g. ductus, -a, -um
 the accusative supine, e.g. ductum
 the future active participle, e.g. ductūrus, -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 lead,” “I do lead,” and “I am
leading”
 Imperfect tense, e.g. “I was loving,” “I led,” “I used
to lead”
 Future tense, e.g. “I will lead”
 Perfect System
 Perfect tense, e.g. “I have led,” “I did lead,” and “I
led”
 Pluperfect tense, e.g. “I had led”
 Future Perfect tense, e.g. “I will have led”
o Latin verbs can be conjugated in 2 VOICES:
 Active Voice: e.g. “We lead,” “She led,” “They will lead”
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THIRD CONJUGATION
 Passive Voice: e.g. “We are led,” “She was (being) led,”
“They will be led”
o Latin verbs also have 3 MOODS:
 Indicative: e.g. You lead me. You do lead me. You are
leading me.
 Imperative: e.g. Lead me!
 Subjunctive: e.g. Should you lead me? You may lead 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 third conjugation verb dūcere, to lead. The additional
vowel needed for 3rd conjugation will be in red. The traditional
personal endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
singular
plural
1st person
dūcō
dūcimus
2nd person
dūcis
dūcitis
3rd person
dūcit
dūcunt
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THIRD CONJUGATION
Conjugating 3nd 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: quae·rō, -rere, -sīvī or -siī, sītus,
tr to look for, search for; to try to get
o quaerō is the 1st principal part
o quae- + -rere = quarere, the 2nd principal part
o quae- + -sīvī (or -siī) = quaesīvī (or quaesiī),
the 3rd principal part
o quae- + -sītus = quaesītus, the 4th principal part
 All third conjugation verbs will have a short -ere for
the second principal part. (cf. p. 124, 129, and 134)
o STEP #2: Remove the entire -ere 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 3rd conjugation: (quaerere) –– (-ere) = quaero 2nd conjugation: (docēre) –– (-re) = doceo STEP #3: Add an ending to the verb’s present stem (you will
need to add an –i or –u before the personal endings for 3rd
conjugation present tense, and an –ē for before the standard
endings for imperfect tense)
 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 generally consistent with the steps
followed when you conjugate verbs in the 1st and 2nd conjugation.
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THIRD CONJUGATION
A Closer Look at the 3rd Conjugation
 Now look at this IMPERFECT (tense), active (voice), indicative
(mood) paradigm of the third conjugation verb dūcere, to lead. The
additional vowel needed for 3rd conjugation will be in red. The
endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
singular
plural
1st person
dūcēbam
dūcēbāmus
2nd person
dūcēbās
dūcēbātis
3rd person
dūcēbat
dūcēbant
 Now look at this FUTURE (tense), active (voice), indicative (mood)
paradigm of the third conjugation verb dūcere, to lead. The new
future endings will appear in boldfaced blue. N.B. You will NOT
use the endings –bō, bis, bit,bimus, bitis, bunt for either the 3rd or 4th
conjugations.
singular
plural
1st person
dūcam
dūcēmus
2nd person
dūcēs
dūcētis
3rd person
dūcet
dūcēnt
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THIRD 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, a) change
the final -e of the imperative to -i- first and b) add –te to
(e.g. mittite)
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THIRD CONJUGATION
Conjugating 3nd 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: reg·ō, -ere, rēxī, rēctum tr to
rule
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.
 Third conjugation follows the same steps and uses the
same endings for the perfect system as first and second
conjugation. There is no difference between any of the
conjugations in how they conjugate these three tenses.
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THIRD 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
dūxīt
he (has) led
dūxerat
she had led
dūxerit
(s)he will have led
dūxērunt
they (have) led
dūxerant
they had led
dūxerint
they will have led
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THIRD CONJUGATION
The 3rd Conjugation I-Stem verbs / “3rd-IO” Verbs
 There is a subset of third conjugation verbs whose present stems end
in –i. These are called third conjugation i-stem verbs or “third-io”
verbs.
 Such verbs are conjugated exactly as other third conjugation verbs
except for the additional –i found at the end of the present stem for
virtually all of the present system forms.
 Consider the verb capiō, capere, cēpī, captum, to capture, seize.
The –ere of the second principal part identifies this as a verb of the
third conjugation. The additional –i seen in the first principal part
identifies it as being i-stem or third-io.
 Now study this PRESENT (tense), active (voice), indicative (mood)
paradigm of the third conjugation verb iaciō, iacere, iēcī, iactum, to
throw. The additional vowel needed for 3rd conjugation will be in red.
The endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
singular
plural
1st person
iaciō
iacimus
2nd person
iacis
iacitis
3rd person
iacit
iaciunt
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THIRD CONJUGATION
 Now study this IMPERFECT (tense), active (voice), indicative (mood)
paradigm of the third conjugation verb iacere, to throw. The
additional vowel needed for 3rd conjugation will be in red. The
endings will appear in boldfaced blue.
singular
plural
1st person
iaciēbam
iaciēbāmus
2nd person
iaciēbās
iaciēbātis
3rd person
iaciēbat
iaciēbant
 Now study this FUTURE (tense), active (voice), indicative (mood)
paradigm of the third conjugation verb iacere, to throw. The new
future endings will appear in boldfaced blue. N.B. You will NOT
use the endings –bō, bis, bit,bimus, bitis, bunt for the 3rd
conjugation or 4th conjugation.
singular
plural
1st person
iaciam
iaciēmus
2nd person
iaciēs
iaciētis
3rd person
iaciet
iaciēnt
 PERFECT SYSTEM SYNOPSIS: Now study this perfect system
(tenses), active (voice), indicative (mood) synopsis of the third
conjugation i-stem verb iacēre, to throw, done in the third person. In
the perfect system, i-stem verbs are consistent with all conjugations.
singular
plural
PERFECT
PLUPERFECT
FUT. PERFECT
iēcīt
iēcerat
iēcerit
iēcērunt
iēcerant
iēcerint
ix