VERBS
Chapter 2
PRINCIPAL PARTS

The vocabulary list will present you with three
principal parts for each verb.
amo, amare, amavi
1st
person,
singular,
Present
tense
Infinitive
(second
principal
part)
1st
person,
singular,
perfect
tense
TRANSLATION OF THE INFINITIVE

In regular Latin verbs, the infinitive will end in
an –re. Whenever you see an infinitive, translate
it with the English word “to.”
Examples:
amare= to love
monere= to carry
THE INFINITIVE
The infinitive of a verb helps you in two very
important ways.

It tells you what conjugation a verb is in.

It gives you the present stem of a verb.
CONJUGATION

In order to tell what conjugation a verb is in, look
at the vowel before the –re in the infinitive.
a= first conjugation
long e, (ē)= second conjugation
short e (e)= third conjugation
i= fourth conjugation
THE PRESENT STEM


The second piece of information that the
infinitive gives you is the present stem.
In order to find the present stem of a verb, go to
the infinitive and take off the
–re.
Infinitive
Present stem
amare
ama
monēre
monē
FORMING THE PRESENT TENSE



In order to form the present tense, add personal
endings to the present stem
The personal ending –t, is the ending for third
person, singular. It is translated as he, she, or
it.
Examples:
amat= he, she, or it loves
monet= he, she, or it warns
FORMING THE PRESENT TENSE (CON’T)


The personal ending –nt, is the ending for third
person, plural. It is translated as they.
Examples:
amant= they love
monent= they warn
THE VERB “TO BE.”

Even the irregular verb “to be” follows this same
pattern for third person endings.
Est= he, she, it, is
 Sunt= they are

SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT


Always remember that the subject and the verb
in a sentence MUST agree in number.
In other words, if your subject is singular, the
verb MUST also have a singular ending. If the
subject is plural, the verb MUST also be plural.
SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT (CON’T)

Pater canem amat. Father loves the dog.
“Father” (Pater) is a singular subject, so “loves”
(amat) also has a singular ending.
Pater et mater canem amant. The father and
mother love the dog.
Because “father and mother” are a plural subject,
amant also has a plural ending.