拉丁语动词小结

 

Latin verbs have six different tenses and they are:

      Present tense

      Imperfect tense

      Future tense

      Perfect tense

      Pluperfect tense

      Future perfect tense

There are three (grammatical) persons:  first, second and third; and there are two numbers:  singular and plural.  That gives us 3 x 2 = 6 different subject pronouns:

      I and we, You (singular) and you (plural),  He/she/it and they

On top of all these, there are two voices:  active and passive.

Finally, there are three moods:  indicative, imperative, and subjunctive (The virtual class has not addressed subjunctive mood yet and so we can skip this part for the moment).

      What’s worse is that Latin groups all its verbs into four major groups called declensions.  They are called:

      First declension

      Second declension

      Third declension

      Fourth declension

These declensions are what makes Latin verb a horrible phenomenon.

However, the good news is that the virtual class has only covered the first and second declensions and difficulty is still at manageable level¹.  The following provide an opportunity for you to review what’s been learned and hope it will prepare you for the exams and assignments that you must do well.

Four Principal Parts

As the book requires to do, for every Latin verb, you must remember its four principal parts.  Take the famous Latin verb “amare” (= love) as an example.  Its four principal parts are:

Amo, amare, amavi, amatus. 

The first part, amo, is the verb form for the first person singular (I), and so amo means “I love”. 

The second part, amare, is the infinitive form of this verb.  In other words, amare = to love. 

The third part, amavi, is used to form the three perfect active tenses (perfect active, pluperfect active, and future perfect active). 

The fourth part, amatus, is used to form the three perfect passive tenses (perfect passive, pluperfect passive, and future perfect passive).

If you remember the four principal parts of any Latin verbs, the six tense, with active and passive, with singular or plural, will be quite manageable.  If you don’t remember them, you are basically dean in Latin.  In this sense, remembering the four principal parts is a must.   

First and Second Declensions

OK, what are they?  The verb infinitive indicator is an ending “-re”.  The infinitive is formed by adding the infinitive ending “-re” to the verb stem.  Take the love verb “amare” again.  In “amare” which is an infinitive, “ama-” is the verb stem, “-re” is the infinitive ending, and the “-a” before “-re” is called stem vowel.  In Latin, there are a group of verbs whose infinitive always ends in “-are” and this group is called the first declension.  In other words, every first declension verb has “-a” as its stem vowel. 

There are another group of verbs whose infinitive ends in “-ere” and whose stem vowel is “-e-”.  This group is called the second declension.  “docere” (= lead) is an example.   

Present Tense

We will do the six tenses for the active voice first.

Technically, the formation of Latin present tense is the simplest:  it is the preset stem plus present personal endings.

What is the present stem?  It is the infinitive form minus the infinitive ending “-re”.  For instance, the present stem of “amare” is “ama-“ and that of “docere” is “doce-”. 

Next, the present personal endings are:  -o/-m, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt.  What are they?  Before the Latin invented the personal subject pronouns like what we have in English (I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they), Latin tried to use these personal endings to indicate the person (first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural) of the subject of a verb.  So, -o/-m = I, -s = you (singular), -t = he/she/it, -mus = we, -tis = you (plural), and –nt = they.  Latin still keeps this practice today.

According to the present tense formula (present stem + present personal ending), the present tense for “docere” is: 

            Singular    Plural

      doceo = I lead    docemus = we lead

      doces = you lead   docetis = you lead

      docet = he/she/it leads   docent = they lead

The present tense of “amare” is:

            Singular    Plural

      amo = I love    amamus = we love

      amas = you love   amatis = you love

      amat = he/she/it loves   amant = they love

Yeah, you may want to say:  “oops, there is a typo.  For “I love”, it should be “amao” according to the formula.  Actually, it is not.  Rather, it is an exception.  But you are quite observing.  Remember from now on, the correct present tense form for the first person singular is the present stem with the stem vowel “-a-“ dropped, then with the personal ending “-o” added on.  This goes for the whole first declension group only.

You may want to ask that the personal ending “-m” equals “I”, too.  When this will be used?  “-m” will be used in the following situation. 

Imperfect Tense

The tense that expresses the action in the past that has the characteristic of “happening, often, repetitively, and on-going” is called imperfect.  The English translation is often equivalent to “used to do…” or “kept doing…” or “often did…”.

The formula for Latin imperfect tense is “present stem + (-ba-) + present personal endings”.  Here, a short “-ba-” is the indicator for imperfect. 

      The following are the conjugations (ending changes) of imperfect tense for sample verbs “amare” and “docere”

            Singular    Plural

      amabam = I used to love  amabamus = we used to love

      amabas = you used to love  amabatis = you used to love

      amabat = he/she/it used to love amabant = they used to love

            Singular    Plural

      docebam* = I used to lead  docebamus = we used to lead

      docebas = you used to lead  docebatis = you used to lead

      docebat = he/she/it used to lead docebant = they used to lead

* Now you see where “-m” = “I” is used. 

Future Tense

In order to safe some space, I’ll assume that you understand the definition, meaning and usage of a particular Latin tense so that we will only focus on the technical formation or formula of the various tenses.

The formula for future tense is easy, too:  present stem + (-bi) + present personal endings.

We do again the conjugations for “amare” and “docere” in the following:

            Singular    Plural

      amabo* = I will love   amabimus = we will love

      amabis = you will love  amabitis = you will love

      amabit = he/she/it will love  amabunt* = they will love

* again, these are not typos, rather exceptions that you must pay attention to.  Strict formula provides wrong ones (amabio and amabint) in these instances. 

Perfect Tense

Let’s list the four principal parts for the two verbs we have used so far;

      amo, amare, amavi, amatus

      doceo, docere, docui, doctus

We have talked about the first two parts and use of them.  Now the perfect tenses will give us a chance to use the third part.  We can call it the active perfect part because it is used for the active perfect tenses only.  From this part, we form a new stem called perfect stem, which is just this third principal part with the ending “-i” dropped.  So the perfect stem of “amare” is “amav-” and the perfect stem of “docere” is “docu-”.

In order to form the perfect tense, we will need another personal endings and this time we call them the perfect personal endings.  They are:

      -i = I, -isti = you, -it = he/she/it, -imus = we, -istis = you, -erunt = they

The perfect tense formula is just:  perfect stem + perfect personal ending.

Now let’s conjugate “amare” and “docere”:

      Singular     Plural

amavi = I have loved (or I loved)  amavimus = we have loved (we loved)

amavisti = you’ve loved (you loved)  amavistis = you’ve loved (you loved)

amavit = he/she/it has loved (he loved) amaverunt = they’ve loved (they loved) 

      Singular     Plural

docui = I have led (I led)   docuimus = we’ve led (we led)

docuisti = you’ve led (you led)  docuistis = you’ve led (you led)

docuit = he/she/it has led (he led)  docuerunt = they’ve led (they led) 

Note, these perfect personal endings are only used here fore the perfect tense.  They won’t be used for pluperfect and future perfect tenses.  Let’s continue. 

Pluperfect Tense

The formula is:  perfect stem + (-era-) + present personal endings.  Your attention is needed here:  it is the present personal endings, not the perfect personal endings that are used in the pluperfect tense.  Again, “-era” can be considered as the indicator for the pluperfect tense.

Look at the conjugations:

      Singular     Plural

amaveram = I had loved   amaveramus = we had loved

amaveras = you had loved   amaveratis = you had loved

amaverat = he/she/it had loved  amaverant = they had loved 

      Singular     Plural

docueram = I had led    docueramus = we had led

docueras = you had loved   docueratis = you had led

docuerat = he/she/it had loved  docuerant = they had led 

Future Perfect Tense

The formula is:  perfect stem + (-eri-) + present personal endings.  Yes, it is the present personal endings that are used again, not the perfect personal endings.  However, pay attention to the exceptions, as future tenses tend to generate exceptions as the previous examples have shown.

      Singular     Plural

amavero* = I will have loved   amaverimus = we will have loved

amaveris = you will have loved  amaveritis = you will have loved

amaverit = he/she/it will have loved  amaverint = they will have loved

* exception, but for the third person plural there is no exception this time.

      Singular     Plural

docuero* = I will have led   docuerimus = we will have led

docueris = you will have led   docueritis = you will have led

docuerit = he/she/it will have led  docuerint = they will have led

* exception, but for the third person plural there is no exception this time. 

 

Passive Present Tense

In order to formulate tenses in passive voice, we need a new set of personal endings, called passive personal endings.  They are:

      -r = I, -ris = you, -tur = he/she/it, -mur = we, -mini = you, -ntur = they.

Now, the formula for the passive present tense: Present stem + passive personal endings.

Try to digest the conjugations:

      Singular    Plural

amor* = I am loved   amamur = we are loved

amaris = you are loved  amamini = you are loved

amatur = he/she/it is loved  amantur = they are loved 

      Singular    Plural

doceor* = I am led   docemur = we are led

doceris = you are led   docemini = you are led

docetur = he/she/it is led  docentur = they are led

* If the active counterpart is ended in personal ending “-o-“, then the passive ending “-r” is added after “-o-“, not to replace “-o-“.  This is again an exception to remember. 

Passive Imperfect Tense

      The formula is:  Present stem + (-ba-) + passive personal endings.  Again, “-ba-“ is the imperfect indicator.

See the conjugations:

      Singular     Plural

amabar = I used to be loved   amabamur = we used to be loved

amabaris = you used to be loved  amabamini = you used to be loved

amabatur = he/she/it used to be loved  amabantur = they used to be loved 

      Singular     Plural

docebar = I used to be led   docebamur = we used to be led

docebaris = you used to be led  docebamini = you used to be led

docebatur = he/she/it used to be led  docebantur = they used to be led 

Passive Future Tense

      The formula is:  present stem + (-bi-) + passive personal endings, with the “-bi-“ as the indicator for future tenses.  Let’s do the conjugations:

      Singular      Plural

amabor* = I will be loved   amabimur = we will be loved

amaberis* = you will be loved  amabimini = you will be loved

amabitur = he/she/it will be loved  amabuntur* = they will be loved 

      Singular      Plural

docebor* = I will be led   docebimur = we will be led

doceberis* = you will be led   docebimini = you will be led

docebitur = he/she/it will be led  docebuntur = they will be led

* Again, they are correct exceptions you need to find a way to remember.  The hint is when it is a future tense, look for exceptions.  Use previous examples as mnemonics.  

Passive Perfect Tense.

Let’s list again the four principal parts for the two verbs we have used so far;

      amo, amare, amavi, amatus

      doceo, docere, docui, doctus

We have used the first three parts already.  Now it is the time to use the fourth part, which is particularly tailored for the passive perfect tenses.  First, this part is used as if it is an adjective and so it must match with the subject in gender.  Therefore, “amatus (amati)” is masculine, its feminine and neuter counterparts are “amata (amatae)” and “amatum (amata)”, with its plural in parenthesis.  For the same reason, we have “doctus (docti)”, “docta (doctae)”, and “doctum (docta)”.  This part is also called the passive perfect participle (PPP). 

In order to formulate passive perfect tense, we need conjugations for different tenses of the special verb “esse” (to be).  Remember that the English passive verbs are formed by the auxiliary verb “to be” plus the past participle of the verb.  This may give you some hints of how the Latin passive perfect tenses will be formed.

The present tense of “esse”

            Singular   Plural

            sum = I am    sumus = we are

            es = you are   estis = you are

            est = he/she/it is  sunt = they are

The imperfect tense of “esse”

            Singular   Plural

            eram = I was   eramus = we were

            eras = you were  eratis = you were

            erat = he/she/it was  erant = they were

The future tense of “esse”

            Singular   Plural

            ero = I will be   erimus = we will be

            eris = you will be  eritis = you will be

            erit = he/she/it will be  erunt = they will be 

Now we have what we need to form the passive perfect tense.  The formula is:

      ppp + present tense of “esse”

Let’s conjugate:

      Singular      Plural

amatus (-a, -um) sum = I have been loved amati (-ae, -a) sumus = we’ve been loved

amatus (-a, -um) es = you’ve been loved amati (-ae, -a) estis = you’ve been loved

amatus (-a, -um) est = he has been loved amati (-ae, -a) sunt = they’ve been loved 

      Singular      Plural

doctus (-a, -um) sum = I’ve been led  docti (-ae, -a) sumus = we’ve been led

doctus (-a, -um) es = you’ve been led  docti (-ae, -a) estis = you’ve been led

doctus (-a, -um) est = he’s been led  docti (-ae, -a) sunt = they’ve been led 

Passive Pluperfect Tense

The formula is:  ppp + imperfect tense of “esse”.

Conjugations:

      Singular      Plural

amatus (-a, -um) eram = I had been loved amati (-ae, -a) eramus = we’d been loved

amatus (-a, -um) eras = you’d been loved amati (-ae, -a) eratis = you’d been loved

amatus (-a, -um) erat = he had been loved amati (-ae, -a) erant = they’d been loved 

      Singular      Plural

doctus (-a, -um) eram = I had been led docti (-ae, -a) eramus = we had been led

doctus (-a, -um) eras = you had been led docti (-ae, -a) eratis = you had been led

doctus (-a, -um) erat = he had been led docti (-ae, -a) erant = they had been led 

Passive Future Tense

The formula is:  ppp + future tense of “esse”

Look at the conjugations: 

      Singular      Plural

amatus (-a,-um) ero = I’ll have been loved amati (-ae,-a) erimus= we’ll have been loved

amatus (-a,-um) eris=you’ll have been loved  amati (-ae,-a) eritis =you’ll have been loved

amatus (-a,-um) erit =he’ll have been loved amati (-ae,-a) erunt= they’ll have been loved 

      Singular      Plural

doctus (-a, -um) ero = I will have been led docti (-ae,-a) erimus = we will have been led

doctus (-a, -um) eris= you’ll have been led docti (-ae,-a) estis = you will have been led

doctus (-a, -um) erit = he’ll have been led docti (-ae,-a) erunt = they will have been led 

This is so much that has bee covered up to module 6 for the verb part.  The assignment indicates that it is likely that he will be tested on portion of what we have discussed.  Actually one of the assignment is to ask Yige to write in three tables the six active tenses and six passive tenses for the first person plural (one table), the third person plural (another table), and the second person singular (third table for 5 extra points, I believe). 

Hope this will be of help. 

P.S.

Four parts of esse:  sum, esse, fui, futurus

Perfect tense of esse:  fui, fuisti, fuit, fuimus, fuistis, fuerunt

Pluperfect tense of esse:  fueram, fueras, fuerat, fueramus, fueratis, fuerant.

Future Perfect Tense of esse:  fuero, fueris, fuerit, fuerimus, fueritis, fuerint

[DonquiJote]

Very nice article! Two small questions:

1 The term "declension" is for nouns, pronouns and adjectives. In case of a verb, the infection is its "conjugation". So "amo, -are, -avi, -atus" is in the first conjugation and "doceo, -ere, -ui, -tus" is in the second conjugation.

2 "Lead" in English is "duco, ducere, duxi, ductus" in Latin and "Teach" in English is "doceo, docere, docui, doctus" in Latin.