Review- Verb Endings,Present Tense:

1st and 2nd Conjugations

Latin IIMagister Henderson

Latin Verbs• Latin verbs belong to one of four groups called

conjugations.• Each conjugation has its own theme vowel.• The theme vowel of the first conjugation is “ā”,

its infinitive form ends in “-āre”.• The theme vowel of the second conjugation is

“ē”, its infinitive form ends in “-ēre”.• The infinitive is the form of the verb that carries

its basic meaning.

Latin Verb EndingsSingular Plural

First Person -ō = I -mus = we

Second Person -s = you -tis = you

Third Person -t = he, she, it -nt = they

These endings are attached to the base of a Latin verb to create the conjugated forms of the verb.

All regular Latin verbs use these endings, the conjugation of the verb determines the vowels that will come before the endings.

The First Conjugation

Singular Plural

1st Person amō = I love amāmus = we love

2nd Person amās = you love amātis = you love

3rd Person amat = he / she loves amant = they love

amō, amāre = to love

First conjugation verbs drop the theme vowel “ā” before the –ō of the first person singular form.

The long mark of the theme vowel shortens in the third person singular and plural forms.

First Conjugation Verbs

ambulō, ambulāre = to walk [ambulate]clamō, clamāre = to shout [claim]donō, donāre = to give [donate]dubitō, dubitāre = to doubt [indubitably]monstrō, monstrāre = to show [demonstrate]nuntiō, nuntiāre = to announce [pronunciate]portō, potāre = to carry [portable]spectō, spectāre = to watch [spectator]

The Second Conjugation

Singular Plural

1st Person habeō = I have habēmus = we have

2nd Person habēs = you have habētis = you have

3rd Person habet = he / she has habent = they have

habeō, habēre = to have

Second conjugation verbs add the ending –ō to the theme vowel “e” in the first person singular form.

The long mark of the theme vowel shortens in the third person singular and plural forms.

Second Conjugation Verbs

doceō, docēre = to teach [doctrine]maneō, manēre = to stay [remain]moveō, movēre = to move [movement]sedeō, sedēre = to sit [sediment]teneō, tenēre = to hold [tenacity]terreō, terrēre = to frighten [terror]timeō, timēre = to fear [timid]videō, vidēre = to see [video]

About the Present Tense• Latin has one form for the present tense, while

English has three different “aspects”.• The three aspects in English are called the

simple, progressive, and emphatic aspects.

Simple Progressive Emphatic

parō = I prepare = I am preparing = I do prepare

vocāmus = we call = we are calling = we do call

exercent = they train = they are training = they do train

So for every Latin verb, you have at least three possible translations, depending on the aspect you are attempting to show.