The Four Verb Conjugations and the Indicative Tenses
Thus
far we have covered the Present, Imperfect and Simple Future tenses of
the Indicative mood, first conjugation verbs, those ending in -are, like amare, laudare, ambulare, etc.
In
this lesson you will learn the remaining three tenses of this Mood:
Perfect, Pluperfect and Future Perfect. If you feel uncertain and
wish to make a quick review, please refer to the Introduction page of Lesson 2.
In
Latin, like in English, there are regular verbs and irregular verbs.
Regular verbs are those that follow a set pattern to form the various
tenses, whereas irregular verbs do not follow these set patterns. An
example will make this point clear.
The
verb "to lough" is a regular verb because its conjugation follows a
standard pattern: I lough, you lough, she loughs, we lough, you lough,
they lough; I loughed, they loughed, etc.
An
irregular verb would not follow this conjugation; for example, "to
speak" follows the same conjugation for the present tense, but the past
tense does not use the -ed ending to form the past tense; in fact, it
uses the form spoke, spoken: I speak, I spoke, I have spoken. Compare
with: I lough, I loughed, I have loughed.
All regular Latin verbs fall into four types of conjugations, and they are:
| CONJUGATION |
| Example | |
|
First | -are | am-are | to love | |
Second | -ēre | mon-ēre | to admonish | |
Third | -ĕre | leg-ĕre | to read | |
Fourth | -ire | aud-ire | to hear | |
First Conjugation: Full Indicative Paradigm
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| Present Tense |
amo | I love | amamus | we love |
amas | you love | amatis | you love |
amat | he loves | amant | they love |
| Imperfect Tense |
amabam | I was loving | amabamus | we were loving |
amabas | you were loving | amabatis | you were loving |
amabat | he was loving | amabant | they were loving |
| Simple Future Tense |
amabō | I shall love | amabimus | we shall love |
amabis | you will love | amabitis | you will love |
amabit | he will love | amabant | they will love |
Perfect Tense |
amavi | I loved or have loved | amavimus | we loved or have loved |
amavisti | you loved or have loved | amavistis | you loved or have loved |
amavit | he loved or has loved | amaverunt | they loved or have loved |
| Pluperfect Tense |
amaveram | I had loved | amaveramus | we had loved |
amaveras | you had loved | amaveratis | you had loved |
amaverat | he had loved | amaverant | they had loved |
Future Perfect Tense |
amaverō | I shall have loved | amaverimus | we shall have loved |
amaveris | you will have loved | amaveritis | you will have loved |
amaverit | he will have loved | amaverint | they will have loved |
N.B.:-
Traditional grammar textbook seem to go to a considerable amount of
unnecessary explanations on how to identify the base of the verb in
order to attach the right "endings" to form the conjugation for the
present tense, the imperfect tense, etc. This method is interesting
for grammarians or research students who like to investigate the whys
and the wherefores of grammar structure.
I view this effort totally unnecessary and it just makes the subject more difficult to learn than it need to be.
My
suggestion is to learn them as I did: simply repeat them many times and
quite soon you will associate the particular sound of each tense with
the time domain that the tense refers to.
Start
by by writing them down, tense by tense, and reading them aloud. This
is a very effective method, and the way you would have learnt them if
you were a child going to school in a country where Latin was the main
language. Just learn them by heart, the rest will become obvious.
You will find that after a few minutes you will already identify the pattern of each tense, like -ant refers to they, the ending -at to you in the sense of thou; amavi, I have loved, to the past, the perfect tense, as opposed to amat she loves, present, or amaverat she had loved, pluperfect tense.
Second Conjugation: Full Indicative Paradigm
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| Present Tense |
moneo | I admonish, I urge | monemus | we admonish, we urge |
mones | you admonish, you urge | monetiss | you admonish, you urge |
monet | he admonishes, he urges | monent | they admonish, they urge |
| Imperfect Tense |
monebam | I was admonishing, I was urging | monebamus | we were admonishing, we are urging |
monebas | you were admonishing, you were urging | monebatis | you were admonishing, you were urging |
monebat | he was admonishing, he was urging | monebant | they were admonishing, they were urging |
| Simple Future Tense |
monebō | I shall admonish, I shall urge | monebimus | we shall love, we shall urge |
monebis | you will admonish, you will urge | monebitis | you will love, you will urge |
monebit | he will admonish, he will urge | monebunt | they will love, they will urge |
Perfect Tense |
monui | I admonished or have admonished | monuimus | we admonished or have admonished |
monuisti | you admonished or have admonished | monuistis | you admonished or have admonished |
monuit | he admonished or has admonished | monuerunt | they admonished or have admonished |
| Pluperfect Tense |
monueram | I had admonished | monu-eramus | we had admonished |
monueras | you had admonished | monueratis | you had admonished |
monuerat | he had admonished | monuerant | they had admonished |
Future Perfect Tense |
monuĕro | I shall have admonished | monuerimus | we shall have admonished |
monueris | you will have admonished | monueritis | you will have admonished |
monuerit | he will have admonished | monuerint | they will have admonished |
Example: monĕre, to admonish, to urge, to warn, to (strongly) advise.
N.B.: In the third person the verb "admonish" breaks the -s rule to become -es.
Third Conjugation: Full Indicative Paradigm
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| Present Tense |
lego | I read | legimus | we read |
legis | you read | legitis | you read |
legit | he reads | legunt | they read |
| Imperfect Tense |
legebam | I was reading | legebamus | we were reading |
legebas | you were reading | legebatis | you were reading |
legebat | he was reading | legebant | they were reading |
| Simple Future Tense |
legam | I shall read | legemus | we shall read |
leges | you will read | legetis | you will read |
leget | he will read | legent | they will read |
Perfect Tense |
legi | I read or have read | legimus | we read or have read |
legisti | you read or have read | legistis | you read or have read |
legit | he read or has read | legerunt | they read or have read |
| Pluperfect Tense |
legeram | I had read | legeramus | we had read |
legeras | you had read | legeratis | you had read |
legerat | he had read | legerant | they had read |
Future Perfect Tense |
legero | I shall have read | legerimus | we shall have read |
legeris | you will have read | legeritis | you will have read |
legerit | he will have read | legerint | they will have read |
Example: legĕre, to read
N.B.: Do not confuse some of the verb voices such as legis (you read) or leges (you will read) with the substantive 3rd Declension lex, meaning law.
Compare with the full declension of the noun lex:
Nom. sing. lex
Gen. sing. legis
Dat. sing. legi
Acc. sing. legem
Voc. sing. lex
Abl. sing. lege
Nom. pl. leges
Gen. pl. legum
Dat. pl. legibus
Acc. pl. leges
Voc. pl. leges
Abl. pl. legibus
Fourth Declension: Full Indicative Paradigm
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| Present Tense |
audio | I hear | audimus | we hear |
audis | you hear | auditis | you hear |
audit | he hears | audiunt | they hear |
| Imperfect Tense |
audiebam | I was hearing | audiebamus | we were hearing |
audiebas | you were hearing | audiebatis | you were hearing |
audiebat | he was hearing | audiebant | they were hearing |
| Simple Future Tense |
audiam | I shall hear | legemus | we shall hear |
auidies | you will hear | legetis | you will hear |
audiet | he will hear | legent | they will hear |
Perfect Tense |
audivi | I heard or have heard | audivimus | we heard or have heard |
audivisti | you heard or have heard | audivistis | you heard or have heard |
audivit | he heard or has heard | audiverunt | they heard or have heard |
| Pluperfect Tense |
audiveram | I had heard | audiveramus | we had heard |
audiveras | you had heard | audiveratis | you had heard |
audiverat | he had heard | audiverant | they had heard |
Future Perfect Tense |
audivero | I shall have heard | audiverimus | we shall have heard |
audiveris | you will have heard | audiveritis | you will have heard |
audiverit | he will have heard | audiverint | they will have heard |
Example: audire, to hear.