Conjugation

Latest revision as of 19:40, 11 March 2013

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Latin is an inflected language, and as such its verbs must be conjugated in order to express person, number, time, tense, mood or voice. A set of conjugated forms of the same verb pattern is called a conjugation (verb inflection group). There are four conjugations, which are numbered and grouped by ending.

This is a summary of the conjugation of Latin verbs.

Which conjugation a verb belongs to

Latin is a heavily inflected language, which means that Latin indicates grammatical information by changing the ending of the words. Verbs are grouped into four conjugations (verb inflection groups). If we change a verb’s ending to express the person or the time (tense), we say we “conjugate” it. To determine which conjugation group a verb belongs to, you have to look into a Latin dictionary.

In the case of the verb “have”, you will find:

habeo –ére, -bui, -bitum

This is 4 pieces of information:

(1) habeo; it is the first person singular of the verb “have”. It means “I have”.

(2) –ére; it’s an abbreviation of “habere”, the infinite of the verb. It means “to have”.

(3) –bui; it’s an abbreviation of “habui”, the perfect tense of the verb. It means “I have had” or “I had”.

(4) –bitum; abbreviation of “habitum”, it’s the supine (or the past participle).

This verb’s infinitive, “habére” (to have), indicated in the dictionary form as “–ére” shows that this verb belongs to the 2nd conjugation, as all verbs that have the infinitive ending “-ére” belong to the 2nd conjugation. The second dictionary element, the infinitive, determines which conjugation the verb belongs to. The four types of infinitive endings and the four conjugations determined by the different infinitive endings are:

-are = 1st conjugation; e.g.: am|o, -are, -avi, -atum (I love)

-ére = 2nd conjugation; e.g.: hab|eo, -ere, -bui, -bitum (I have)

-ere = 3rd conjugation

- if the first person singular ends in "-o" - Consonant Stem; e.g.: dic|o, -ere, dixi, dictum (I say)

- if the first person singular ends in "-io" - Short I-Stem; e.g.: cap|io, -ere, cepi, captum (I catch)

-ire = 4th conjugation; e.g.: aud|io, -ire, -ivi, -itum (I hear)

Note that “–ere”, which is short vowel, is different from “–ére”, which is long vowel.

How to conjugate a verb

You simply cut off the infinitive endings -are, -ére, -ere and -ire, or the the Perfect Tense first person singular ending -í, depending on which tense you want to form, and replace them with the personal endings shown below in the tables, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to.

Present Tense

The Present Tense is equivalent of the English Present Progressive ("I am saying") and Present Simple ("I say").

Unlike English, Latin uses verb endings to express the person and number of the verb, and its tense or mood. These endings are in general the same for all conjugation groups, but there is some variation respectively to the stem vowel, which means that while, e.g. the singular third person ending is "-t" in all conjugations, in the 1st conjugation it's realized as "-at", because it's the A-Stem conjugation, in the 2nd conjugation it's "-et", (as they are the E-Stem) etc.

This tense is formed from the 2nd dictionary part, by cutting off the infinitive endings -are, -ére, -ere and -ire, and replacing them with the personal endings shown below in the table, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to.

Imperfect Tense

The Imperfect Tense indicates a perpetual, but incomplete action in the past. It simply expresses an action in the past that was not completed. This tense is similar to the English Past Progressive ("I was saying"), but depending on context, it can also be identified with English Past Simple ("I said"). "Dícébam" can be translated to mean, "I was saying," "I said," or "I used to say".

This tense is formed from the 2nd dictionary part, by cutting off the infinitive endings -are, -ére, -ere and -ire, and replacing them with the personal endings shown below in the table, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to.

Perfect Tense

The Perfect Tense refers to an action completed in the past. The Perfect Tense expresses a finished action in the past. If the action were not finished, but still lies in the past, one would use the Imperfect Tense. The Latin Perfect Tense is equivalent to the English Present Perfect ("I have said"), but unlike English, the Latin Perfect Tense is used in the function of English Past Simple whenever it describes a finished, completed event. Thus "díxí" can be translated as "I have said," or "I said".

This tense is formed from the 3rd dictionary part, by cutting off the Perfect Tense first person singular ending -í, and replacing it with the personal endings shown below in the table.

Pluperfect Tense

The Pluperfect Tense expresses an action which was completed before another completed action. As with English, in Latin, the Pluperfect is used to assert an action that was completed before another. "Díxeram" translates as "I had said."

This tense is formed from the 3rd dictionary part, by cutting off the Perfect Tense first person singular ending -í, and replacing it with the personal endings shown below in the table.

Subjunctive Present

You use Subjunctive Present (e.g. "Dicam") when English uses the auxiliary verbs "let" ("Let me say it"), "may" ("May I say it"), "shall", ("I shall say it"), or, mainly in subordinate clauses, when English uses Present Subjunctive or Imperative ("Imperat ut dicam": "He orders that I say"; or "Dicas": "Say it").

This tense is formed from the 2nd dictionary part, by cutting off the infinitive endings -are, -ére, -ere and -ire, and replacing them with the personal endings shown in the table below, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to.

Subjunctive Imperfect

The Subjunctive Imperfect is used when English uses the auxiliary verbs "would" and "should", "Dicerem" can be translated as "I would say" or "I should say". Sometimes it can also be translated with "could" or "might" as "I could say" or "I might say". Occasionally the Subjunctive Imperfect expresses possibility in the past and in such sentences it's best translated with "could have" or "might have". In wishes and in conditional sentences, it is translated by English Past Subjunctive ("Vellem dicerem": "I wish I said"); in subordinate clauses, however, it is translated by English Present Subjunctive ("Imperavit ut dicerem": "He ordered that I say").

This tense is formed from the 2nd dictionary part, by cutting off the infinitive endings -are, -ére, -ere and -ire, and replacing them with the personal endings shown in the table below, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to. Practically, the formation of this Subjunctive Imperfect looks like as if the personal endings would be simple attached to the infinitive.

Subjunctive Perfect

The Subjunctive Perfect rarely appears in independent sentences, it's mostly used in subordinate clauses, where it's translated by English Past Subjunctive (dixerim - "I said"). When it's used independently, it normally translates with the English auxiliary verbs "may have". "Dixerim" can be translated as "I may have said".

This tense is formed from the 3rd dictionary part, by cutting off the Indicative Perfect Tense first person singular ending "-í", and replacing it with the Subjunctive Perfect personal endings shown in the table below.

Subjunctive Pluperfect

The Subjunctive Pluperfect can be translated with the English auxiliary verbs "would have" or "should have". "Dixissem" can mean "I would have said", "I should have said". Sometimes it can be translated as "I could have said" or "I might have said". It is translated by English Pluperfect Subjunctive ("I had said") when it is used in subordinated clauses ("Vellem dixissem": "I wish I had said").

This tense is formed from the 3rd dictionary part, by cutting off the Indicative Perfect Tense first person singular ending "-í", and replacing it with the Subjunctive Pluperfect personal endings shown in the table below.