Conjugation

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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 genitive 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; e.g.: dic|o, -ere, dixi, dictum (I say)

-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, and replace them with the personal endings shown below in the tables, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to.

Contents




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.


First conjugation Second conjugation Third conjugation Fourth conjugation
A-Stem E-Stem Consonant Stem Short I-Stem Long í-Stem
amó, -áre, -áví, -átum
love
habeó, -ére, -buí, -bitum
have
dícó, -ere, díxí, dictum
say
capió, -ere, cépí, captum
catch
audió, -íre, -íví, -ítum
hear
S/1 amó I love hab -eó I have dícó I say cap -ió I catch aud -ió I hear
S/2 amás -ás you love habés -és you have dícis -is you say capis -is you catch audís -ís you hear
S/3 amat -at he loves habet -et he has dícit -it he says capit -it he catches audit -it he hears
P/1 amámus -ámus we love habémus -émus we have dícimus -imus we say capimus -imus we catch audímus -ímus we hear
P/2 amátis -átis you love habétis -étis you have dícitis -itis you say capitis -itis you catch audítis -ítis you hear
P/3 amant -ant they love habent -ent they have dícunt -unt they say capiunt -iunt they catch audiunt -iunt they hear


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".

First conjugation Second conjugation Third conjugation Fourth conjugation
A-Stem E-Stem Consonant Stem Short I-Stem Long í-Stem
amó, -áre, -áví, -átum
love
habeó, -ére, -buí, -bitum
have
dícó, -ere, díxí, dictum
say
capió, -ere, cépí, captum
catch
audió, -íre, -íví, -ítum
hear
S/1 amábam -ábam I was loving habébam -ébam I was having dícébam -ébam I was saying capiébam -iébam I was catching audiébam -iébam I was hearing
S/2 amábás -ábás you were loving habébás -ébás you were having dícébás -ébás you were saying capiébás -iébás you were catching audiébás -iébás you were hearing
S/3 amábat -ábat he was loving habébat -ébat he was having dícébat -ébat he was saying capiébat -iébat he was catching audiébat -iébat he was hearing
P/1 amábámus -ábámus we were loving habébámus -ébámus we were having dícébámus -ébámus we were saying capiébámus -iébámus we were catching audiébámus -iébámus we were hearing
P/2 amábátis -ábátis you were loving habébátis -ébátis you were having dícébátis -ébátis you were saying capiébátis -iébátis you were catching audiébátis -iébátis you were hearing
P/3 amábant -ábant they were loving habébant -ébant they were having dícébant -ébant they were saying capiébant -iébant they were catching audiébant -iébant they were hearing


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".

First conjugation Second conjugation Third conjugation Fourth conjugation
A-Stem E-Stem Consonant Stem Short I-Stem Long í-Stem
amó, -áre, -áví, -átum
love
habeó, -ére, -buí, -bitum
have
dícó, -ere, díxí, dictum
say
capió, -ere, cépí, captum
catch
audió, -íre, -íví, -ítum
hear
S/1 amáví I have loved habuí I have had díxí I have said cépí I have caught audíví I have heard
S/2 amávistí -istí you have loved habuistí -istí you have had díxistí -istí you have said cépistí -istí you have caught audívistí -istí you have heard
S/3 amávit -it he has loved habuit -it he has had díxit -it he has said cépit -it he has caught audívit -it he has heard
P/1 amávimus -imus we have loved habuimus -imus we have had díximus -imus we have said cépimus -imus we have caught audívimus -imus we have heard
P/2 amávistis -istis you have loved habuistis -istis you have had díxistis -istis you have said cépistis -istis you have caught audívistis -istis you have heard
P/3 amávérunt -érunt they have loved habuérunt -érunt they have had díxérunt -érunt they have said cépérunt -érunt they have caught audívérunt -érunt they have heard


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."

First conjugation Second conjugation Third conjugation Fourth conjugation
A-Stem E-Stem Consonant Stem Short I-Stem Long í-Stem
amó, -áre, -áví, -átum
love
habeó, -ére, -buí, -bitum
have
dícó, -ere, díxí, dictum
say
capió, -ere, cépí, captum
catch
audió, -íre, -íví, -ítum
hear
S/1 amáveram -eram I had loved habueram -eram I had had díxeram -eram I had said céperam -eram I had caught audíveram -eram I had heard
S/2 amáverás -erás you had loved habuerás -erás you had had díxerás -erás you had said céperás -erás you had caught audíverás -erás you had heard
S/3 amáverat -erat he had loved habuerat -erat he had had díxerat -erat he had said céperat -erat he had caught audíverat -erat he had heard
P/1 amáverámus -erámus we had loved habuerámus -erámus we had had díxerámus -erámus we had said céperámus -erámus we had caught audíverámus -erámus we had heard
P/2 amáverátis -erátis you had loved habuerátis -erátis you had had díxerátis -erátis you had said céperátis -erátis you had caught audíverátis -erátis you had heard
P/3 amáverant -erant they had loved habuerant -erant they had had díxerant -erant they had said céperant -erant they had caught audíverant -erant they had heard
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