VERBS&CONJUGATIONS

SINGULAR ENGLISH1st PETO I SEEK2nd PETIS YOU SEEK3rd PETIT HE/SHE/IT SEEKSPLURAL ENGLISH1st PETIMUS WE SEEK2nd PETITIS Y’ALL SEEK3rd PETUNT THEY SEEK

In Latin, all verbs belong to one of four families called conjugations. Each conjugation’s endings are slightly di�erent from the others’. It is necessary to know a verb’s conjugationwhen you are writing Latin. There are simple ways to identify which conjugation a verb is fromThis handout will help you with the basics of identifying the conjugation of a verb.

1st 2nd

PORTO, PORTAREto carry

DICO, DICEREto speak

AUDIO, AUDIREto hear

HABEO,HABEREto have

3rd 4th

FIRST PRINCIPLE PART: This part is the �rst person singular of the verb in the present tense “I love”. When looking up an unknown word you should always be looking for this �rst part. Notice that often the �rst part alone can show you the conjugation as with habeo and audio. However for porto and dico you must look further into the de�nition.SECOND PRINCIPLE PART: This part is the in�nitive “to love”. This part is useful because it will also help you idenifywhich conjugation the verb is from when you look at the vowel before the -re. THIRD PRINCIPLE PART: This part is the�rst person singular perfect “I have loved”. This part is useful because you use it to make verbs in the perfect, future perfect, or pluperfect. FOURTH PRINCIPAL PART: This part is a verbal adjective. It is called the Perfect Passive Participle. It ends in 'us' and is translated as 'having been...ed'. e.g. amatus having been loved.

1st PRINCIPAL PART 2nd PRINCIPAL PART 3rd PRINCIPAL PART 4th PRINCIPAL PART

Some verbs in the third conjugation have an -io in their �rst principal part instead of just an o. Theyalso still have -ere in their in�nitive form instead of -ire. For now the only real di�erences you willneed to know is the 3rd plural ends in -iunt and the imperfect has an -i as well faciebam.NOTA BENE

HOW TO FIND IT: Finding out which conjugation a verb is from is a simple matter of looking at the verbsde�nition in the dictionary. Use the chart below to �nd out how.

PETO, ERE TO SEEKSINGULAR ENGLISH1st FACIO I MAKE2nd FACIS YOU MAKE3rd FACIT HE/SHE/IT MAKESPLURAL ENGLISH1st FACIMUS WE MAKE2nd FACITIS Y’ALL MAKE3rd FACIUNT THEY MAKE

FACIO, ERE TO MAKE

1st 2nd 3rd4TH

AEEI

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