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Conjugation

Just as nouns belong to declensions which tell us what endings to use for different meanings, verbs belong to conjugations for the same purpose. There are four conjugations, covering all regular verbs.

Person

The 'person' of a verb can be 'first' (I or we, the person speaking), 'second' (you, the person being spoken to), or 'third' (he, she, it, they, someone or something being spoken about). Each 'person' will have a different ending to distinguish it, in singular and plural. We still have this in English in a few cases: I am, you are, he is. I run, you run, he runs.

Number

Verbs have 'number' (singular and plural) just like nouns do.

Tense

Every verb also has a 'tense', which expresses the time when the verb is taking place. For now, we'll deal only with the 'present' tense, which expresses things happening now: 'I sail' or 'I am sailing.'

Photo by Dust Storm

Now that we know what 'person' and 'number' are, we can learn the endings that Latin uses to express them. They are:

In most tenses, we form a verb by taking the stem, perhaps adding a syllable (called a “tense-sign”) to represent the tense, and adding one of these endings to represent person and number. Presto: a complete verb showing tense, person, and number—in some cases, a complete sentence in one word. Here's how that works in the present tense with first conjugation verbs.

Verbs whose present stem ends in -a belong to the first conjugation. ²⁾ They are conjugated in the present tense like this:

Comparing this form to the personal endings above, you'll see that the personal endings are being added to the stem voca, except that the a is dropped before the -o ending to make it easier to say. All first conjugation verbs are conjugated the same way in the present tense:

Latin does not distinguish between action which is going on right now and action which is generally true. So “he fights,” “he is fighting,” and “he does fight” are all translated the same way: pugnat. In actual use, which is meant will be shown by the context.

The direct object of a verb, the person or thing that the verb is acting upon, is represented by the accusative case. (Remember the accusative from Lesson 1?) So:

Agricola puellam amat. ³⁾

The farmer loves the girl.

Puella agricolam amat.

The girl loves the farmer.

In that last example, see how you can tell the relationship of the words regardless of the order? If I turned those words in the last sentence around, it would still have the same meaning, only different emphasis. In Latin, words placed in unusual locations in the sentence get more emphasis:

Agricolam puella amat.

The girl loves the farmer. (not that other guy)

Amat puella agricolam.

The girl loves the farmer. (and we thought she hated him)

This emphasis can be a very subtle thing, and will be addressed in later chapters. For now, you will typically see the subject first, the verb last, and other words in between. Non usually comes before the word it negates; and conjunctions like et and sed come between the clauses they join, as they do in English.

Verbs always agree with their subjects in person and number.

Agricola pugnat.

The farmer is fighting.

Agricolae pugnant.

The farmers are fighting.

When the subject is a pronoun in English, Latin often leaves it out, since the verb ending expresses it:

Puellam vocas.

You are calling the girl.

Non navigamus.

We do not sail.

This lesson's vocabulary is mostly verbs, all of the first conjugation, plus a few more nouns and other useful words.

• ambulo, I walk
• amo, I love or like
• do, I give
• laudo, I praise
• libero, I set free
• navigo, I sail
• occupo, I seize or capture
• oro, I pray or ask for
• paro, I prepare (for)
• porto, I carry
• pugno, I fight
• specto, I look at
• voco, I call

• amicitia, -ae, f., friendship
• patria, -ae, f., home country, native land

• non, (adverb) not
• et, (conjunction) and
• sed, (conj.) but

a. Translate:

1. navigamus
2. vocatis
3. spectas
4. paro
5. occupant
6. amat
7. pugnant
8. portamus
9. laudant
10. paratis
11. vocant
12. spectamus
13. oramus
14. dat
15. occupas

b. Translate:

1. you (plural) carry
2. we love
3. they are calling
4. I am seizing
5. you (singular) pray
6. we are preparing
7. they are calling
8. you are looking at
9. he is preparing
10. we are fighting
11. she is capturing
12. he loves
13. they carry
14. we call
15. he prays

a. Give the construction (case and use in the sentence) of each noun, and translate:

1. Poeta feminas amat.
2. Aquam non portamus.
3. Puellae poetam laudant.
4. Maria silvam amat.
5. Feminae Italiam laudant.
6. Galliam amamus.
7. Provinciam occupatis.
8. Litteras paras.
9. Vitam puella amat.
10. Insulam spectatis.

b. Translate (ignore the words in parentheses):

1. We praise friendship.
2. The girl and the poet are looking at the forest.
3. The women are not carrying the water.
4. You (singular) seize the islands.
5. The poet loves (his) country.
6. The girls are fighting.
7. The woman is not looking at the forest.
8. The poet and the farmer praise (their) native land.
9. Poets praise life.
10. The woman is calling the girls.

c. Give an English word that derives from each Latin word in this lesson's vocabulary section.

That's it for this lesson. Answers to the exercises will be posted below in a few days. Next lesson: the verb sum (I am), questions, and the ablative case.

a. Give the construction (case and use in the sentence) of each noun, and translate:

1. Poeta feminas amat. - The poet loves women.
2. Aquam non portamus. - We are not carrying water.
3. Puellae poetam laudant. - The girls praise the poet.
4. Maria silvam amat. - Mary loves the forest.
5. Feminae Italiam laudant. - The women are praising Italy.
6. Galliam amamus. - We love Gaul.
7. Provinciam occupatis. - You (plural) are seizing the province.
8. Litteras paras. - You (singular) are preparing letters.
9. Vitam puella amat. - The girl loves life.
10. Insulam spectatis. - You are watching the island.

b. Translate (ignore the words in parentheses):

1. We praise friendship. - Amicitiam laudamus.
2. The girl and the poet are looking at the forest. - Puella et poeta silvam spectant.
3. The women are not carrying the water. - Feminae aquam non portant.
4. You (singular) seize the islands. - Insulas occupas.
5. The poet loves (his) country. - Poeta patriam amat.
6. The girls are fighting. - Puellae pugnant.
7. The woman is not looking at the forest. - Femina silvam non spectat.
8. The poet and the farmer praise (their) native land. - Poeta et agricola patriam laudant.
9. Poets praise life. - Poetae vitam laudant.
10. The woman is calling the girls. - Femina puellas vocat.

c. Give an English word that derives from each Latin word in this lesson's vocabulary section.

• ambulo, amble, ambulatory
• amo, amorous
• do, donate
• laudo, lauds
• libero, liberate
• navigo, navigate
• occupo, occupy
• oro, oration
• paro, prepare (partly)
• porto, portable, portage
• pugno, pugnacious
• specto, spectator
• voco, vocal

• amicitia, -ae, f., amicable
• patria, -ae, f., patriotic