Latin conjugation


Conjugation has two meanings. One meaning is the creation of derived forms of a verb from basic forms, or principal parts. It may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, mood, aspect, voice, or other language-specific factors.
The second meaning of the word conjugation is a group of verbs which all have the same pattern of inflections. Thus all those Latin verbs which have 1st singular -ō, 2nd singular -ās, and infinitive -āre are said to belong to the 1st conjugation, those with 1st singular -eō, 2nd singular -ēs and infinitive -ēre belong to the 2nd conjugation, and so on. The number of conjugations of regular verbs is usually said to be four.
The word "conjugation" comes from the Latin coniugātiō, a calque of the Greek συζυγία syzygia, literally "yoking together ".
For simple verb paradigms, see the Wiktionary appendix pages for,,, and.

Number of conjugations

The ancient Romans themselves, beginning with Varro, originally divided their verbs into three conjugations, according to whether the ending of the 2nd person singular had an a, an e or an i in it. However, others, such as Sacerdos, Dositheus and Priscian, recognised four different groups.
Modern grammarians generally recognise four conjugations, according to whether their active present infinitive has the ending -āre, -ēre, -ere, or -īre, for example: amō, amāre "to love", videō, vidēre "to see", regō, regere "to rule" and audiō, audīre "to hear". There are also some verbs of mixed conjugation, having some endings like the 3rd and others like the 4th conjugation, for example, capiō, capere "to capture".
In addition to regular verbs, which belong to one or other of the four conjugations, there are also a few irregular verbs, which have a different pattern of endings. The most important of these is the verb sum, esse "to be". There also exist deponent and semi-deponent Latin verbs, as well as defective verbs.

Principal parts

A verb's full paradigm relies on multiple stems. The present indicative active and the present infinitive are both based on the present stem.
It is not possible to infer the stems for other tenses from the present stem. This means that, although the infinitive active form normally shows the verb conjugation, knowledge of several different forms is necessary to be able to confidently produce the full range of forms for any particular verb.
In a dictionary, Latin verbs are listed with four "principal parts", which allow the student to deduce the other conjugated forms of the verbs. These are:
  1. the first person singular of the present indicative active
  2. the present infinitive active
  3. the first person singular of the perfect indicative active
  4. the supine or, in some grammars, the perfect passive participle, which uses the same stem. Some verbs lack this principal part altogether.

    Regular conjugations

First conjugation

The first conjugation is characterized by the vowel ā and can be recognized by the -āre ending of the present active infinitive form. The non-perfect tenses conjugate as follows:
* The 2nd person singular passive amāberis, amābāris, amēris, amārēris can be shortened to amābere, amābāre, amēre, amārēre. -re was the regular form in early Latin and in Cicero; -ris was preferred later.
In early Latin, the 3rd singular endings -at and -et were pronounced -āt and -ēt with a long vowel.
Other forms:
The principal parts usually adhere to one of the following patterns:
The verb dō "I give" is irregular in that except in the 2nd singular dās and imperative dā, the a is short, e.g. dabō "I will give".
The a is also short in the supine statum and its derivatives, but the other parts of stō "I stand" are regular.
Deponent verbs in this conjugation all follow the pattern below, which is the passive of the first type above:

Perfect tenses

The three perfect tenses of the 1st conjugation go as in the following table:
In poetry, the 3rd person plural of the perfect indicative is often amāvēre instead of amāvērunt. Occasionally the form amāverunt is also found.
In early Latin, the future perfect indicative had a short i in amāvēris, amāverimus, amāveritis, but by the time of Cicero these forms were usually pronounced with a long i, in the same way as in the perfect subjunctive. Virgil has a short i for both tenses; Horace uses both forms for both tenses; Ovid uses both forms for the future perfect, but a long i in the perfect subjunctive.
The -v- of the perfect active tenses sometimes drops out, especially in the pluperfect subjunctive: amāssem for amāvissem. Forms such as amārat and amāstī are also found.
The passive tenses also have feminine and neuter forms, e.g. amāta est "she was loved", nūntiātum est "it was announced".
Forms made with fuī instead of sum and forem instead of essem are also found. See Latin tenses.
For other meanings of the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive, see Latin tenses#Perfect subjunctive.
Other forms:
The second conjugation is characterized by the vowel ē, and can be recognized by the -eō ending of the first person present indicative and the -ēre ending of the present active infinitive form:
The passive videor also often means "I seem".
Other forms:
The principal parts usually adhere to one of the following patterns:
In verbs with perfect in -vī, syncopated forms are common, such as dēlēram, dēlēssem, dēlēstī for dēlēveram, dēlēvissem, dēlēvistī.
Deponent verbs in this conjugation are few. They mostly go like the passive of terreō, but fateor and confiteor have a perfect participle with ss:
The following are semi-deponent, that is, they are deponent only in the three perfect tenses:

Third conjugation

The third conjugation has a variable short stem vowel, which may be e, i,or u in different environments. Verbs of this conjugation end in –ere in the present active infinitive.
The future tense in the 3rd and 4th conjugation differs from that in the 1st and 2nd conjugation.
Other forms:
Four 3rd conjugation verbs have no ending in the imperative singular: dūc! "lead!", dīc! "say!", fer! "bring!", fac! "do!". Others, like curre "run!", have the ending -e.
There is no regular rule for constructing the perfect stem of third-conjugation verbs, but the following patterns are used:
Although dō, dare, dedī, datum "to give" is 1st conjugation, its compounds are 3rd conjugation and have internal reduplication:
Likewise the compounds of sistō have internal reduplication. Although sistō is transitive, its compounds are intransitive:
Deponent verbs in the 3rd conjugation include the following:
There are also a number of 3rd conjugation deponents with the ending -scor:
Deponent in some tenses only is the following:
The following is deponent only in the non-perfect tenses:

Third conjugation -iō verbs

Intermediate between the third and fourth conjugation are the third-conjugation verbs with suffix –iō. These resemble the fourth conjugation in some forms.
Other forms:
Some examples are:
Deponent verbs in this group include:

Fourth conjugation

The fourth conjugation is characterized by the vowel ī and can be recognized by the –īre ending of the present active infinitive:
Other forms:
Principal parts of verbs in the fourth conjugation generally adhere to the following patterns:
Deponent verbs in the 4th conjugation include the following:
The verb orior, orīrī, ortus sum "to arise" is also regarded as 4th conjugation, although some parts, such as the 3rd singular present tense oritur and imperfect subjunctive orerer, have a short vowel like the 3rd conjugation. But its compound adorior "to rise up, attack" is entirely 4th conjugation.
In the perfect tenses, shortened forms without -v- are common, for example, audīstī, audiērunt, audierat, audīsset for audīvistī, audīvērunt, audīverat, audīvisset. Cicero, however, prefers the full forms audīvī, audīvit to audiī, audiit.

Irregular verbs

''Sum'' and ''possum''

The verb sum, esse, fuī "to be" is the most common verb in Latin. It is conjugated as follows:
In early Latin, siem, siēs, siēt can be found for the present subjunctive sim, sīs, sit. In poetry the subjunctive fuam, fuās, fuat also sometimes occurs.
An alternative imperfect subjunctive is sometimes made using forem, forēs, foret etc. See further: Latin tenses#Forem.
Other forms:
The present participle is found only in the compounds absēns "absent" and praesēns "present".
In Plautus and Lucretius, an infinitive potesse is sometimes found for posse "to be able".
The principal parts of these verbs are as follows:
The perfect tenses conjugate in the regular way.
For the difference in meaning between eram and fuī, see Latin tenses#Eram and fuī

''Volō'', ''nōlō'', and ''mālō''

The verb volō and its derivatives nōlō and mālō resemble a 3rd conjugation verb, but the present subjunctive ending in -im is different:
The spellings volt and voltis were used up until the time of Cicero for vult and vultis.
These verbs are not used in the passive.
Other forms:
Principal parts:
The perfect tenses are formed regularly.

''Eō'' and compounds

The verb eō "I go" is an irregular 4th conjugation verb, in which the i of the stem sometimes becomes e. Like 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs, it uses the future -bō, -bis, -bit:
Other forms:
The impersonal passive forms ītur "they go", itum est "they went" are sometimes found.
The principal parts of some verbs which conjugate like eō are the following:
In the perfect tenses of these verbs, the -v- is almost always omitted, especially in the compounds, although the form exīvit is common in the Vulgate Bible translation.

''Ferō'' and compounds

The verb ferō, ferre, tulī, lātum "to bring, to bear, to carry" is 3rd conjugation, but irregular in that the vowel following the root fer- is sometimes omitted. The perfect tense tulī and supine stem lātum are also irregularly formed.
The future tense in the 3rd and 4th conjugation differs from that in the 1st and 2nd conjugation.
Other forms:
Compounds of ferō include the following:
The principal parts of some verbs which conjugate like eō are the following:
The perfect tense sustulī, however, belongs to the verb tollō:

''Fīō''

The irregular verb fīō, fierī, factus sum "to become, to happen, to be done, to be made" as well as being a verb in its own right serves as the passive of faciō, facere, fēcī, factum "to do, to make". The perfect tenses are identical with the perfect passive tenses of faciō.
The 1st and 2nd plural forms are almost never found.
Other forms:
The verb edō, edere/ēsse, ēdī, ēsum "to eat" has regular 3rd conjugation forms appearing alongside irregular ones:
Other forms:
The passive form ēstur "it is eaten" is also found.
In early Latin a present subjunctive edim, edīs, edit etc. is found.
In writing, there is a possibility of confusion between the forms of this verb and those of sum "I am" and ēdō "I give out, put forth"; for example, ēsse "to eat" vs. esse "to be"; edit "he eats" vs. ēdit "he gives out".
The compound verb comedō, comedere/comēsse, comēdī, comēsum "to eat up, consume" is similar.

Non-finite forms

The non-finite forms of verbs are participles, infinitives, supines, gerunds and gerundives. The verbs used are:

Participles

There are four participles: present active, perfect passive, future passive, and future active.
There are seven main infinitives. They are in the present active, present passive, perfect active, perfect passive, future active, future passive, and potential active. Further infinitives can be made using the gerundive.
laudāreterrērepeterecapereaudīre
Present activelaudāreterrērepeterecapereaudīre
Present passivelaudārīterrērīpetīcapīaudīrī
Perfect activelaudāvisseterruissepetīvissecēpisseaudīvisse
Perfect passivelaudātus esseterritus essepetītus essecaptus esseaudītus esse
Future activelaudātūrus esseterritūrus essepetītūrus essecaptūrus esseaudītūrus esse
Future passivelaudātum īrīterritum īrīpetītum īrīcaptum īrīaudītum īrī
Potentiallaudātūrus fuisseterritūrus fuissepetītūrus fuissecaptūrus fuisseaudītūrus fuisse

The future passive infinitive was not very commonly used. The Romans themselves often used an alternate expression, fore ut followed by a subjunctive clause.

Supine

The supine is the fourth principal part of the verb, as given in Latin dictionaries. It resembles a masculine noun of the fourth declension. Supines only occur in the accusative and ablative cases.
The gerund is formed similarly to the present active participle. However, the -ns becomes an -ndus, and the preceding ā or ē is shortened. Gerunds are neuter nouns of the second declension, but the nominative case is not present. The gerund is a noun, meaning "the act of doing ", and forms a suppletive paradigm to the infinitive, which cannot be declined. For example, the genitive form laudandī can mean "of praising", the dative form laudandō can mean "for praising", the accusative form laudandum can mean "praising", and the ablative form laudandō can mean "by praising", "in respect to praising", etc.
One common use of the gerund is with the preposition ad to indicate purpose. For example, paratus ad oppugnandum could be translated as "ready to attack". However the gerund was avoided when an object was introduced, and a passive construction with the gerundive was preferred. For example, for "ready to attack the enemy" the construction paratus ad hostes oppugnandos is preferred over paratus ad hostes oppugnandum.

Gerundive

The gerundive has a form similar to that of the gerund, but it is a first and second declension adjective, and functions as a future passive participle. It means " to be...ed". Often, the gerundive is used with part of the verb esse, to show obligation.
An older form of the 3rd and 4th conjugation gerundive ends in -undum, e.g.. This ending is also found with the gerundive of eō 'I go': eundum est 'it is necessary to go'.
For some examples of uses of Latin gerundives, see the Gerundive article.

Periphrastic conjugations

There are two periphrastic conjugations. One is active, and the other is passive.

Active

The first periphrastic conjugation uses the future participle. It is combined with the forms of esse. It is translated as "I am going to praise," "I was going to praise", etc.
ConjugationTranslation
Pres. ind.laudātūrus sumI am going to praise
Imp. ind.laudātūrus eramI was going to praise
Fut. ind.laudātūrus erōI shall be going to praise
Perf. ind.laudātūrus fuīI have been going to praise
Plup. ind.laudātūrus fueramI had been going to praise
Fut. perf. ind.laudātūrus fuerōI shall have been going to praise
Pres. subj.laudātūrus simI may be going to praise
Imp. subj.laudātūrus essemI should be going to praise
Perf. subj.laudātūrus fuerimI may have been going to praise
Plup. subj.laudātūrus fuissemI should have been going to praise

Passive

The second periphrastic conjugation uses the gerundive. It is combined with the forms of esse and expresses necessity. It is translated as "I am needing to be praised", "I was needing to be praised", etc., or as "I have to be praised", "I had to be praised," etc.
ConjugationTranslation
Pres. ind.laudandus sumI am needing to be praised
Imp. ind.laudandus eramI was needing to be praised
Fut. ind.laudandus erōI will be needing to be praised
Perf. ind.laudandus fuīI was needing to be praised
Plup. ind.laudandus fueramI had been needing to be praised
Fut. perf. ind.laudandus fuerōI will have been needing to be praised
Pres. subj.laudandus simI may be needing to be praised
Imp. subj.laudandus essemI should be needing to be praised
Perf. subj.laudandus fuerimI may have been needing to be praised
Plup. subj.laudandus fuissemI should have been needing to be praised
Pres. inf.laudandus esseTo be needing to be praised
Perf. inf.laudandus fuisseTo have been needing to be praised

Peculiarities

Deponent and semi-deponent verbs

s are verbs that are passive in form but active in meaning. These verbs have only three principal parts, since the perfect of ordinary passives is formed periphrastically with the perfect participle, which is formed on the same stem as the supine. Some examples coming from all conjugations are:
Deponent verbs use active conjugations for tenses that do not exist in the passive: the gerund, the supine, the present and future participles and the future infinitive. They cannot be used in the passive themselves, and their analogues with "active" form do not in fact exist: one cannot directly translate "The word is said" with any form of loquī, and there are no forms like loquō, loquis, loquit, etc.
Semi-deponent verbs form their imperfective aspect tenses in the manner of ordinary active verbs; but their perfect tenses are built periphrastically like deponents and ordinary passives; thus, semi-deponent verbs have a perfect active participle instead of a perfect passive participle. An example:
Unlike the proper passive of active verbs, which is always intransitive, some deponent verbs are transitive, which means that they can take an object. For example:
Note: In the Romance languages, which lack deponent or passive verb forms, the Classical Latin deponent verbs either disappeared or changed to a non-deponent form. For example, in Spanish and Italian, mīrārī changed to mirar by changing all the verb forms to the previously nonexistent "active form", and audeō changed to osar by taking the participle ausus and making an -ar verb out of it.

Defective verbs

are verbs that are conjugated in only some instances.
The following are conjugated irregularly:

''Aio''

''Inquam''

''For''

The Romance languages lost many of these verbs, but others survived but became regular fully conjugated verbs.

Impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs are those lacking a person. In English impersonal verbs are usually used with the neuter pronoun "it". Latin uses the third person singular. These verbs lack a fourth principal part. A few examples are:

Irregular future active participles

The future active participle is normally formed by removing the –um from the supine, and adding a –ūrus. However, some deviations occur.
Present
active
infinitive		SupineFuture
active
participle		Meaning
iuvāreiūtumiuvātūrusgoing to help
lavāre/laverelavātum lavātūrusgoing to wash
parerepartumparitūrusgoing to produce
ruererutumruitūrusgoing to fall
secāresectumsecātūrusgoing to cut
fruīfrūctum/fruitumfruitūrusgoing to enjoy
nāscīnātumnātūrus/nascitūrusgoing to be born
morīmortuummoritūrusgoing to die
orīrīortumoritūrusgoing to rise

Alternative verb forms

Several verb forms may occur in alternative forms :
Like in most Romance languages, syncopated forms and contractions are present in Latin. They may occur in the following instances: