Verbs

The Stage 1 lessons only cover active verbs.

Present tense

The present tense in Latin can be used for any of the three ways of expressing the present tense in English.

laboro means all of the following

  • I work
  • I am working
  • I do work

First Conjugation verbs

These end in ‘-are’.

confirmare to confirm edificare to build
dare to give laborare to work
legare to leave, bequeath vocare to call
orare to pray

To conjugate these verbs, remove the ‘-are’ to get the stem. Then add these endings:

laborare to work
Latin English Latin English
–o I laboro I work
–as you (singular) laboras you work (singular)
–at he/she/it laborat he/she/it works
–amus we laboramus we work
–atis you (plural) laboratis you work (plural)
–ant they laborant they work

The key letter in these endings is ‘a’.

Second conjugation verbs

These end in ‘-ere’.

debere to owe movere to move
habere to have sedere to sit
iacere to lie tenere to hold
monere to warn, advise videre to see

To conjugate these verbs, remove the ‘-ere’ to find the stem. Then add these endings:

Latin English Latin English
–eo I habeo I have
–es you (singular) habes you have
–et he/she/it habet he/she/it has
–emus we habemus we have
–etis you (plural) habetis you have
–ent they habent they have

The key letter in these endings is ‘e’.

Third conjugation verbs

These end in ‘-ere’.

cognoscere to know, get to know ostendere to show
concedere to concede, grant, allow petere to require, seek, petition
dicere to say reddere to give back
mittere to send solvere to pay

To conjugate these verbs, remove the ‘-ere’ to find the stem. Then add these endings:
concedereto concede

Latin English Latin English
–o I concedo I concede
–is you (singular) concedis you concede (singular)
–it he/she/it concedit he/she/it concedes
–imus we concedimus we concede
–itis you (plural) conceditis you concede (plural)
–unt they concedunt they concede

The key letter in most of these endings is ‘i’.

Some third conjugation verbs are called ‘io’ verbs because they have different endings

  • -io for the ‘I’ form (instead of –o)
  • -iunt for the ‘they’ form (instead of –unt)

For example

facere to make, do
Latin English Latin English
–io I facio I make
–is you (singular) facis you make (singular)
–it he/she/it facit he/she/it makes
–imus we facimus we make
–itis you (plural) facitis you make (plural)
–iunt they faciunt they make

Fourth conjugation verbs

These end ‘-ire’.

audire to hear
scire to know
venire to come

To conjugate these verbs, remove the ‘-ire’ to find the stem. Then add these endings:

venire to come
Latin English Latin English
–io I venio I come
–is you (singular) venis you come (singular)
–it he/she/it venit he/she/it comes
–imus we venimus we come
–itis you (plural) venitis you come (plural)
–iunt they veniunt they come

The key letter in the endings is ‘i’.
obire to die
This is an irregular fourth conjugation verb.
Notice that the stem for ‘I’ and ‘they’ is ‘obe’, with an ‘e’.

Latin English
obeo I die
obis you die (singular)
obit he/she/it dies
obimus we die
obitis you die (plural)
obeunt they die

Past tense

The past tense is used for actions that have been completed.

It can be translated in two ways in English.

For example, laboravi means

  • I worked and
  • I have worked

All verbs have the same endings in the past tense.

For example

audire to hear
Ending Person Latin Means in English and
-i I audivi I heard I have heard
-isti you (singular) audivisti you heard you have heard
-it he/she/it audivit he/she/it heard he/she/it has heard
-imus we audivimus we heard we have heard
-istis you (plural) audivistis you heard you have heard
-erunt they audiverunt they heard they have heard

The endings are added onto the stem of the verb.

The stem in the past tense is slightly different from the stem in the present tense.

This table shows you how to form the stem for the past tense in first, second and fourth conjugation verbs.

Conjugation First Second Fourth
Infinitive (‘to …’) laborare tenere audire
Stem in past tense laborav- tenu- audiv-

Two important verbs have an irregular stem:

dare to give past stem is ‘ded’

obire to die past stem is ‘obii’

Third conjugation verbs

There is no set rule for creating the past stem of third conjugation verbs.

Here are some examples of common verbs:

Past tense Means in English
cepi I took
concessi I conceded
dixi I said
duxi I led
feci I did
misi I sent
reddidi I gave back

esse – to be

This is an irregular verb.

Latin Meaning in English and
fui I have been I was
fuisti you have been you were (singular)
fuit he/she/it has been he/she/it was
fuimus we have been we were
fuistis you have been you were (plural)
fuerunt they have been they were