Name:

Present Tense Formation Summary in Latin

The basic present tense endings in Latin are as follows:

1st person
2nd person
3rd person

Singular
/m (I)
s
(you)
t
(s/he, it)

Plural
mus
tis
nt

(we)
(you all)
(they)

Latin has four basic conjugations, or categories, of verbs. There are also a number of
irregular verbs, which follow some, but not all, of the rules for verb conjugation. The
conjugations are categorized according to the vowels associated with them. First: ,
Second: , Third and Third i: i, and Fourth: . The standard vowels in all the
third person forms, both singular and plural, are never long. Although the lists on this
sheet contain both singular and plural forms, we are concentrating on the singular forms
at this point in time.

3/(3rd-i)

Pres. (Use the 1st principal part stem [minus the -] or 2nd principal part stem [minus the -//e/re] + )

mus
s tis
at ant

e mus
s tis
et ent

(i) imus
is itis
it (i)unt

i mus
s tis
it iunt

The Four Principal Parts of the Verb

Most Latin verbs have four principal parts. If you learn all four parts, you are able to
create any of the over one hundred forms of the verb simply by applying the various
standard endings to these four chief forms. We will concentrate on the first three
principal parts in Latin I.
How to Name and Translate the Four Principal Parts
If we take a representative verb from the first four chapters, such as dc, this would be
the standard identification and translation for each of the four principal parts:
first person singular present active indicative
present active infinitive
first person singular perfect active indicative
perfect passive participle

dc
dcere
dx
ductus

I lead
to lead
I led, have led, did lead
(having been) led

Latin Verbs 2
First Conjugation Verbs
accs
ambul
cant
cel
cn
circumspect
clm
dlect
exspect
gust
intr
labr
laud
port
prob
puls
recit
salt

accsre
ambulre
cantre
celre
cnre
circumspectre
clmre
dlectre
exspectre
gustre
intrre
labrre
laudre
portre
probre
pulsre
recitre
saltre

ccsv
ambulv
cantv
celv
cnv
circumspectv
clmv
dlectv
exspectv
gustv
intrv
labrv
laudv
portv
probv
pulsv
recitv
saltv

accstus
ambultus
canttus
celtus
cntus
circumspecttus
clmtus
dlecttus
exspecttus
gusttus
intrtus
labrtus
laudtus
porttus
probtus
pulstus
recittus
salttus

spectv

specttus

sec

secre

secu

st

stre

stet

spect
verber
vsit
vituper
voc

spectre

sectus
status

verberre
vsitre
vituperre
vocre

verberv
vsitv
vituperv
vocv

verbertus
------------voctus

Second Conjugation Verbs

dbe
habe
responde
rde
sede
tene
tonde
vide

dbre
habre
respondre
rdre
sedre
tenre
tondre
vidre

dbu
habu
respond
rs
sd
tenu
totond
vd

dbitus
habitus
respnsus
rsus
sessus
tentus
tnsus
vsus

Third Conjugation Verbs

ag
bib
cnsum
convinc
coqu
curr

agere
bibere
cnsumere
convincere
coquere
currere

g
bib
cnsumps
convc
cx
cucurr

actus
------cnsumptus
convctus
coctus
cursus

Latin Verbs 3
Third Conjugation (continued)
discd
discdere
disc
discere
dc
dcere
em
emere
flu
fluere
imprim
imprimere
pet
petere
ping
pingere
quaer
quaerere
recumb
recumbere
redd
reddere
scrb
scrbere
stert
stertere
surg
surgere
trd
trdere
vnd
vndere

discess
didic
dx
m
flx
impress
petv
pinx
quaesv
recubu
reddid
scrps
------surrrx
trdid
vndid

discessus
------ductus
mptus
fluxus
impressus
pettus
pctus
quaestus
------redditus
scrptus
------surrctus
trditus
vnditus

Third-i Conjugation Verbs

capi
capere

cp

captus

Fourth Conjugation Verbs

aperi
audi
dormi
reveni
sali
veni

aperu
audv
dormv
revn
salu
vn

apertus
audtus
dormtus
reventus
saltus
ventus

exi
adfu
fu

exitus
-------------

aperre
audre
dormre
revenre
salre
venre

Irregular or Defective Verbs

exe
exre
adsum
adesse
sum
esse
Present of sum:
sum
sumus
es
estis
est
sunt
Present of inquam:
inquam
inquimus
inquis
------inquit
inquiunt

Perfect (only two forms attested):

inqui
inquist