The First Conjugation

Latin verbs fall into four basic types (or conjugations 1).
Let’s look at the first conjugation.
This is based on the letter “a”.

We begin with
the present tense: I am carrying
the imperfect tense: I was carrying
the future tense: I will carry

  Present Imperfect Future

I porto portabam portabo
You portas portabas portabis
He / She / It portat portabat portabit
We portamus portabamus portabimus
You portatis portabatis portabitis
They portant portabant portabunt

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Present Imperfect Future

I -o -bam -bo
You -s -bas -bis
He / She / It -t -bat -bit
We -mus -bamus -bimus
You -tis -batis -bitis
They -nt -bant -bunt

Notice all these endings are stuck onto the stem porta-.
This is called the present stem.

Questions:
1) What is the difference between the present and the imperfect tenses?
2) What is the difference between the present and the future tenses?

Translate these words:

1) amas
2) necabant
3) clamabis
4) ambulabo
5) ambulabam
6) pugnamus
7) habitabimus
8) dat
9) navigatis
10)vocabam

1
A bit like French, where you have “-er” verbs, “-ir” verbs, and “-re” verbs.
The other two tenses you need are
the perfect tense: I carried or I have carried
the pluperfect tense: I had carried

  Perfect Pluperfect
I portavi portaveram
You portavisti portaveras
He / She / It portavit portaverat
We portavimus portaveramus
You portavistis portaveratis
portaverun
They t portaverant

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Perfect Pluperfect
I -i -eram
You -isti -eras
He / She / It -it -erat
We -imus -eramus
You -istis -eratis
They -erunt -erant

Notice that these endings are stuck onto the stem portav- .
This is called the perfect stem.

Now translate these words:

1) habitavi
2) habitaverant
3) amavistis
4) clamaverunt
5) appropinquaveras
6) appropinquavisti
7) necaverunt
8) necaverant
9) clamavimus
10) celavistis

Note that two verbs sto and do have unusual perfect stems:
sto = I am standing; steti = I stood
 the perfect stem is stet-
do = I am giving; dedi = I gave
the perfect stem is ded-

However, you just put the normal perfect and pluperfect endings on this stem.
Now give the Latin for the following (one word answers):
1) I love
2) You will approach
3) He was shouting
4) We lived
5) You (pl) had hidden
6) We will love
7) They approached
8) You will hide
9) He had shouted
10)They were approaching

And with sto and do:

1) I gave
2) you had given
3) we stood
4) we had stood
5) they gave
6) they stood
7) I had stood
8) She gave
9) He stood
10) I had given
 The First Declension

Latin nouns fall into five basic types (or declensions). Happily we only need to
deal with the first three this year. 

Today we are going to look at the first declension.

This is based on the letter “a”.

Singular Plural
Nom. puella -a puellae -ae
Voc.2 puella -a puellae -ae
Acc. puellam -am puellas -as
Gen. puellae -ae puellarum -arum
Dat. puellae -ae puellis -is
Abl. puella -a puellis -is

What case(s) are the following words?

1) villa
2) insulae
3) agricolas
4) mensarum
5) nautis
6) undam
7) ancillae
8) puellae pulchrae
9) villam magnam
10) filias optimas

Translate the following into Latin:

1) The farmers (nom.)

2) Of the house
3) Of the houses
4) For the girl
5) The water (acc.)
6) By the money
7) From the woods
8) For the crowd
9) For the sailors
10) Lives (acc.)

2
You don’t really need to worry about the vocative: it is always the same as the nominative,
except for words ending in –us.
Finally translate the following sentences into Latin:

1. I like the house.

2. You carry the money of the girl.

3. We will call the daughters.

4. The farmer killed the sailors.

5. The sailors were approaching the island.

6. They had inhabited the island. (use habito)

7. They sailed the ship of the sailors.

8. The farmer loved the sailor.

9. I will give the house to the girls.

10. You were giving money to the sailor.

 The Second Conjugation

Latin verbs fall into four basic types (or conjugations).

Let’s look at the second conjugation. This is based on the letter “e”.

Once again we begin with

the present tense: I am warning
the imperfect tense: I was warning
the future tense: I will warn

  Present Imperfect Future

I moneo monebam monebo
You mones monebas monebis
He / She / It monet monebat monebit
We monemus monebamus monebimus
You monetis monebatis monebitis
They monent monebant monebunt
Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Present Imperfect Future

I -o -bam -bo
You -s -bas -bis
He / She / It -t -bat -bit
We -mus -bamus -bimus
You -tis -batis -bitis
They -nt -bant -bunt
Notice all these endings are stuck onto the stem mone-.
This is called the present stem.

(These are exactly the same as the endings for the first conjugation.)

Translate these words (you may want to use your word-list):

1. deles

2. videbant

3. sedebis

4. ridebo

5. manebam

6. debemus

7. respondebimus

8. iubet

9. tenetis

10. timebam
The other two tenses you need are
the perfect tense: I warned or I have warned
the pluperfect tense: I had warned

  Perfect Pluperfect
I monui monueram
You monuisti monueras
He / She / It monuit monuerat
We monuimus monueramus
You monuistis monueratis
They monuerunt monuerant

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Perfect Pluperfect
I -i -eram
You -isti -eras
He / She / It -it -erat
We -imus -eramus
You -istis -eratis
They -erunt -erant

Notice that these endings are stuck onto the stem monu- .
This is called the perfect stem.

Many verbs in the second conjugation have a perfect stem ending in “u”:

debeo I owe debui I owed

doceo I teach docui I taught
habeo I have habui I had
terreo I frighten terrui I frightened
teneo I hold tenui I held

However, there are some verbs which form their perfect stems differently:

deleo I destroy delevi I destroyed

iubeo I order iussi I ordered
maneo I remain mansi I remained
peruadeo I persuade persuasi I persuaded
respondeo I reply respondi I replied
rideo I laugh risi I laughed
sedeo I sit sedi I sat
video I see vidi I saw
What are the perfect stems of these words?

delevi
iussi
mansi
persuasi
respondi
risi
sedi
vidi

Remember the perfect and pluperfect endings are the same, even if the
perfect stem comes as a bit of a shock.

delevisti = you have destroyed

iussit = he ordered
mansimus = we remained
responderat = he had replied

Now translate these words:

11)debui
12)docuerant
13)iacuistis
14)timuerunt
15)iussueras
16)delevisti
17)viderunt
18)sederant
19)mansimus
20)respondistis

Now give the Latin for the following (one word answers):
1. I have
2. You will sit
3. He was responding
4. We had
5. You (pl) had taught
6. We will remain
7. They destroyed
8. You will laugh
9. He had held
10. They were persuading
The Second Declension

Once again, Latin nouns fall into five basic types (or declensions).

Let’s look at the second declension. This is based on the letter “u”.

There are two types of second declension words, masculine and neuter:

Masculine

Singular Plural
Nom. servus -us servi -i
Voc.3 serve -e servi -i
Acc. servum -um servos -os
Gen. servi -i servorum -orum
Dat. servo -o servis -is
Abl. servo -o servis -is

Neuter

Singular Plural
Nom. bellum -um bella -a
Voc.4 bellum -um bella -a
Acc. bellum -um bella -a
Gen. belli -i bellorum -orum
Dat. bello -o bellis -is
Abl. bello -o bellis -is

When are the differences between the masculine and neuter endings?

What case(s) are the following words?

1. annus
2. pueri
3. hortos
4. dona
5. servis
6. libertorum
7. vini
8. filiis pulchris
9. dominum callidum
10. pericula magna

3
You don’t really need to worry about the vocative: it is always the same as the nominative,
except for words ending in –us.
4
You don’t really need to worry about the vocative: it is always the same as the nominative,
except for words ending in –us.
Translate the following into Latin:

11)The garden (nom.)

12)Of the master

13)Of the men (use vir)

14)For the messenger

15)The gift (acc.)

16)By the danger

17)From the temples

18)For the wine

19)For the sons

20)Years (acc.)

Now translate the following sentences into Latin:

1. I have the garden.

2. You teach the sons of the masters.

3. We will frighten the horses.

4. The messenger destroyed the slaves.

5. The slaves were sitting in5 the garden.

6. They had seen the temple. (use habito)

7. We shall destroy the temple of the gods.

8. The god ordered the boy to reply.

9. I will lie in the garden.

5
Use in with the ablative.
 10.You were persuading the slave6.

Finally a few first and second conjugation and declension sentences:

1) The god loved the boy.

2) The girl was sitting in the house of the slave.

3) We saw the sailors in the temple.

4) I shall give the gifts to the gods.

5) The farmer ordered the slave to work.

6
NB persuadeo needs a dative noun, not an accusative.
 The Third Conjugation

The first conjugation has stems which end in the letter “a”:
amat = he loves stem = ama-

The second conjugation has stems which end in the letter “e”;
habet = he has stem = habe-

The third conjugation has stems which end in a consonant.

It is therefore usually necessary to slip a vowel in between the stem and the
ending to make it possible to pronounce the word. This can make the verb
seem a tiny bit irregular, but notice that the endings are still the same as for
the other conjugations.

We begin with
the present tense: I am saying
the imperfect tense: I was saying

  Present Imperfect
I dico dicebam
You dicis dicebas
He / She / It dicit dicebat
We dicimus dicebamus
You dicitis dicebatis
They dicunt dicebant

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Present Imperfect
I -o -bam
You -s -bas
He / She / It -t -bat
We -mus -bamus
You -tis -batis
They -nt -bant

Notice that
 in the present tense the letter i is inserted between the stem and the
ending if the ending begins with a consonant
 except for the “they” ending, when the letter u is inserted
 in the imperfect tense, the letter e is inserted between the stem and the
ending

Translate these words:

1) ascendis
2) bibebant
3) legis
4) credo
5) intellegebam
 6) ducimus
7) mittebamus
8) discedit
9) mittitis
10)scribebamus

The future tense is a bit different:

  Future Meaning
I dicam I shall say
You dices you will say
He / She / It dicet he will say
We dicemus we shall say
You dicetis you will say
They dicent they will say

Here are the endings for this tense:

  Future
I -am
You -es
He / She / It -et
We -emus
You -etis
They -ent

Notice that they are sometimes only one letter different from the present
tense. .

Translate these words. Take care: some are present, and some are future.

1) ascendam
2) credis
3) dicent
4) dicunt
5) ducunt
6) vivet
7) trahemus
8) scribitis
9) vendis
10)promittes
The other two tenses you need are
the perfect tense: I said or I have said
the pluperfect tense: I had said

  Perfect Pluperfect
I dixi dixeram
You dixisti dixeras
He / She / It dixit dixerat
We diximus dixeramus
You dixistis dixeratis
They dixerunt dixerant

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Perfect Pluperfect
I -i -eram
You -isti -eras
He / She / It -it -erat
We -imus -eramus
You -istis -eratis
They -erunt -erant

Notice that once again, these endings are added to the perfect stem which
differs slightly from the present stem.

In this case the stem is dix-

Use your word list to find the perfect stems of the following verbs, and their
meaning:

Stem Meaning

1) ago
2) bibo
3) consumo
4) credo
5) duco
6) emo
7) mitto
8) pono
9) surgo
10)vendo
11)vinco
12)vivo
Now translate the following into English:

1) cognoscebamus
2) petivistis
3) ostendam
4) ponis
5) cucurrit
6) vendimus
7) vendidimus
8) ascendet
9) intellegis
10)constituit
11)dixerant
12)credidi

And translate the following into Latin (one word answers):

1) You are drinking

2) You will drink
3) He was leading
4) He understood
5) We were showing
6) You had climbed
7) They ran
8) They had run
9) You believed
10)They placed
11)You will say
12)We sell

Finally a bit of fun. Ho ho.

Give the Latin for:

1) I came
2) I saw
3) I conquered
 The Third Declension

As we have seen, the first declension is based on stems ending in the letter
“a”:

insula puella villa

They are usually feminine (except for sailors and farmers, which makes you
think...)

The second declension is based on stems ending in the letter “u”.

they are either masculine, and end in -us (like dominus)
or neuter, and end in –um (like bellum)

masc. amicus servus hortus

neut. auxilium templum bellum

The third declension is where the rot sets in.

The nominative (or “normal”) form of the third declension can end in
anything. (Bother.)

leo mercator miles rex urbs

Worse still, the nominative is often slightly different from the actual stem of
the noun.

nominative stem

leo leon-
mercator mercator-
miles milit-
rex reg-
urbs urb-

To work out the stem of a third declension noun, you need to know its
genitive. (Fortunately, the Word List tells you what the genitive is.)
Then you take off the “-is” ending, and you are left with the stem

Find the stems of the following third declension nouns (and give their
meanings):
Stem Meaning
1) amor
2) canis
3) homo
4) mater
5) mors
6) nox
7) nomen
8) senex
Now, here are the endings for the masculine and feminine third declension
nouns:

Singular Plural
Nom. mercator - mercatores -es
Voc. mercator - mercatores -es
Acc. mercatorem -em mercatores -es
Gen. mercatoris -is mercatorum -um (or -ium)
Dat. mercatori -i mercatoribus -ibus
Abl. mercatore -e (or -i) mercatoribus -ibus

Now fill in the following tables for some other third declension nouns.

Remember to use the genitive to give you the stem.

Singular Plural
Nom. amor - -es
Voc. - -es
Acc. -em -es
Gen. amoris -is -um
Dat. -i -ibus
Abl. -e -ibus

Singular Plural
Nom. leo - -es
Voc. - -es
Acc. -em -es
Gen. leonis -is -um
Dat. -i -ibus
Abl. -e -ibus

Singular Plural
Nom. miles - -es
Voc. - -es
Acc. -em -es
Gen. militis -is -um
Dat. -i -ibus
Abl. -e -ibus
Third declension neuter nouns are slightly different:

Singular Plural
Nom. nomen - nomina -a
Voc. nomen - nomina -a
Acc. nomen - nomina -a
Gen. nominis -is nominum -um
Dat. nomini -i nominibus -ibus
Abl. nomine -e nominibus -ibus

Compare these endings with the masculine / feminine ones.

Which endings are the same for all three forms?

How does this compare with the second declension masculines and neuters?

Now say what case(s) the following words could be, and give their meanings

Case Meaning

1) amorem

2) ars

3) canes

4) capita

5) fratres

6) hominibus

7) iuvenis

8) matris

9) leonibus

10)nocte

11)nomen

12)partibus

13)pacem

14)uxori

15)vox
Now give the Latin for the following:

1) of the dog
2) with the head
3) the mother (acc)
4) o young men!
5) for the old man
6) of the night
7) the name (nom.)
8) the wives (acc.)
9) with the voices
10)peace (nom.)

Finally, practice of both third declension nouns and third declension verbs:

1) He is leading the young men.

2) The man has conquered the lion.

3) The senators will buy peace for the soldiers.

4) The old man shows the city to the brothers.

5) We were climbing the mountain.

6) I have sold the head of the soldier.

7) They believed the wife. (credo takes the dative.)

8) You will leave your wife.

9) The citizens live in the city. (in takes the ablative here.)

Love conquers all. (all = omnia)

 The Fourth Conjugation

The first conjugation is based on stems ending in the letter “a”.

The second conjugation is based on stems ending in the letter “e”.
The third conjugation is based on stems ending with a consonant.

Today we are going to look at the fourth conjugation. This is based on the
letter “i”.

We begin with
the present tense: I am hearing
the imperfect tense: I was hearing
the future tense: I will hear

  Present Imperfect Future

I audio audiebam audiam
You audis audiebas audies
He / She / It audit audiebat audiet
We audimus audiebamus audiemus
You auditis audiebatis audietis
They audiunt audiebant audient

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Present Imperfect Future

I -o -bam -am
You -s -bas -es
He / She / It -t -bat -et
We -mus -bamus -emus
You -tis -batis -etis
They -nt -bant -ent

Notice:
The endings for the present and imperfect are basically the same as for all the
other verbs.
The future endings are the same as for the third conjugation.

Translate these words:

11)advenis

12)conveniebant

13)custodies

14)dormiam

15)inveniebam

16)punimus

17)sciemus
 18)sentit

19)venitis

20)veniunt

The other two tenses you need are

the perfect tense: I heard or I have heard
the pluperfect tense: I had heard

  Perfect Pluperfect
I audivi audiveram
You audivisti audiveras
He / She / It audivit audiverat
We audivimus audiveramus
You audivistis audiveratis
They audiverunt audiverant

Here are the endings for these tenses:

  Perfect Pluperfect
I -i -eram
You -isti -eras
He / She / It -it -erat
We -imus -eramus
You -istis -eratis
They -erunt -erant

Notice that the perfect stem audiv- ends in a “v”.

This is the most common way in which fourth conjugation verbs form their
perfect stem.

The exceptions are sensi (from sentio, I feel), and veni (from venio, I come).
Compounds of venio also have the perfect stem ven-:

adveni = I arrived (perfect stem adven-)

conveni = I met (perfect stem conven-)
inveni = I found (perfect stem inven-)

Now translate these words:

21)custodivi

22)advenerant

23)convenistis

24)dormiverunt

25)inveneras
 26)punivisti

27)venerunt

28)venerant

29)scivimus

30)sensistis

Now give the Latin for the following (one word answers):
11)I arrive

12)You will hear

13)He was sleeping

14)We guarded

15)You (pl) had punished

16)We will know

17)They arrived

18)You will find

19)He had felt

20)They were meeting

 Irregular Verbs

For GCSE Latin, you need to know the following irregular verbs:

eo ire, i(v)i go
fero ferre, tuli, latus bring, carry, bear
possum posse, potui can, be able
sum esse, fui be
volo velle, volui want

These verbs are all written out for you in the Cambridge Latin Course, and I see no
reason why I should spend my valuable time typing them up for you! If you want to
make your own sheets, by all means do so.

First turn to on pages 132-133 of the Cambridge Latin Course. Use the information
to find the Latin for the following words

a) We are

b) You were able to

c) They shall go

d) You wanted to

e) I bring

f) I brought

g) I had brought

h) They will want to

i) He will bring

j) I shall be

Pay particular attention to their infinitives:

k) to be

l) to be able to

m) to want to

n) to carry
 Eo,ire, ivi (= to go) form two compounds:

pereo,perire, perii – I perish

redeo, redire, redii – I go back

Let’s fill in the present, future, and imperfect of these verbs together:

Present

pereo I perish redeo I return

  You perish   You return

  He perishes   He returns

  We perish   We return

  You perish   You return

  They perish   They return

Future

  I shall perish   I shall return

  You will perish   You will return

  He will perish   He will return

  We shall perish   We shall return

  You will perish   You will return

  They will perish   They will return

Imperfect

  I was perishing   I was returning

  You were perishing   You were returning

  He was perishing   He was returning

  We were perishing   We were returning

  You were perishing   You were returning

  They were perishing   They were returning

 Now let’s do the same for the perfect and pluperfect:

Perfect

perii I perished redii I returned

  You perished   You returned

  He perished   He returned

  We perished   We returned

  You perished   You returned

  They perished   They returned

Future

  I had perished   I had returned

  You had perished   You had returned

  He had perished   He had returned

  We had perished   We had returned

  You had perished   You had returned

  They had perished   They had returned

Volo,velle, volui also forms a compound:

nolo, nolle, nolui = I do not want to

Here are its most usual forms

Present Imperfect Perfect

nolo   nolebam   nolui  

non vis   nolebas   noluisti  

non vult   nolebat   noluit  

nolumus   nolebamus   noluimus  

non vultis   nolebatis   noluistis  

nolunt   nolebant   noluerunt  

Now let’s practise some of these new words.

Translate the following into English. You may need to consult the Word List for some
of the infinitives.

1) I want to go.

2) You were wanting to flee.

3) He will want to work.

4) We had wanted to return.

5) They wanted to cry.

6) We can sail.

7) We had been able to see.

8) They will be able to speak.

9) I could return.

10) We do not want to go.

11) We want to work.

12) They did not want to perish.

13) You will be able to drink.

14) You did not want to remain.

15) I did not want to kill Quintus.