VIA: Lesson - Present System Formation - 2nd Conjugation

Present System Formation - 2nd Conjugation

As you watch the video below about 2nd conjugation verbs, take careful notes on how they are similar to 1st conjugation verbs and what differences exist. Some differences can be quite minor, but they have a big impact on how these verbs are formed!

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Example Chart

Recall your personal endings and the tense endings covered earlier:

Verb Endings Chart
Tense Present Tense Imperfect Tense Future Tense
Endings o/m
s
t
mus
tis
nt		 bam
bas
bat
bamus
batis
bant		 bo
bis
bit
bimus
bitis
bunt

These same endings are used for 2nd Conjugation verbs. The process is the same as well: add the personal endings to the present stem.

Example verb: doceo, docere, docui, doctus - to teach

  • Present Stem: docere - re = doce-
2nd Conjugation Example Chart
Tense Present Tense Imperfect Tense Future Tense
Verb Forms doceo
doces
docet
docemus
docetis
docent		 docebam
docebas
docebat
docebamus
docebatis
docebant		 docebo
docebis
docebit
docebimus
docebitis
docebunt

Translation

Let's explore the translation for each tense by using the conjugated forms of docere.

  • Present Tense = Subject + Verb; Subject + am/is/are + ing; Subject + do/does + verb
    • doceo - I teach, I am teaching, I do teach
    • doces - You teach, You are teaching, You do teach
    • docet - He/She/It teachs, He/She/It is teaching, He/She/It does teach
    • docemus - We teach, We are teaching, We do teach
    • docetis - You (plural) teach, You are teaching, You do teach
    • docent - They teach, They are teaching, They do teach
  • Imperfect Tense = Subject + was/were + ing*
    • docebam - I was teaching
    • docebas - You were teaching
    • docebat - He/She/It was teaching
    • docebamus - We were teaching
    • docebatis - You (plural) were teaching
    • docebant - They were teaching
  • Future Tense = Subject + will/shall + verb
    • docebo - I will teach
    • docebis - You will teach
    • docebit - He/She/It will teach
    • docebimus - We will teach
    • docebitis - You (plural) will teach
    • doceuant - They will teach

Nota bene - Reminder

  • *Imperfect has additional translation options. In most examples, was/were + ing will be used as that is the most common way to express the imperfect in English. But, be aware that you do have some flexibility with this tense. For example, you could translate docebam as follows:
    • I was teaching
    • I used to teach
    • I kept teaching
    • I carried
      • note that this last one, called the simple past, should only be used when the simple past clearly indicates a continuous or repeated action