VES: Lesson - Verb Conjugations
Verb Conjugations
A verb conjugation is a category we use to group together similar verbs: think of it like a family of verbs. In earlier lessons, we have focused exclusively on 1st and 2nd conjugation verbs, which always had a stem vowel of -a (1st conjugation) and -e (2nd conjugation).
The remaining conjugations are called Third (3rd) and Fourth (4th) Conjugation. 3rd conjugation is additionally split into a regular 3rd conjugation and a special subset called 3rd-io conjugation. Let's briefly review a few verb basics before exploring these new conjugations in depth.
Verb Basics - Principal Parts
The four basic components of a Latin verb are called principal parts, the essential forms of a Latin verb. These are the three to four forms listed in a Latin dictionary for verb entries. The principal parts will form the basic building blocks for all the various verb forms. They will help you to identify the conjugation, which is the verb's family.
In terms of verb characteristics (these are the basis for all verb endings), verbs have person, number, tense, voice and mood.
| 1st Principal Part | 2nd Principal Part | 3rd Principal Part | 4th Principal Part | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | 1st Person Singular, Present Active Indicative | Present Active Infinitive | 1st Person Singular, Perfect Active Indicative | Perfect Passive Participle* |
Nota bene:
- *We will not be using the 4th principal part in Latin I, but please still work on memorizing this form. It will play a major role in learning more advanced verb forms.
Principal Part Comparison
Look at the following chart to compare the appearance of the principal parts of the four conjugations:
| Conjugation | 1st Principal Part | 2nd Principal Part | 3rd Principal Part | 4th Principal Part |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Conjugation | amo (I love) | amare (to love) | amavi (I loved) | amatus (loved) |
| 2nd Conjugation | doceo (I teach) | docere (to teach) | docui (I taught) | doctus (taught) |
| 3rd Conjugation | mitto (I show) | mittere (to show) | misi (I showed) | missus (showed) |
| 3rd-io Conjugation | facio (I do) | facere (to do) | feci (I did) | factus (done) |
| 4th Conjugation | audio (I hear) | audire (to hear) | audivi (I heard) | auditus (heard) |
How to identify the Conjugation of a Verb
To identify the conjugation of a verb, consider the patterns in the image. Be sure to examine the endings for both the first and second principal parts.
- amo, amare, amavi, amatus
- 1st Conjugation:
- -o, -are
- doceo, docere, docui, doctus
- 2nd Conjugation:
- -eo, -ere
- mitto, mittere, misi, missus
- 3rd Conjugation (regular)
- -o, -ere
- facio, facere, feci, factus
- 3rd-io Conjugation
- -io, ere
- audio, audire, audivi, auditus
- 4th Conjugation
- -io, -ire
As you can see, three of these conjugations have -ere in the 2nd principal part. This is why it is critical to also look at the 1st principal part when analyzing a verb to determine its conjugation.