Latin Grammar Review: Verbs

As we begin reading the Latin passages for this course, it's important to take some time to review the fundamentals that you've learned in previous Latin courses. We will dive deeper into specifics within the passages themselves, so it is important to take time now to check your general understanding.

Let's take a moment to see what you remember. Complete this brief self-assessment about Latin verbs before moving on.

Verbs

A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is traditionally defined as a word that conveys an action or state of being. In Latin, a verb is a word that uses stems and endings to indicate the five characteristics of person, number, tense, voice and mood. It additionally has non-finite uses (infinitive, participle, gerund).

Latin verbs are one of, if not the most complicated aspect of Latin grammar. Latin, unlike English, uses a wide range of stems and endings to create meaning - so one verb ends up with hundreds of forms. Fortunately, large groups of verbs all work in a similar manner, so once you learn about each type, you can manage any verb you encounter.

At this point, you should be familiar with the following sets of information concerning verbs. Each link below provides a handout with detailed review:

Latin Dictionary Entries: Verbs

When looking up a verb in a Latin dictionary or vocabulary handout, the verb will be listed by its Principal Parts (PPs), followed by the English meaning(s). Most regular verbs have four principal parts in Latin, while deponent verbs will have three. Each of the principal parts serves a role in forming the many different Latin verb inflections by helping determine the Verb's Stems (stems are the base onto which endings will be added).

Also remember: the ending of the 2nd Principal Part is used to determine the conjugation (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd-io, 4th) of the verb.

1st Conjugation: are/ari
2nd Conjugation: ere/eri (1st PP = eo/eor)
3rd Conjugation (regular): ere/i (1st PP = o/or)
3rd-io Conjugation: ere/i (1st PP = io/ior)
4th Conjugation: ire/iri

Regular Verb PPs:

1st Principal Part = present, 1st person, singular, active, indicative
2nd Principal Part = present active infinitive.
- This form is used to determine the conjugation (verb group) a verb belongs to.
3rd Principal Part = perfect, 1st person, singular, active, indicative
4th Principal Part = perfect passive participle (us) OR supine (um) - different dictionaries will provide one or the other. Our course uses the participle form.

Deponent Verb PPs:

1st Principal Part = present, 1st person, singular, active, indicative (looks passive)
2nd Principal Part = present active infinitive (looks passive).
- This form is used to determine the conjugation (verb group) a verb belongs to.
3rd Principal Part = perfect, 1st person, singular, active, indicative (looks passive)

**Example verb dictionary entries**
Verb Type	1st Conjugation	2nd Conjugation	3rd Conjugation	3rd-io Conjugation	4th Conjugation
Regular Verbs	amo amare amavi amatus	video videre vidi visus	cado cadere cecidi casus	capio capere cepi captus	venio venire veni ventus
Deponent Verbs	conor conari conatus sum	vereor vereri veritus sum	amplector amplecti amplexus sum	aggredior aggredi aggressus sum	orior oriri ortus (oritus) sum

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