Verbs
Learning verbs are very important in latin as they can give several different pieces of
information. For example:
Festinabamus - we were hurrying. This can be broken up into 3 different bits.
1) festina- the verb stem meaning hurry
2) -bam- telling you this is the imperfect tense (was Xing)
3) -mus telling you the person ending (we)
Latin verbs fall into four main groups called conjugations - these resemble -er, -re and -ir
in French. The example verbs for these are:
1st conjugation 2nd conjugation 3rd conjugation 4th conjugation
porto - I carry moneo - I warn traho - I drag audio - I hear
The Present Tense
Today, we will be focusing on the present tense, meaning ‘I carry’ (or ‘I warn', ‘I drag’
etc.). It can also be translated as ‘I am carrying’ or ‘I do carry’. The present tense is
used to describe an action happening right now (although sometimes it is used in what’s
called the ‘historic present’ to give vividness to a story).
Conjugation 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1st person sing. - I port-o mone-eo trah-o aud-io
2nd person sing. - port-as mon-es trah-is aud-is
You
3rd person sing. - port-at mon-et trah-it aud-it
He/She/It
1st person plural - port-amus mon-emus trah-imus aud-imus
We
2nd person plural - port-atis mon-etis trah-itis aud-itis
You (all)
3rd person plural - port-ant mon-ent trah-unt aud-iunt
They
Exercises
1) Frater meus Romam ire cupit.
2) Puer flumen timet.
3) Cur haec arma portatis?
4) Omnes custodes nunc dormiunt.
5) Vulnus habeo sed nihil sentio.
Learning verbs are very important in latin as they can give several different pieces of
information. For example:
Festinabamus - we were hurrying. This can be broken up into 3 different bits.
1) festina- the verb stem meaning hurry
2) -bam- telling you this is the imperfect tense (was Xing)
3) -mus telling you the person ending (we)
Latin verbs fall into four main groups called conjugations - these resemble -er, -re and -ir
in French. The example verbs for these are:
1st conjugation 2nd conjugation 3rd conjugation 4th conjugation
porto - I carry moneo - I warn traho - I drag audio - I hear
The Present Tense
Today, we will be focusing on the present tense, meaning ‘I carry’ (or ‘I warn', ‘I drag’
etc.). It can also be translated as ‘I am carrying’ or ‘I do carry’. The present tense is
used to describe an action happening right now (although sometimes it is used in what’s
called the ‘historic present’ to give vividness to a story).
Conjugation 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1st person sing. - I port-o mone-eo trah-o aud-io
2nd person sing. - port-as mon-es trah-is aud-is
You
3rd person sing. - port-at mon-et trah-it aud-it
He/She/It
1st person plural - port-amus mon-emus trah-imus aud-imus
We
2nd person plural - port-atis mon-etis trah-itis aud-itis
You (all)
3rd person plural - port-ant mon-ent trah-unt aud-iunt
They
Exercises
1) Frater meus Romam ire cupit.
2) Puer flumen timet.
3) Cur haec arma portatis?
4) Omnes custodes nunc dormiunt.
5) Vulnus habeo sed nihil sentio.
