Grammar: Verbs and Verb-Adjacent - LATIN 111 and 112

Characteristics of Verbs

person, number, tense, mood, and voice

Verbs - Person

first, second, or third

(first - I/we, second - you, third - he/she/they/it)

Verbs - Number

singular or plural

Verbs - Tense

the time of the action

present, future, imperfect, perfect, future perfect, and pluperfect

Verbs - Mood

the manner of indicating the action or state of being of the verb

indicative - “indicates” facts

imperative - orders actions

subjunctive - describes, in particular, hypothetical or potential actions

Verbs - Voice

an indication, with transitive verbs (those that can take direct objects) of whether the subject performs the action (active voice) or receives it (passive voice)

Verbs - Infinitives

opposite of a finite verb

lack person and number (and technically, it is its own “mood”)

Complementary Infinitive

• completes a finite verb’s meaning

• has no separate subject of its own; its subject is the same as that of the verb on which it depends

Infinitives - General

• common verbal noun

• most transitive verbs have six infinitives: present, future, and perfect, active and passive

• intransitive verbs usually lack the passive

• perfect and future infinitives are all formed according to the following patterns, regardless of conjugation

Infinitives - Endings

Active

• Present: -āre, -ēre, -ere, -īre

• Perfect: perfect stem + -isse

• Future: future active participle + esse

Passive

• Present: -ārī, -ērī, -ī, -īrī

• Perfect: perfect passive participle + esse

• Future: supine in um + īrī

*passive periphrastic infinitive (gerundive + esse)

*note on the future passive infinitive: rare and does not occur in this book; the supine in -um has the same spelling as the perfect passive participle in the nominative neuter singular

*the participles employed as components of three of these infintives are essentially predicate adjectives and in usage agree with the subject of esse

Infinitives - Usage

• subject

• complement with such verbs as possum and dēbeō

• with its own accusative subject, can also serve as a direct object

• one of the commonest uses: in a construction known as INDIRECT STATEMENT

How many (types of) conjugations are there in Latin, and what are their stem vowels and infinitive endings?

4

first conjugation: ā; -āre

second conjugation: ē; -ēre

third conjugation: e; -ere

fourth conjugation: ī; -īre

What is the relation between the stem vowels and the present stem?

the stem vowel is the vowel that serves as the final letter of the present stem of each respective verb

How do you find the present stem?

drop the -re from the present active infinitive, and there you have it

Conjugation

stick the right ending on the stem (mostly)

The Macron Disappearance Rule

vowels that are normally long are regularly shortened when they occur immediately BEFORE:

• another VOWEL

• -M, -R, or -T at the end of a word (vowel with macron is second to last (penult) letter)

• NT or ND in any position

First Conjugation (-ā verbs): what happens in the first person singular of the present active indicative?

Not only is the stem vowel shortened, but it DISAPPEARS ENTIRELY through contraction with the final -ō

Third Conjugation (-e verbs) - Quirks

• the short, unaccented stem vowel…

  • disappears altogether in the first sg

  • is altered to -i- in the second and third sg and the first and second pl

  • appears as -u- in the third pl

  • (following the same pattern seen in the future endings of first and second conjugation verbs!)

• plural imperative:

  • stem vowel shifts from -e- to -i-

• irregular sg imperatives:

  • dīc, dūc, fac, and fer

    • the -e is dropped for these singular imperatives

    • all other third conjugation verbs form their sg imperatives regularly

Third Conjugation -iō verbs

• present, future, and imperfect indicative follow the pattern of fourth conjugation verbs

  • EXCEPT short i everywhere!

• Infinitive

  • reveals that these verbs are third conjugation (-ere)

• Imperative

  • formed like a “normal” third conjugation verb

  • sg = present stem

  • pl = present stem (vowel shifted to i) + te

Fourth Conjugation (-īre verbs) - Quirks

• characterized by the long ī

• ī retained through all the present system tenses (present, future, imperfect)

  • shortened before vowels, a final m/r/t, and nt anywhere

• Present Indicative

  • add personal endings to present stem

  • THIRD PERSON PLURAL: ending is -UNT rather than -nt (ex: audiunt, not audint)

• Imperatives

  • follow exactly the pattern of the first and second conjugations

  • sg = present stem

  • pl = present stem + -te

Future Tense

• tense sign (FIRST and SECOND conjugations, only) = -bi- inserted between the present stem and the personal ending

  • think of “will”

  • 1st sg: -bō

  • 3rd pl: -bu-

  • all else: -bi-

• “will” (or “shall”)

• tense sign (THIRD conjugation) = -ē- (NO -bi-)

  • the stem vowel “basically” lengthens (shortens to -e- before a vowel, final -t/-m/-r, and -nt anywhere)

  • Exception: the stem vowel disappears by contraction in FIRST SG

  • tense sign for first sg is -a-

• Fourth conjugation - shorten the ī of the present stem and add the future endings of the THIRD CONJUGATION (tense marker = a/ē)

Imperfect Tense

• tense sign (all four conjugations) = -bā- inserted between the present stem and the personal ending

  • think of “was”

• action that was continuing or progressive in the past

• actions that were “going on,” “repeated,” “habitual,” “attempted,” or “just beginning”

• could also be a simple past tense

• Third Conjugation: stem vowel is lengthened to -ē- for the imperfect tense

• Fourth Conjugation: add ē to stem vowel (becomes -iē-) before the -bā-

The Present System

• made up of the present, future, and imperfect tenses

• all of the forms are based on the present stem

The Perfect System

• made up of the perfect, the future perfect, and the pluperfect (past perfect)

• formed on a perfect (active or passive) stem

• actions that, at some given point, have been completed

• consequences of the completed action

• translated often with “had,” “has,” and “will have”

• perfect tense can also function as a simple past tense

  • imperfect tense: video of the past; continuing, going on, repeated, habitual

  • perfect tense: a still photograph; action as a single, completed event (simple past); event that, although completed, has consequences for the present (perfective)

Perfect Active System Formation/Conjugation

• first person singular always ends in -ī

• perfect active stem = DROP THE FINAL -ī

  • which characterizes the third principal part of every verb

• add endings to stem

• PLUPERFECT - perfect stem + ERAM (imperfect of sum)

• FUTURE PERFECT - perfect stem + ERŌ (future of sum)

  • EXCEPTION: third person plural is -ERINT, not -erunt

Fourth Principal Part

• perfect passive participle: principal part is the neuter form, but the participle itself is a fully declinable verbal adjective of the -us/-a/-um variety

• for regular transitive verbs, it is the perfect passive participle

• verbs lacking a perfect passive participle substitute the accusative supine and some verbs like sum and other intransitives substitute a future active participle, while others like possum have no fourth principal part at all

Present Passive System - First and Second Conjugations

• simply substitute the new passive endings for the active ones (with a few exceptions, of course)

• -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur

• PRESENT and FUTURE 1ST PERSON SG

  • active ending -ō is shortened and -r is added directly to it, instead of being substituted for it

  • basically, ending is -or

• FUTURE 2ND PERSON SG

  • -bi- is changed to -BE-

  • basically, ending is -beris

• alternate second person singular passive ending = -re

  • not employed in this book; you will likely encounter it in later readings

• INFINITIVE

  • -rī (instead of -re)

• imperfect and future tense markers =

  • still used in the passive!

  • imperfect = -bā-

  • future = -bo-/-bi-/-bu-

    • exception: -be- in 2nd sg

Present Passive System - Third and Fourth Conjugations

• endings are generally the same

THIRD CONJUGATION

• Present

  • 2nd person sg ending = -eris

  • otherwise, the “vowel change” is the same as with active (and same endings as first and second conjugations)

• Future

  • “vowel change” is the same as with active

• Imperfect

  • same endings as with first and second conjugations

  • -e- is lengthened to -ē- (like with the active)

• Infinitive (all third conjugation)

  • -ī replaces all of -ere

• iō verbs

  • follow the third conjugation pattern for 2nd person sg ending (caperis, not capiris)

  • otherwise, add the “i” as you would with the active and use the passive endings

FOURTH CONJUGATION

• Present

  • same endings as first and second conjugations

• Future

  • “vowel change” is the same as with the active

• Imperfect

  • same endings as with the first and second conjugations

  • like with the active, add -ē- after the “i” but before the ending (ex: -iēbar)

• Infinitive

  • -rī

Usage of the Present System Passive

subject is passively acted upon

• as a rule, only transitive verbs are used in the passive

• what had been the object of the transitive verb (receiving the action of the verb) now becomes the subject of the passive verb (still receiving the action of the verb)

to make verbs passive in English, we use a form of the verb “to be”

Perfect Passive System - All Conjugations

Construction:

• perfect passive participle (fourth principal part) + SUM, ERŌ, ERAM

• sum + participle function together as a verbal unit of sorts

  • participle = essentially, a predicate adjective (agrees with subject)

Perfect Passive Participle

• of the -us/-a/-um variety

• AGREES with SUBJECT in GENDER, NUMBER, and CASE

Sum, Erō, Eram

• conjugated like normal

THE SAME FOR ALL CONJUGATIONS

Perfect Passive System - Translation

• Latin uses the present, future, and imperfect of sum, esse to form the perfect system passive verbs

• English uses the present, future, and past tenses of the verb TO HAVE as perfect system (active and passive) auxiliaries

Passive Voice

the subject is the passive recipient of the action

Adverbs

• a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb

• typically positioned right BEFORE the modified word

Participles - Overview

• verbal adjectives

• regular transitive verbs in Latin have FOUR participles

  • 2 active voice (present and future)

  • 2 passive voice (future and perfect)

• Formed on present stem

  • present active and future passive

• Formed on participial stem (usually the fourth principal part)

  • future active and perfect passive

• ADJECTIVES

  • agree in gender, number, and case with the words they modify

  • can also modify no expressed noun but function as nouns themselves

• VERBS

  • have tense and voice

  • may take direct objects or other constructions used with the particular verb

  • may be modified by an adverb or an adverbial phrase

Participles - Formation

Present Active

• present stem + -ns (gen. -ntis)

Future Active

• participial stem + -ūrus, -ūra, -ūrum

Perfect Passive

• participial stem + -us, -a, -um

Future Passive

• present stem + -ndus, -nda, -ndum

Note:

PreseNT is marked by -NT-

FutURe is marked by -ŪR-

Future Passive (often called the “geruNDive”) is marked by -ND-

*AND… there is no present passive participle nor a perfect active participle

Participles - Third Conjugation -iō verbs and Fourth Conjugation

• third conjugation -iō verbs and fourth conjugation verbs have -ie- in both the present active participle and the future passive participle

  • the ones based on the present stem

Participles - Declension

Declined in the pattern of magnus, -a, -um (mixed first and second declension)

• future active participle, future passive participle, perfect passive participle

• masc, fem, and neuter

Declined in the pattern of potēns (third declension)

• present active participle

• masc/fem and neuter

• abl sg sometimes ends in -e, sometimes in -ī (especially when used strictly as an attributive adjective

• vowel before -NS in nom sg is always LONG, but before -NT always SHORT

Participles and Infinitives - Time

• the time of the action indicated by a participle/infinitive is not absolute but relative to that of the main verb

• PRESENT PARTICIPLE/INFINITIVE

  • action CONTEMPORANEOUS with that of the verb (same time)

• PERFECT PARTICIPLE/INFINITIVE

  • action PRIOR to that of the verb (time before)

• FUTURE PARTICIPLE/INFINITIVE

  • action SUBSEQUENT to that of the verb (time after)

Participles - Translation

• often preferable to transform the Latin participial phrase into an English subordinate clause

• in doing so, consider:

  • 1) the relationship between the action in the phrase and the action in the clause to which it is attached, so you can choose an appropriate subordinating conjunction (usually “when,” “since,” or “although”)

  • 2) the relativity of tenses, so you can transform the participle into the appropriate verb tense

Participles - Ablative Absolute

• participial phrase generally consisting of a noun (or pronoun) and a modifying participle both in the ablative case; loosely connected to the rest of the sentence

• usually set off by commas

• describes some general circumstance under which the action of the sentence occurs

• always self-contained

  • the participle and the noun it modifies are in the same phrase and the noun of the ablative absolute phrase is not referred to at all in the attached clause

• can be translated literally

• generally better to transform the phrase to a clause, converting the participle to a verb in the appropriate tense, treating the ablative noun as its subject, and supplying the most logical conjunction (usually “when,” “since,” or “although”)

• the ablative noun/pronoun regularly comes first, the participle last; when the phrase contains additional words, like the participle’s direct object, they are usually enclosed within the noun/participle frame

• even two nouns, or a noun and an adjective, can function as an ablative absolute, with the present participle of sum (lacking in classical Latin) to be understood

Participles - Gerundive

• Gerundive = future passive participle

• often conveys an idea of necessary, obligatory, or appropriate action, rather than simple futurity

Passive Periphrastic

• a “roundabout way of speaking”

• passive verb form consisting of the gerundive, a common term for the future passive participle, along with a form of sum

  • Construction: GERUNDIVE + form of SUM

• gerundive, as essentially a predicate adjective, agrees with the subject of sum in gender, number, and case

• concerned with necessary, obligatory, or appropriate action, rather than simple futurity

• Just as Latin uses the auxiliary SUM in its various tenses in this construction, English uses:

  • Translation: “HAS TO BE,” “HAD TO BE,” or “WILL HAVE TO BE”

  • Translation alternatives: “SHOULD,” “OUGHT,” “MUST”

• Uses the DATIVE OF AGENT!

Subjunctive Mood - Overview

• in general (though not always) the mood of potential, tentative, hypothetical, ideal, or even unreal action

• four tenses

  • present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect

• Present Subjunctive

  • rules vary slightly among the four conjugations

• All the other tenses of the subjunctive

  • same rules for all conjugations, even for irregular verbs

Present Subjunctive - Formation

• First Conjugation

  • the characteristic stem vowel changes from -Ā- in the present indicative to -Ē- in the present subjunctive

• Other 3 Conjugations

  • -Ā- is consistently the sign of the present subjunctive

  • variations in the handling of the actual stem vowel

  • Second Conjugation: stem vowel shortened

  • Third Conjugation: stem vowel is replaced

  • Fourth Conjugation and Third -iō Verbs: stem vowel is altered to short -i-

• Mnemonic: “We fear a liar”

  • vowels preceding the personal endings are -ē-, -eā-, -ā-, and -iā-

• The same personal endings are used (from the present indicative)

• PRESENT PASSIVE

  • same pattern of substituting passive endings for active endings

Present Subjunctive - Translation

• “may” is sometimes used

• translation of all subjunctive tenses varies with the type of clause

Imperfect Subjunctive - Formation

• same rules for all conjugations

• the PRESENT ACTIVE INFINITIVE + REGULAR present system personal ENDINGS, active and passive

  • m, s, t, mus, tis, nt

  • r, ris, tur, mur, minī, ntur

  • basically, add -RĒ- + ENDINGS

• the final -E- of the infinitive is LONG, except before the usual shortenings (before final m, r, t, and any nt)

Imperfect Subjunctive - Translation

• auxiliaries sometimes used with the imperfect include “were,” “would,” and, in purpose clauses, “might”

Perfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive - Formation

• same rules for all conjugations

• Perfect Active Subjunctive

  • add -ERĪ- + REGULAR personal endings

  • forms are identical to those of the future perfect indicative except for the first person singular and the long -ī- in certain subjunctive forms

• Pluperfect Active Subjunctive

  • add -ISSĒ- + REGULAR personal endings

  • forms resemble the PERFECT ACTIVE INFINITIVE + ENDINGS

• Passives

  • PERFECT PASSIVE PARTICIPLE + SUBJUNCTIVE of sum/eram (sim/essem)

Perfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive - Translation

• “may have” and “might have/would have” are SOMETIMES employed with the perfect and pluperfect

• often translated as simple indicatives

What are the principal parts of a Latin verb?

First Principal Part: first person singular present active indicative

Second Principal Part: present active infinitive

Third Principal Part: perfect active indicative

Fourth Principal Part: perfect passive participle (neuter sg form given)

Endings - All Conjugations

Present Active Indicative

-ō/-m -mus

-s -tis

-t -nt

*fourth conjugation and third -iō verbs: third pl ending is -unt

Endings - All Conjugations

Present Active Infinitive

-re

Endings - All Conjugations

Present Active Imperative

-- -te

*only in the 2nd person!

*2nd person sg is identical to the present stem

*2nd person pl just adds -te to the present stem

*third conjugation: stem vowel is changed to -i- for 2nd pl

Endings - First and Second Conjugations

Future Active Indicative

-bō -bimus

-bis   - bitis

-bit  -bunt

Endings - Third and Fourth Conjugations

Future Active Indicative

-m  -mus

-s     -tis

-t      -nt

Endings - All Conjugations

Imperfect Active Indicative

-bam   -bāmus

-bās   -bātis

-bat  -bant

Endings - All Conjugations

Perfect Active Indicative

-ī  -imus

-istī   -istis

-it   -ērunt/-ēre

*alternate ending -ēre is fairly common, especially in Latin poetry, but it only appears once or twice in the book

Endings - All Conjugations

Pluperfect Active Indicative

-eram  -erāmus

-erās   -erātis

-erat   -erant

Endings - All Conjugations

Future Perfect Active Indicative

-erō -erimus

-eris -eritis

-erit -erint

Endings - First, Second, and Fourth Conjugations

Present Passive Indicative

-or -mur

-ris/re -minī

-tur -ntur

*-re is an alternate second person singular passive ending (not employed in the textbook though)

Endings - Third Conjugation

Present Passive Indicative

-or -imur

-eris -iminī

-itur -untur

Endings - All Conjugations

Imperfect Passive Indicative

-bar -bāmur

-bāris/bāre -bāminī

-bātur -bantur

*-re is an alternate second person singular passive ending (not employed in the textbook though)

Endings - First and Second Conjugations

Future Passive Indicative

-bor -bimur

-beris/bere -biminī

-bitur -buntur

*-re is an alternate second person singular passive ending (not employed in the textbook though)

Endings - Third and Fourth Conjugations

Future Passive Indicative

-ar -ēmur

-ēris -ēminī

-ētur -entur

Ending - First, Second, and Fourth Conjugations

Present Passive Infinitive

-rī

Ending - Third Conjugation (including -iō verbs)

Present Passive Infinitive

-ī

(the whole -ere is changed to -ī)

Endings - First Conjugation

Present Active Subjunctive

-em -ēmus

-ēs -ētis

-et -ent

Endings - Second Conjugation

Present Active Subjunctive

-eām -eāmus

-eās -eātis

-eat -eant

Endings - Third Conjugation

Present Active Subjunctive

-am -āmus

-ās -ātis

-at -ant

Endings - Fourth Conjugation and Third iō Verbs

Present Active Subjunctive

-iam -iāmus

-iās -iātis

-iat -iant

Sum - “to be”

• intransitive linking verb (does not take a D.O.)

  • neither passive nor active in voice

Present Indicative of Sum

sum sumus

es estis

est sunt

Present Infinitive of Sum

esse

Future Indicative of Sum

erō erimus

eris eritis

erit erunt

Imperfect Indicative of Sum

eram   erāmus

erās     erātis

erat   erant

Perfect Active Indicative of Sum

fuī fuimus

fuistī fuistis

fuit   fuērunt

Pluperfect Active Indicative of Sum

fueram fuerāmus

fuerās fuerātis

fuerat fuerant

Future Perfect Active Indicative of Sum

fuerō fuerimus

fueris fueritis

fuerit fuerint

Present Subjunctive of Sum

sim sīmus

sīs sītus

sit sint

Imperfect Subjunctive of Sum

essem essēmus

essēs essētis

esset essent

Possum - “to be able, can could”

• compound of pot- and sum

• before forms of sum beginning with s-, the -t- was altered or assimilated to -s-

• otherwise, the -t- remained unchanged

• the present infinitive is irregular (posse)

• requires a complementary infinitive

Present Indicative of Possum

possum possumus

potes     potestis

potest    possunt

Present Infinitive of Possum

posse

Future Indicative of Possum

poterō poterimus

poteris poteritis

poterit poterunt

Imperfect Indicative of Possum

poteram poterāmus

poterās poterātis

poterat poterant

Perfect Active Indicative of Possum

potuī potuimus

potuistī potuistis

potuit   potuērunt

Imperfect Active Indicative of Possum

potueram potuerāmus

potuerās potuerātis

potuerat potuerant

Future Perfect Active Indicative of Possum

potuerō potuerimus

potueris potueritis

potuerit potuerint

Present Subjunctive of Possum

possim possīmus

possīs possītis

possit possint

Imperfect Subjunctive of Possum

possem possēmus

possēs possētis

posset possent