Latin Notes

Present Active Stem

  • 1st person singular: -m (I)

  • 1st person plural: -mus (we)

  • 2nd person singular: -s (you)

  • 2nd person plural: -tis (y'all)

  • 3rd person singular: -t (he/she/it)

  • 3rd person plural: -nt (they)

Imperfect Tense

  • The imperfect tense in Latin is formed by adding the infix "-ba-" between the present stem and personal endings.

  • Examples:

    • Paeri canem capiebant (The boys were capturing the dog).

    • Magnus servus Faustum clamaba (The large slave was shouting at Faustus).

    • Vos pro templo manebatis (You all were remaining in front of the temple).

  • More examples:

    • Singular:

      • 1st person: parabam (I was preparing)

      • 2nd person: parabas (You were preparing)

      • 3rd person: parabat (He/She/It was preparing)

    • Plural:

      • 1st person: parabamus (We were preparing)

      • 2nd person: parabatis (You all were preparing)

      • 3rd person: parabant (They were preparing)

  • Note: 3rd conjugation uses an "i" and an "a" as stem vowels in the present tense, but in the imperfect tense, it uses the "e" that would be expected.

Imperfect Tense - Linking Verb

  • 1st person singular: eram (I was / I used to be)

  • 2nd person singular: eras (You were / You used to be)

  • 3rd person singular: erat (He/She/It was / He/She/It used to be)

  • 1st person plural: eramus (We were / We used to be)

  • 2nd person plural: eratis (You all were / You all used to be)

  • 3rd person plural: erant (They were / They used to be)

Present System

  • The tenses in this system are incomplete/unfinished.

  • Verbs: Present, Imperfect, Future

    • Singular:

      • 1st person: -bam, -bo

      • 2nd person: -bas, -bis

      • 3rd person: -bat, -bit

    • Plural:

      • 1st person: -bamus, -bimus

      • 2nd person: -batis, -bitis

      • 3rd person: -bant, -bunt

Principal Parts for the Present System

  • augeo, augere, auxi. Present stem: auge-

Perfect System

  • The tenses in this system are perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect.

  • All these tenses are completed.

  • All of these tenses use a stem from the third principal part to show completed action.

  • Example: augeo, augere, auxi.

  • Principal part for the Perfect System: Perfect Stem