Lesson 19 · Review
Verbs now arrive in full dictionary form: first the 1st-person singular, then the present infinitive (amō, amāre). The infinitive's vowel is what sorts each verb into a conjugation, so keep it in view.
Every regular Latin verb belongs to one of four families, told apart by a single vowel. Once you know a verb's family and its present stem, you build the present tense by hanging the same personal endings on the end.
Regular verbs fall into four conjugations, set apart by the final vowel of the present stem — the distinguishing vowel, seen most clearly in the present infinitive. Find the present stem by dropping -re from the infinitive.
| Conj. | Infinitive | Stem | Vowel |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | amāre, to love | amā- | ā |
| II | monēre, to advise | monē- | ē |
| III | regere, to rule | regĕ- | ĕ |
| IV | audīre, to hear | audī- | ī |
From this one present stem the present, imperfect, and future tenses are all formed. This lesson takes up the first of them, the present.
amā- → present amō, amās, amat… (the imperfect and future are built on the same stem, later).
Add the active personal endings to the present stem. In the first person amā-ō contracts to amō. The long stem-vowel shortens before final -t and -nt.
amō, amās, amat · amāmus, amātis, amant — I love, you love, he loves; we, you, they love.
The same endings on the -ē- stem. Here the first person does not contract: monē-ō simply shortens to moneō. Nearly every verb whose 1st-person ends in -eō is second conjugation (habeō, videō, moveō).
moneō, monēs, monet · monēmus, monētis, monent — I advise, you advise, he advises; we, you, they advise.
English has three ways to express present action — I live, I am living, I do live. A single Latin present form covers all three.
habitō = “I live,” “I am living,” or “I do live,” depending on the English you need.
A long final stem-vowel is shortened before another vowel (monē-ō → moneō) and before final -t / -nt (amat, amant, monet, monent). And dō, dare is irregular: its stem is short da-, so dat, damus, datis, dant (only dās keeps the long ā).
amat (not amāt) · monent (not monēnt) · dat, damus, datis, dant.
Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
The present infinitive monēre (“to advise”) has the long stem-vowel ē. To which conjugation does moneō belong?
Right. The distinguishing vowel ē marks the second conjugation (Rule 1). First conjugation has ā (amāre); fourth has ī (audīre).
Not quite — look at the vowel right before -re. ā → first, ē → second, ī → fourth.
Question 2
How do you find the present stem of a regular verb?
Right. The present stem is the infinitive minus -re: amāre → amā-, monēre → monē- (Rule 1). The personal endings then attach to that stem.
Not quite — the stem is what remains of the infinitive once you remove its ending -re.
Question 3
In the first conjugation, “they praise” (from laudō, laudāre) is —
Right. Third person plural = stem laudā- + -nt, with the long vowel shortened before -nt → laudant (Rules 3 & N.B.). laudat = he praises; laudāmus = we praise.
Not quite — “they” is third person plural, whose ending is -nt (and the long ā shortens before it).
Question 4
From videō, vidēre (“to see”), “you (one person) see” is —
Right. Second person singular = stem vidē- + -s → vidēs (Rule 4). videt = he sees (note the shortened -et); vidētis = you (several) see.
Not quite — singular “you” takes the ending -s. Which form ends that way?
Question 5
Why is it amat (“he loves”), with a SHORT a, and not amāt?
Right. The long final stem-vowel is shortened before final -t and -nt: amat, amant, monet, monent (Rule 3 N.B.). The vowel is still long elsewhere (amāmus, amātis).
Not quite — think about what happens to the long stem-vowel right before a final -t or -nt.
Question 6
The Latin form habitō can be translated into English as —
Right. One Latin present form covers all three English present expressions (Rule 5). “I lived” would be a past tense, which this form does not express.
Not quite — Latin has a single present form where English offers three ways of saying the same present action.
Answered correctly: 0 / 6