Lesson 27 · Review
Ten new words drawn from the tale of Perseus and Andromeda — a god, a savage monster, and an oracle to plead before.
Every verb so far has been active: the subject does the acting. In the passive voice the arrow turns around — the subject stops acting and starts receiving the action.
A verb is active when its subject performs the action, and passive when its subject is acted upon. English signals this with helping words ("is," "was being," "shall be"); Latin does it with the ending alone. amat = he loves; amātur = he is loved.
active: the lion → killed → the hunter · passive: the lion ← was killed ← by the hunter
The passive uses its own set of personal endings. Notice the letter -r hiding in nearly every one — it is the tell-tale passive sign.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | -r — I | -mur — we |
| 2nd | -ris, -re — you | -minī — you |
| 3rd | -tur — he, she, it | -ntur — they |
An -r appears somewhere in every passive ending but the second plural -minī. When you spot that -r where an active -t, -s, or -nt would stand, the subject is receiving, not doing.
active amat (he loves) → passive amātur (he is loved)
The passive is built on the same present stems (amā-, monē-) and the same tense signs (imperfect -bā-, future -bi-) as the active. Only the personal endings change — here is amō across all three tenses, with the passive endings marked.
| Person | Present | Imperfect | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg. | amor | amābar | amābor |
| 2 sg. | amāris | amābāris | amāberis |
| 3 sg. | amātur | amābātur | amābitur |
| 1 pl. | amāmur | amābāmur | amābimur |
| 2 pl. | amāminī | amābāminī | amābiminī |
| 3 pl. | amantur | amābantur | amābuntur |
In the present tense the first person singular takes -or, not a bare -r: amor, "I am loved"; moneor, "I am advised." Everywhere else the six endings of Rule 1 attach cleanly.
amor, monēmur, amāminī, amantur
As in the active, the future tense sign -bi- changes shape: it becomes -bo- in the first singular (amābor), -be- in the second singular (amāberis), and -bu- in the third plural (amābuntur). Guard against confusing the future amābor ("I shall be loved") with the imperfect amābar ("I was being loved").
amābor · amāberis · amābuntur
The second conjugation follows the identical pattern on the stem monē-: moneor (I am advised), monēbar (I was being advised), monēbor (I shall be advised). And note: intransitive verbs like mātūrō (I hasten) have no personal passive at all.
moneor · monēbar · monēbor
Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
In amātur ("he is loved"), what does the passive voice tell us about the subject?
Right. The passive voice makes the subject the receiver of the action, not its doer. amat = "he loves" (active); amātur = "he is loved" (passive). A command would be the imperative amā!
Not quite — in the passive voice the subject is acted upon. Compare active amat ("he loves") with passive amātur ("he is loved").
Question 2
One letter runs through nearly every passive personal ending, so grammarians call it the "passive sign." Which letter is it?
Right. The endings -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur all carry an -r except the second plural -minī. That -r is the tell-tale passive sign — where the active had -t (amat), the passive shows -tur (amātur).
Not quite — look at the endings -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -ntur. The one letter shared by almost all of them is the passive sign.
Question 3
Which form of amō means "they are loved"?
Right. Third plural present passive: the passive ending -ntur gives amantur, "they are loved." amant is active ("they love"), and amābantur is imperfect passive ("they were being loved").
Not quite — you need the present passive with the ending -ntur. amant is active and amābantur is imperfect (past).
Question 4
Which form means "we are advised" (from moneō, "advise")?
Right. First plural present passive uses -mur: monēmur, "we are advised." monēmus is the active ("we advise"), and monēbāmur is imperfect passive ("we were being advised").
Not quite — the present passive "we" ending is -mur. monēmus is active, and monēbāmur carries the imperfect sign -bā-.
Question 5
Translate amābātur.
Right. The imperfect sign -bā- plus the passive ending -tur gives amābātur, "he was being loved." Present would be amātur ("he is loved") and future amābitur ("he will be loved").
Not quite — spot the imperfect tense sign -bā-. With the passive -tur, amābātur means "he was being loved."
Question 6
The future passive of amō in the first person singular means "I shall be loved." Which form is it?
Right. In the future, the tense sign -bi- becomes -bo- in the first singular: amābor, "I shall be loved." Beware amābar — that is imperfect ("I was being loved") — and amābitur is third singular ("he will be loved").
Not quite — the future first singular shifts -bi- to -bo-, giving amābor. amābar is the imperfect, and amābitur is "he will be loved."
Answered correctly: 0 / 6