Lesson 29 · Review
Nine words for the oracle's warning: a danger in this place, a care that must be borne — yet the town will be conquered, nevertheless.
One verb class is left to make passive: the -iō verbs like capiō. They hold no surprises — the passive of capiō follows audiō in the present's endpoints and regō in the middle.
| Person | Present | Imperfect | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 sg. | capior | capiēbar | capiar |
| 2 sg. | caperis | capiēbāris | capiēris |
| 3 sg. | capitur | capiēbātur | capiētur |
| 1 pl. | capimur | capiēbāmur | capiēmur |
| 2 pl. | capiminī | capiēbāminī | capiēminī |
| 3 pl. | capiuntur | capiēbantur | capientur |
At the two ends of the present — the first singular and the third plural — the -iō verb keeps its -i- exactly as audiō does: capior (I am taken), capiuntur (they are taken). Everything between behaves like regor.
capior · caperis · capitur · capimur · capiminī · capiuntur
Just as the third conjugation wrote regeris, not regiris, the -iō present second singular is caperis (or capere) — never capiris. The imperfect and future are ordinary, with the familiar -bā- and no -bi-.
caperis ✓ · capiris ✗
The infinitive names the verb with no person or number — amāre, "to love." The active adds -re to the present stem; the passive is built straight from that active form.
| Conj. | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| I | amāre — to love | amārī — to be loved |
| II | monēre — to advise | monērī — to be advised |
| III | regere — to rule | regī — to be ruled |
| III (-iō) | capere — to take | capī — to be taken |
| IV | audīre — to hear | audīrī — to be heard |
Add -re to the present stem for every conjugation: amā-re, monē-re, rege-re, audī-re. The one irregular is sum, whose infinitive is esse — and sum has no passive at all.
amāre · monēre · regere · capere · audīre · sum → esse
To make the passive infinitive, change the active's final -e to -ī: amāre → amārī, monēre → monērī, audīre → audīrī. The third conjugation has no long vowel to lean on, so the whole -ere collapses to -ī: regere → regī, capere → capī.
amārī · monērī · audīrī · regī · capī
The imperative gives a command. The active you have met; here is the passive beside it — and a warning about one form that wears three hats.
| Conj. | Act. sing. | Act. plur. | Pass. sing. | Pass. plur. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | amā | amāte | amāre | amāminī |
| II | monē | monēte | monēre | monēminī |
| III | rege | regite | regere | regiminī |
| III (-iō) | cape | capite | capere | capiminī |
| IV | audī | audīte | audīre | audīminī |
The passive singular ("be thou loved") is amāre, monēre, regere, capere, audīre; the plural ("be ye loved") is amāminī, monēminī, regiminī, capiminī, audīminī — the same -minī you saw in the indicative and no other passive ending.
regere (be thou ruled) · regiminī (be ye ruled)
A form like amāre can be the active infinitive ("to love"), the passive imperative singular ("be thou loved"), or — in a longer sentence — even an indicative. The ending alone cannot decide; only the sentence around it can. Mind the plural, though: the passive imperative plural amāminī is unmistakable.
amāre = to love · be thou loved · …
Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
In capior, what is the subject doing?
Right. capior is the present passive first singular, "I am taken": the -or ending marks the passive, just as in regor and audior. The active "I take" is capiō.
Not quite — the -or ending is passive. Compare active capiō ("I take") with passive capior ("I am taken").
Question 2
Which is the present passive infinitive of regō ("to be ruled")?
Right. The third conjugation has no long stem-vowel, so the whole -ere collapses to -ī: regere → regī. regere is the active infinitive, and regerī is the wrong form you get by naively swapping only the final -e.
Not quite — for the third conjugation the entire -ere becomes -ī, not just the final vowel.
Question 3
What is the present passive infinitive of amō ("to be loved")?
Right. For the first, second, and fourth conjugations you just change the active's final -e to -ī: amāre → amārī. amāre is the active infinitive, and amērī alters a vowel that should stay -ā-.
Not quite — keep the long -ā- of amāre and change only the final -e to -ī.
Question 4
In a sentence with no other clues, the form capere could be…
Right. The present passive imperative singular is spelled exactly like the present active infinitive — capere is both "to take" and "be thou taken." Only the surrounding sentence tells them apart. (The passive infinitive would be capī.)
Not quite — recall the lesson's warning: the passive imperative singular and the active infinitive share the same -re form.
Question 5
From audiō ("hear"), which form is the passive imperative plural, "be ye heard"?
Right. The passive imperative plural takes -minī: audīminī, "be ye heard." audīte is the active plural command ("hear ye!"), and audīrī is the passive infinitive ("to be heard").
Not quite — the passive plural imperative ends in -minī. audīte is active and audīrī is an infinitive.
Question 6
What is the present infinitive of sum?
Right. sum is irregular: its present infinitive is esse ("to be"), and because it has no passive voice, there is no passive infinitive to form.
Not quite — sum does not add -re to a stem. Its infinitive is the irregular esse, with no passive.
Answered correctly: 0 / 6