Versatile Verbs
Easy Latin: Part 4
salve!
Welcome to Easy Latin Part 4. We’re going to look at different types of verbs in Latin. Namely the second conjugation of Latin verbs, so get ready!
Previously on bambasbat…
Last time we had a look at three different forms verbs can take.
First person singular: Verbs ending in -o, indicating “I” am doing the action.
ambulo – “I walk”
Second person singular: Verbs ending in -s, indicating “you” are performing the action.
ambulas – “you walk”
Third person singular: Verbs ending in -t, indicating “he/she” is performing the action. This one often requires a noun to explain the subject.
nauta ambulat – “the sailor walks”
Introducing the Infinitive Form
All the verbs we've discussed so far, such as ambulat (he walks), numerat (he counts), laborat (he works), and salutat (he greets), have a common characteristic. They all end in -are in their infinitive form. For example:
numerare (to count)
laborare (to work)
ambulare (to walk)
salutare (to greet)
The letter -a- before the ending is consistent among these verbs, which helps in identifying their infinitive forms and understanding their conjugation patterns.
Modern linguists call this the first conjugation of Latin verbs. These are all the verbs that end -are and have -a- in the stem before the person endings (labora-).
Setting Up the Second Conjugation
Now let’s look at some new sentences.
miles sedet - “the soldier sits”
nauta videt - “the sailor sees”
rex timet - “the king fears”
These new verbs (sedet, videt, timet) differ from what we previously learned as they contain -e- before the person ending instead of -a-. This indicates a different type of verb group.
Differentiating Verb Groups
In the third person:
sedet – “he sits”
videt – “he sees”
timet – “he fears”
In the first person singular, these verbs take the forms:
sedeo (I sit)
video (I see)
timeo (I fear)
Notice that in these verbs, the -e- is retained before the endings. The Romans preferred the sound of this, making it a distinct group from the -a- group verbs like numero and ambulo.
Don’t worry: the second conjugation still uses the -o, -s, -t person endings for the first, second and third person singular. They just come from the -ere verbs.
Practise
Translate this into English:
tu sedes
… [thinking space - read on when ready] …
This means “you sit”.
Remember that the tu isn’t necessary, sedes by itself means “you sit”. The tu is just more emphatic.
Now translate this into Latin:
You fear.
… [thinking space - read on when ready] …
times (or tu times).
How do you find the second conjugation? Let me know in the comments!
Further practise
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vale!
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