Varying Verbs: Plurals
Easy Latin: Part 9
salve!
Today I am taking our knowledge of verbs further, from singulars (as discussed here) to plural.
In the last Easy Latin post, we explored plural nouns like puellae (the girls), servi (the slaves), and verba (the words). Today, we’re looking into how Latin verbs must agree with nominative nouns, a crucial aspect of Latin sentences.
Recap of Plural Nouns
Last time we looked at plural nominatives, like puellae, servi, verba.
puellae is a first declension nominative plural, and -ae is the ending for all first declension nominative plural nouns.
servi is the second declension masculine plural nominative, so -i is the nominative ending for all second masculine plural nouns.
verba is the second declension neuter plural nominative. -a being the ending you’re looking for.
We also looked at words like this: puellas, servos, verba, which are all accusative plurals.
puellas is the accusative plural of the first declension. -as is the ending
servos is the accusative plural of the second detention masculine. -os ending
verba is the accusative plural of the second detention neuter. - a ending.
NB: Remember, Remember Every Day, Neuter Plurals End With -A
Sentences
Look at these sentences, and find the pattern with the verbs.
puellae feminas salutant: the girls greet the women
servi amicos vidunt: the slaves see the friends
templa dona habent: the temples hold the gifts
Now the verb in Latin always has to match the nominative noun. So, in the sentences above, my nominative plurals are puellae, servi and templa. That means each sentence also needs a third person plural verb.
If my nominative is plural, my verb has to be plural as well. That's what the verb endings tell me. -nt is the third person plural ending.
salutant
vidunt
habent
Verb Review
In previous Easy Latin posts, we've met verbs looking like this:
porto - I carry (first person singular)
portas - you carry (second person singular)
portat - he/she/it carries (third person singular)
But now we're looking at the third person plural, so the person ending changes again.
portant - they carry
sedent - they sit
vocant - they call.
The person endings attach to the present stem of each verb, which depends on their infinitive. portare, sedere and vocare. The infinitive tells me what the thematic vowel is for that verb. So for portare and vocare it's an A, for a sedere it's an E.
Verb-Noun Agreement
Like I said, verbs have to match the nominatives.
If I have a singular nominative, I have to have a singular verb. So for example:
puella in horto sedet: “the girl sits in the garden”
puella is a singular normative, so sedet has to be third person singular.
If I have a plural normative, then I must have a plural verb:
puellae in horto sedent: “the girls sit in the garden”
The verb has to change to match my plural nominative. Instead of “she sits”, it's now “they sit”. Because I have a nominative (puellae), I can add in “girls” instead of the pronoun “they”. I don’t need both.
Sentences
Here are some examples in Latin. I have put some vocabulary underneath in the green box. The words are split into nouns at the top and verbs at the bottom. Give translating them a try, and scroll down when you are ready to read the answers & walkthrough.
amici servum salutant.
femina puellas videt.
templa in foro stant.
puellae dominos vocant.
Answers below!
amici servum salutant
amici is a plural nominative. It comes from amicus, “friend”. It's a second declension masculine, and it means “the friends”.
I've got a plural nominative, so I'm expecting a plural verb. Do I have one? Yes, I do - salutant. It ends with -nt, which means it is a “they” verb, a third person plural.
So amici salutant, “the friends greet”. Who are they greeting? servum, “the slave” is the accusative of the sentence.
The friends greet the slave.
femina puellas videt
femina means “the woman”, and it looks to me like a singular nominative. Let's double check. If we look for the verb, it should tell us.
videt is a third person singular verb. So yes, femina means “the woman”, and videt means “sees”. Who does she see? puellas comes from puella, and it's an accusative plural.
The woman sees the girls.
templa in foro stant.
templa could be nominative plural or accusative plural of “temple”, because this one is a second declension neuter noun. And, “remember, remember, every day, neuter plurals end in -a”. So templa could be nominative or it could be accusative. Let's go and find a verb and see if we can make it make sense.
stant at the end of the sentence comes from sto which means “stand”. In this case it ends with -NT, so I'm imagining the subject is a plural noun. If I think back to templa that's a plural subject. “The temples stand”. That does make sense, so I'm going to use that.
in foro, “in the forum”, or the marketplace.
The temples stand in the forum.
puellae dominos salutant
puellae is a nominative plural. It's first declension and it means “the girls”.
Do I have a verb to match? vocant means “they call”, so it does match the nominative plural. “The girls call”.
Who do they call? Dominos is accusative plural: “the masters”.
The girls call the masters.
How did you find those? Let me know in the comments!
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vale!