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A natural history of Latin

the word list, as they have no sets of forms for the active. Verbs of this type are called ‘deponent’. One that has an English correspondent is nascor ‘I am born’ which is paralleled in Latin but not in English by the similarly deponent morior ‘I die’.

For each verb, then, there are altogether 120 different forms which indicate person and tense differences. In addition, there are quite a few other forms, such as the infinitive monstráre ‘to show’, participles like monstrans ‘showing’ and monstrátus ‘shown’, the imperative monstra ‘show!’, and a few others. The participles have many forms since they decline like adjectives, as we have already seen. If you take all these forms into account, the conclusion is that a Latin verb can occur in some 300 different forms. Put like that, it sounds an awful lot. But you have to remember that almost every form has a direct equivalent in English. The difference is that we use many separate words, as in ‘you might have shown’ where Latin has only one: monstravisses, which of course consists of parts with different meanings. It is not really that difficult to have to learn that an ending -s means ‘you (singular)’ or that -isse- before the ending means ‘should/might’ when used in combination with -v- which expresses the perfect.

It is unfortunate that not all Latin verbs are inflected or, as grammarians say, conjugated in quite the same way. Most of them belong to one of four (or five) main types, which are called conjugations. Table 12 shows the patterns for each conjugation. With the aid of this table you can identify almost all forms of almost all verbs, but you do need to know how to go from the word list to the table. In the word list there are mostly four forms for each verb, for example: monstro, monstrávi, monstrátus, monstráre. The first form is the first person singular present indicative ‘I show’; the second is the first person singular perfect indicative ‘I have shown/I showed’; the third is the perfect participle in the nominative singular masculine ‘shown’ (if there is no masculine form the neuter is given); and the fourth is the present infinitive ‘to show’.

These four forms have been chosen because together they show you how the stem of the verb—to which the endings are attached—appears

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About the Grammar

in the different sets of forms. The second form shows what the stem looks like for all the members of the perfect, the pluperfect, and the future perfect series and some other forms given in Table 13. You just remove the ending -i and you have what is called the perfect stem, which in this case is monstrav-. To that you add the endings according to the table, so, for example, you can arrive at forms like monstráverat ‘he had shown’. Other verbs can have perfect stems which look completely different. For instance, the second form of the verb video is vidi, as you can discover from the word list, and its perfect stem is vid-. The second form of the verb sum ‘be’ is fui and hence has a perfect stem fu-. On these stems you can build forms like viderat ‘he had seen’ and fuerat ‘he had been’.

The third form of a verb in the word list is the perfect participle, which has the ending -us. The material before the ending constitutes the participle stem, to which you add the endings for the adjectives as in Table 3 (above). For the verb monstro we have, for example, monstratus ‘shown (masculine singular nominative)’, monstrati ‘shown (masculine plural nominative)’, etc. and for the verb video ‘see’ we have visus ‘seen (masculine singular nominative)’, visi ‘seen (masculine plural nominative)’, etc. The perfect participle has many uses in Latin, one being to help make the passive forms for the perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect. If for instance you want to say ‘he had been shown’, there is actually no simple verb for that in Latin, and you would have to use instead the expression monstratus erat, which may of course also mean ‘he was shown’.

The forms that we have mentioned so far have exactly the same endings for all verbs, so that, as long as you know the stem, you will know what all the forms will look like. The remaining forms are the present, the imperfect, and the future, both active and passive. The forms are shown in Tables 12a, and 12b, which each have five columns, one for each of the five conjugations. To know which conjugation a verb belongs to, you have to look at the infinitive, which is the last form given in the word list, and compare it with the forms in the row ‘Infinitive’ at the beginning of Table 12a or 12b. The first conjugation has an infinitive in -áre, the second in -ére, the third in unstressed -ere,

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Table 12a. Verb formation, present stem forms: active

Tense, mood	Form meaning		Conjugations
		1		2	3a	3b	4
		‘show’		‘see’	‘rule’	‘take’	‘hear’
Infinitive	‘to show’ etc.		monstráre	vidére	régere	cápere	audíre
Present	‘showing’ etc.		mónstrans,	vídens,	régens,	cápiens,	aúdiens,
participle			gen.	gen.	gen.	gen.	gen.
(see Table 5)		monstrántis		vidéntis	regéntis	capiéntis	audiéntis
Imperative	‘show!’ etc.		mónstra	víde	rége	cápe	aúdi
singular
Imperative	‘show!’ etc.		monstráte	vidéte	régite	cápite	audíte
plural
Present	‘I show’ etc.		mónstro	vídeo	régo	cápio	aúdio
indicative	‘you show’ etc.		mónstras	vídes	régis	cápis	aúdis
	‘he/she/it		mónstrat	vídet	régit	cápit	aúdit
	shows’ etc.
	‘we show’ etc.		monstrámus	vidémus	régimus	cápimus	audímus
	‘you show’ etc.		monstrátis	vidétis	régitis	cápitis	audítis
	‘they show’ etc.		mónstrant	vídent	régunt	cápiunt	aúdiunt
Imperfect	‘I showed’ etc.		monstrábam	vidébam	regébam	capiébam	audiébam
indicative	‘you’		monstrábas	vidébas	regébas	capiébas	audiébas

	‘he/she/it’	monstrábat	vidébat	regébat	capiébat	audiébat
	‘we’	monstrabámus	videbámus	regebámus	capiebámus	audiebámus
	‘you’	monstrabátis	videbátis	regebátis	capiebátis	audiebátis
	‘they’	monstrábant	vidébant	regébant	capiébant	audiébant
Future	‘I will show’ etc.	monstrábo	vidébo	régam	cápiam	aúdiam
	‘you’	monstrábis	vidébis	réges	cápies	aúdies
	‘he/she/it’	monstrábit	vidébit	réget	cápiet	aúdiet
	‘we’	monstrábimus	vidébimus	regémus	capiémus	audiémus
	‘you’	monstrábitis	vidébitis	regétis	capiétis	audiétis
	‘they’	monstrábunt	vidébunt	régent	cápient	aúdient
Present	‘I show/may	mónstrem	vídeam	régam	cápiam	aúdiam
subjunctive	show’ etc.
	‘you’	mónstres	vídeas	régas	cápias	aúdias
	‘he/she/it’	mónstret	vídeat	régat	cápiat	aúdiat
	‘we’	monstrémus	videámus	regámus	capiámus	audiámus
	‘you’	monstrétis	videátis	regátis	capiátis	audiátis
	‘they’	mónstrent	vídeant	régant	cápiant	aúdiant
Imperfect	‘I showed/	monstrárem	vidérem	régerem	cáperem	audírem
subjunctive	might show’ etc.
	‘you’	monstráres	vidéres	régeres	cáperes	audíres
	‘he/she/it’	monstráret	vidéret	régeret	cáperet	audíret
	‘we’	monstrarémus	viderémus	regerémus	caperémus	audirémus
	‘you’	monstrarétis	viderétis	regerétis	caperétis	audirétis
	‘they’	monstrárent	vidérent	régerent	cáperent	audírent

Table 12b. Verb formation, present stem forms: passive

Tense , mood	Meaning		Conjugations
		1		2	3a	3b	4
		‘be shown’		‘be seen,	‘be ruled’	‘be taken’	‘be heard’
				seem’
Infinitive	‘to be shown’ etc.		monstrári	vidéri	régi	cápi	audíri
Gerundive	‘which should		monstrándus	vidéndus	regéndus	capiéndus	audiéndus
(forms as in	be shown/to
Table 3)	show’ etc.
Present	‘I am shown’ etc.		mónstror	vídeor	régor	cápior	aúdior
indicative	‘you’		monstráris	vidéris	régeris	cáperis	audíris
	‘he/she/it’		monstrátur	vidétur	régitur	cápitur	audítur
	‘we’		monstrámur	vidémur	régimur	cápimur	audímur
	‘you’		monstrámini	vidémini	regímini	capímini	audímini
	‘they’		monstrántur	vidéntur	regúntur	capiúntur	audiúntur
Imperfect	‘I was shown’ etc.		monstrábar	vidébar	regébar	capiébar	audiébar
indicative	‘you’		monstrabáris	videbáris	regebáris	capiebáris	audiebáris
	‘he/she/it’		monstrabátur	videbátur	regebátur	capiebátur	audiebátur
	‘we’	monstrabámur		videbámur	regebámur	capiebámur	audiebámur
	‘you’	monstrabámini		videbámini	regebámini	capiebámini	audiebámini
	‘they’	monstrabántur		videbántur	regebántur	capiebántur	audiebántur

Future	‘I will be	monstrábor	vidébor	régar	cápiar	aúdiar
	shown’ etc.
	‘you’	monstráberis	vidéberis	regéris	capiéris	audiéris
	‘he/she/it’	monstrábitur	vidébitur	regétur	capiétur	audiétur
	‘we’	monstrábimur	vidébimur	regémur	capiémur	audiémur
	‘you’	monstrabímini	videbímini	regémini	capiémini	audiémini
	‘they’	monstrabúntur	videbúntur	regéntur	capiéntur	audiéntur
Present	‘I am shown/	mónstrer	vídear	régar	cápiar	aúdiar
subjunctive	may be
	shown’ etc.
	‘you’	monstréris	videáris	regáris	capiáris	audiáris
	‘he/she/it’	monstrétur	videátur	regátur	capiátur	audiátur
	‘we’	monstrémur	videámur	regámur	capiámur	audiámur
	‘you’	monstrémini	videámini	regámini	capiámini	audiámini
	‘they’	monstréntur	videántur	regántur	capiántur	audiántur
Imperfect	‘I was shown/	monstrárer	vidérer	régerer	cáperer	audírer
subjunctive	might be
	shown’ etc.
	‘you’	monstraréris	videréris	regeréris	caperéris	audiréris
	‘he/she/it’	monstrarétur	viderétur	regerétur	caperétur	audirétur
	‘we’	monstrarémur	viderémur	regerémur	caperémur	audirémur
	‘you’	monstrarémini	viderémini	regerémini	caperémini	audirémini
	‘they’	monstraréntur	videréntur	regeréntur	caperéntur	audiréntur

A natural history of Latin

Table 13. Verb formation, perfect stem forms

Tense and mood	Meaning	Form
Infinitive	to have shown	monstravísse
Perfect indicative	‘I have shown/showed’	monstrávi
	‘you have shown/showed’	monstravísti
	‘he/she has shown/showed’	monstrávit
	‘we have shown/showed’	monstrávimus
	‘you have shown/showed’	monstravístis
	‘they have shown/showed’	monstravérunt
Pluperfect	‘I had shown’	monstráveram
indicative	‘you had shown’	monstráveras
	‘he/she had shown’	monstráverat
	‘we had shown’	monstraverámus
	‘you had shown’	monstraverátis
	‘they had shown’	monstráverant
Future perfect	‘I will have shown’	monstrávero
	‘you will have shown’	monstráveris
	‘he/she will have shown’	monstráverit
	‘we will have shown’	monstravérimus
	‘you will have shown’	monstravéritis
	‘they will have shown’	monstráverint
Perfect subjunctive	‘I have shown/show’	monstraverim
	‘you have shown/show’	monstráveris
	‘he/she has shown/shows’	monstráverit
	‘we have shown/show’	monstravérimus
	‘you have shown/show’	monstravéritis
	‘they have shown/show’	monstráverint
Pluperfect	‘I might have shown’	monstravíssem
subjunctive	‘you might have shown’	monstravísses
	‘he/she might have shown’	monstravísset
	‘we might have shown’	monstravissémus
	‘you might have shown’	monstravissétis
	‘they might have shown’	monstravíssent

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and the fourth in –íre. In the third conjugation there are two sub-groups, 3a and 3b.To decide which group a verb belongs to, look at the first form given in the word list. If that ends in -io, like facio ‘do’, the verb belongs in 3b; if it ends in -o, like mitto ‘send’, it belongs in 3a.

When you have established which conjugation a verb belongs to, you know which column in Table 12a or 12b you need to look in to find the forms of the verb. Each form consists of a stem plus a suffix which indicates tense and mood (for example the imperfect subjunctive) plus a person ending. In monstra-bi-t ‘he/she will show’, -t indicates third person singular, -bi- the future indicative active, and monstra- is the stem meaning to show. The stem is in principle what comes before -re in the infinitive, but there are quite a number of complications, especially in the third conjugation. To be certain about a given form you have to either look it up in the table or learn the table by heart.

The present participle,for example mónstrans ‘showing’,contains the present stem, and the inflection for this class is given in Table 5 (above) in the section on adjectives (since the participle is a verbal adjective). The genitive of this word is monstrántis, and from that it is clear that the stem to which the adjectival endings are attached is monstrant-. That stem in turn consists of the present stem plus -nt-, although there are some discrepancies in some of the conjugations.

The stem ends in a long -a- in the first conjugation, a long -e- in the second, and a long -i- in the fourth. The third conjugation contains both words with a stem ending in a short -i- and words with a stem ending in a consonant, and the forms of the sub-types have influenced each other in various ways that need not concern us here.

Finally, there are also verb forms called gerundives. These have a stem which is similar to that of the present participle, but with the addition of -nd- instead of -nt-. To the -nd- stem are attached the adjectival endings from Table 3 (above), for instance monstrándus. This form means, among other things, ‘which should be shown’. We discuss it in more detail in the following section.

A few Latin verbs have irregular forms, the most important being the verb esse ‘be’, which is conjugated in the present as shown

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Table 14. The verb sum in the present stem forms

Tense and mood	Meaning	Form
Infinitive	‘to be’	esse
Present indicative	‘I am’	sum
	‘you are’	es
	‘he/she/it is’	est
	‘we are’	súmus
	‘you are’	éstis
	‘they are’	sunt
Imperfect indicative	‘I was’	éram
	‘you were’	éras
	‘he/she/it was’	érat
	‘we were’	erámus
	‘you were’	erátis
	‘they were’	érant
Future	‘I will be’	éro
	‘you will be’	éris
	‘he/she/it will be’	érit
	‘we will be’	érimus
	‘you will be’	éritis
	‘they will be’	érunt
Present subjunctive	‘I am/may be’	sim
	‘you are/may be’	sis
	‘he/she/it is/may be’	sit
	‘we are/may be’	símus
	‘you are/may be’	sítis
	‘they are/may be’	sint
Imperfect	‘I were/might be’	éssem
subjunctive	‘you were/might be’	ésses
	‘he/she/it were/might be’	ésset
	‘we were/might be’	essémus
	‘you were/might be’	essétis
	‘they were/might be’	éssent

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in Table 14. Forms of esse are often used in combination with a perfect partciple as in Gallia divisa est ‘Gaul is divided’. The combination esse perfect participle is also used to express the passive correspondents of the perfect active stem (see above, p. 201).

Amandi and Amanda

These are verb forms that contain -nd- followed by an ending, as in the title Ars amandi ‘the art of loving’ and Cato’s famous words

Praetérea cénseo Cartháginem esse deléndam ‘Moreover I am of the opinion that Carthage should be destroyed’. These forms have confusingly similar names; the first is called the gerund and is quite close in function to the English -ing form in expressions like the art of loving (not to be confused with the participial -ing as in a loving child), while the second is called the gerundive and has no real equivalent in English.

In many respects the gerund is very like an infinitive, and indeed the two forms in English can sometimes be substituted for each other. Compare Winning the battle will be hard and the virtually synonymous To win the battle will be hard. In Latin, by contrast, the two forms are complementary in their occurrence.When the action of the verb is subject we find the infinitive as in errare humanum est ‘to err is human’. Unlike the infinitive, the gerund has a case ending, which means that it can occur in contexts where a noun would normally be required and where the infinitive would not be allowed. In the form amandi this is the final -i, which indicates the genitive, and hence ars amandi means ‘the art of loving’ just as ars amatoris means ‘the art of the lover’, with the genitive of the noun amator ‘lover’.

Another example is docendo discimus ‘we learn by teaching’. The form docendo is ablative and expresses the means by which something is achieved, just as the ablative does in a sentence like gladio interfectus est ‘he was killed by a sword’, where gladio ‘sword (ablative)’ is the instrument of murder.

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