Latin II Tutorial: Grammar & Vocabulary

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16. Present Tense of Regular Verbs

First Conjugation
The four principal parts of almost all first conjugation verbs can be obtained from the stem of first person present indicative form by adding the endings -o, -are, -avi, and -atus. Rather than write out all four principal parts, I mark the regular verbs as (1).

When conjugating in the present tense, active voice, indicative mood (i.e. “I go”, “I am saying”, “I walk”, etc.), we are interested in the first two principle parts. Remember that the first part is the “I” form and the second is the infinitive.

So for the verb ambulo, -are, -avi, -atus, walk, “ambulo” means “I walk” and “ambulare” means “to walk.”

To conjugate verbs of the first conjugation, we take the infinitive, cut off the -are and add the following endings:

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-o	-amus
2nd Person	-as	-atis
3rd Person	-at	-ant

This means that for ambulo, the conjugation would be:

	Singular		Plural
1st Person	ambulo	I walk, am walking, do walk	ambulamus	we walk, are walking, do walk
2nd Person	ambulas	you walk, are walking, do walk	ambulatis	you walk, are walking, do walk
3rd Person	ambulat	he/she/it walks, is walking, does walk	ambulant	they walk, are walking, do walk

Note that, in English, there are three different translations for each Latin word.

Second Conjugation

The second conjugation has -eo in the first principle part and -ēre in the second. Conjugating them in the present is an identical process to the first conjugation except that the thematic vowel is -e- rather than -a-:

teneo, tenēre, tenui, tenitus, to hold, to have

	Singular		Plural
1st Person	teneo	I hold, am holding, do hold	tenemus	we hold, are holding, do hold
2nd Person	tenes	you hold, are holding, do hold	tenetis	you hold, are holding, do hold
3rd Person	tenet	he/she/it walks, is walking, does walk	tenent	they hold, are holding, do hold

Third Conjugation

The third conjugation is the most unpredictable group. They all end in -ere (note that this is a short -e- rather than the second conjugation's long -ē-) in the second principle part. This conjugation is also split into two groups—regular 3rd conjugation verbs and i-stem verbs that end in -io in the first principle part and acts similar to a fourth conjugation verb.

Conjugating them is a little different as well. Unlike the first and second conjugations, the stem vowel changes. So after you cut off the -ere, you add these endings:

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-o, -io*	-imus
2nd Person	-is	-itis
3rd Person	-it	-unt, -iunt*

*-io verbs

	3rd Conjugation		3rd Conjugation -io
	dico, dicere, dixi, dictus to say		capio, capere, cepi, captus to take, capture
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
1st Person	dico	dicimus	capio	capimus
2nd Person	dicis	dicitis	capis	capitis
3rd Person	dicit	dicunt	capit	capiunt

Fourth Conjugation

The thematic vowel for 4th conjugation verbs is -i- so the second principle part ends in -ire. The four principle parts are usually a regular -io, -ire, -ivi, -itus. When regular, the dictionary entry will often be abbreviated with a (4) after the first principle part. Other than this, the conjugation is the same as 3rd conjugation -io verbs:

audio, -ire, -ivi, -itus to hear

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	audio	audimus
2nd Person	audis	auditis
3rd Person	audit	audiunt

17. Common Verbs

First Conjugation
addigito (1)	to point [something] out	loco (1)	to place, put
aequo (1)	to make level, match	monstro (1)	to show, demonstrate
ambulo (1)	to walk, travel	muto (1)	to change, exchange
amo (1)	to love, like	neco (1)	to kill
celo (1)	to hide [something]	nego (1)	to deny, refuse
clamo (1)	to shout	nuntio (1)	to announce
claro (1)	to clarify, explain	opto (1)	to choose, desire, wish for
crucio (1)	to torture	oro (1)	to beg (for)
cogito (1)	to think, ponder, consider	paro (1)	to prepare, provide
corono (1)	to crown	porto (1)	to carry
damno (1)	to condemn, sentence	pugno (1)	to fight
dono (1)	to give, present, reward	sono, -are, -ui, -itus	to sound (transitive)
dubito (1)	to doubt, hesitate	specto (1)	to look at
flo (1)	to blow	spiro (1)	to breathe
habito (1)	to live, dwell	sto, stare, steti, staturus	to stand
juvo, juvare, juvi, jutus	to help, assist, aid	vasto (1)	to lay waste to, destroy
laboro (1)	to work (at), produce	voco (1)	to call

Second Conjugation
appareo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to appear	pareo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to obey
ardeo, -ēre, arsi, arsus	to burn	pateo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to spread, extend
careo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to lack, be without (+ gen. or abl.)	placeo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to please (+ dat.)
censeo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to expect, asses, tax	pleo, -ēre, -evi, -itus	to fill
deleo, -ēre, -evi, -itus	to destroy	sedeo, -ēre, sedi, sessurus	to sit
exerceo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to keep busy, practice, supervise	spondeo, -ēre, spospondi, sponsus	to pledge, affirm, swear
fleo, -ēre, flexi, flectus	to weep	taceo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to keep silent
habeo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to have, hold, possess	terreo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to frighten, alarm, terrify
maneo, -ēre, mansi, mansus	to remain	timeo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to fear, be afraid (of)
moneo, -ēre, -ui, -itus	to warn, remind	video, -ēre, vidi, visus	to see
moveo, -ēre, movi motus	to move

Third Conjugation
ago, -ere, egi, actus	to do, discuss, spend (time)	intellego, -ere, -lexi, -lectus	to understand
cano, -ere, cecini, cantus	to sing (of)	lego, -ere, lexi, lectus	to read, choose
cado, -ere, cecidi, casurus	to fall	mitto, -ere, misi, missus	to send
cedo, -ere, cessi, cessus	to grant, yield, submit to	pello, -ere, pepuli, pulsus	to push, drive off
cresco, -ere, crevi, creturus	to grow, increase	peto, -ere, -ivi, -itus	to seek, ask for
curro, -ere, cucurri, cursus	to run	pono, -ere, posui, positus	to put, place
duco, -ere, duxi, ductus	to lead, consider	posco, -ere, poposci, [no 4th part]	to beg, demand
eruo, -uere, -ui, -itus	to uproot, to destroy	quaero, -ere, quaesivi, quaesitus	to look for, search for, obtain
figo, -ere, fixi, fictus (fixus)	to fix, attatch	rego, -ere, rexi, rectus	to set up, erect, raise
frango, -ere, fregi, fractus	to break, shatter, smash	repo, -ere, repsi, [no 4th part]	to creep, crawl
fremo, -ere, -ui, -itus	to complain loudly at	scribo, -ere, scripsi, scriptus	to write
incolo, -ere, -ui, [no 4th part]	to inhabit	vivo, -ere, vixi, victurus	to be alive, survive

Third Conjugation -io
capio, -ere, cepi, captus	to take, capture	jacio, -ere, jeci, jactus	to throw, hurl
facio, -ere, feci, factus	to make, do	specio, -ere, spexi, spectus	to look at
fugio, -ere, fugi, fugitus	to flee, escape from

Fourth Conjugation
aperio, -ire, -ui, -itus	to open	scio (4)	to know
audio (4)	to hear, listen (to)	sentio, -ire, sensi, sensus	to sense, feel, perceive
dormio (4)	to sleep	venio, -ire, veni, venturus	come

Asking yes/no questions

To make a sentence into a yes/no question, add -ne to the first word of the sentence. Often, the main verb is also moved to the front.

Aperisne januam? Are you opening the door?

18. Numbers

Number	Cardinal	Ordinal	Roman
1	unus, -a, -um	primus	I
2	duo, duae, duo	secundus	II
3	tres, tria	tertius	III
4	quattuor	quartus	IV
5	quinque	quintus	V
6	sex	sextus	VI
7	septem	septimus	VII
8	octo	octavus	VIII
9	novem	nonus	IX
10	decem	decimus	X
11	undecim	undecimus	XI
12	duodecim	duodecimus	XII
13	tredecim	tertius decimus	XIII
14	quattuordecim	quartus decimus	XIV
15	quindecim	quintus decimus	XV
16	sedecim	sextus decimus	XVI
17	septendecim	septimus decimus	XVII
18	duodeviginti	duodevicesimus	XVIII
19	undeviginti	undevicesimus	XIX
20	viginti	vicesimus	XX
21	viginti unus / unus et viginti	vicesimus primus	XXI
22	viginti duo / duo et viginti	vicesimus secundus	XXII
30	triginta	tricesimus	XXX
40	quadraginta	quadragesimus	XL
50	quinquaginta	quinquagesimus	L
60	sexaginta	sexagesimus	LX
70	septuaginta	septuagesimus	LXX
80	octoginta	octogesimus	LXXX
90	nonaginta	nonagesimus	XC
100	centum	centesimus	C
101	centum (et) unus	centesimus primus	CI
200	ducenti, -ae, -a	ducentesimus	CC
300	trecenti, -ae, -a	trecentesimus	CCC
400	quadragenti, -ae, -a	quadragentesimus	CCCC
500	quingenti, -ae, -a	quingentisimus	D
600	sescenti, -ae, -a	sescentesimus	DC
700	septingenti, -ae, -a	septingesimus	DCC
800	octingenti, -ae, -a	octingesimus	DCCC
900	nongenti, -ae, -a	nongentesimus	DCCCC
1000	mille	millesimus	M
2000	duo milia	bis millesimus	MM
10000	decem milia	decies millesimus	CCI/C/C
100000	centum milia	centies millesimus	CCCI/C/C/C

19. Days of the Week

Monday	dies, -ei m Lunae
Tuesday	dies, -ei m Martis
Wednesday	dies, -ei m Mercurii
Thursday	dies, -ei m Jovis
Friday	dies, -ei m Veneris
Saturday	dies, -ei m Saturni
Sunday	dies, -ei m Solis; dominica, -ae f
day	dies, -ei m./f.
morning	matutinum, -i, n.
afternoon	tempus, -oris, n. postmeridianum
in the afternoon	postmeridie
evening	vesper, -eri, m.
in the evening	vesperi
night	nox, noctis, f.
at night	noctu (NB this irregular form)
today	hodie
tomorrow	cras
tonight	hāc nocte
yesterday	heri
last night	proximā nocte
week	hebdomas, hebdomadis, f.; septimana, -ae, f.
weekend	finis, -is, m. hebdomadis
on the weekend	exeunte hebdomade
daily	cotidie
weekly	singulis hebdomadibus

To say “on Saturday” or “on Tuesday,” etc. we use the ablative singular of the day:

die Saturni
die Martis, etc.

20. Months and Seasons

January	Januarius, -i, m.
February	Februarius, -i, m.
March	Martius, -i, m.
April	Aprilis, -is, m.
May	Majus, -i, m.
June	Junius, -i, m.
July	Julius, -i, m.
August	Augustus, -i, m.
October	October, -bris, m.
November	November, -bris, m.
December	December, -bris, m.
month	mensis, -is, m.
year	annus, -i, m.
yearly	quotannis
season	tempus, -oris, n. anni
spring	ver, veris, n.
summer	aestas, -tatis, f.
fall	autumnus, -i, m.
winter	hiems, hiemis, f.

Saying “in January” or “in fall” is the same as the days of the week (use ablative singular):
Januario
autumno

When expressing a specific day of the month such as “May 3rd” or “July 19th”, we literally say “the 3rd day of May,” etc. So those two dates would be tertius dies (mensis) Maji and undevicesimus dies (mensis) Julii, respectively. Similar to the days of the week and the months, use the ablative to show on a date (i.e. tertio die Maji, undevicesimo die Julii)

21. Sentence Order

In general, the word order in a Latin sentence is subject-object-verb. (This will be further explained in coming sections).

22. Nominative Case Functions

The nominative case is the basic diction form of the noun. It has two uses:

Subject of the Sentence

Poeta venit. The poet comes.
Viri manent. The men remain.

Predicate Nominative

“Predicate Nominative” is just a fancy phrase for “A = B” where the equal sign being a verb of being.

Poeta est servus. The poet is a slave.
Vir amicus est. The man is a friend. (NB verb placement.)

23. Genitive of Possession

The genitive of possession is the most basic function of the genitive case and indicates that the nous in the genitive possesses the other noun.

terra regis The land of the king or The king's land.

24. Accusative: Direct object

The direct object of a sentence is the thing that is being “verbed.” In an English example, the word “apple” in “John ate the apple” is the direct object.

In Latin:
Milites urbem delent. The soldiers destroy the city.

NB that the above sentence to just as easily be rendered Urbem milites delent, Delent urbem milites, Delent milites urbem, etc. and have the same meaning due to the case system.

25. Dative: Indirect Object

Usually in English, we use the words to or for to indicate an indirect object. But Latin relies on the endings of the dative case.

Librum poetae das. You give the book to the poet. or You give the poet the book.

Some verbs must take the dative case even when the meaning is more of an accusative meaning:

Domus viro placet. The house pleases the man. (This may be better understood as “The house is pleasing to the man.”)

26. Declension of the Personal Pronouns

	1st Person	2nd Person	3rd Person masc.	3rd Person fem.	3rd Person neut.
Nom.	ego	tu	is	ea	id
Gen.	mei	tui	ejus	ejus	ejus
Dat.	mihi, mi*	tibi	ei	ei	ei
Acc.	me	te	eum	eam	id
Abl.	me	te	eo	eā	eo
Nom.	nos	vos	ei	eae	ea
Gen.	nostri	vestri	eorum	earum	eorum
Dat.	nobis	vobis	eis	eis	eis
Acc.	nos	vos	eos	eas	ea
Abl.	nobis	vobis	eis	eis	eis

* in poetry, mihi often becomes mi.

27. Prepositions

All prepositions are either followed by the accusative case (usually denoting some sort of motion) or the ablative case (usually denoting with, by, from, or a fixed position). Some prepositions can take either case but the meaning changes depending on which is used.

Preposition		Meaning	Latin Example	English Example
Prepositions with the Accusative
ad		to, toward	ad Asiam ambulant.	They walk to/toward Asia
		for, with a view to	ad pacem	for peace
ante		before (space or time)	ante oppidum ante bellum	before the town before the war
circum		around	circum castra	around the camp
contra		against	Contra eum dico.	I speak against him.
inter		among	inter mortuos	among the dead
		between	inter meam opinionem et tueam	between my opinion and yours
juxta		close to	juxta patriam	close to the homeland
ob		on account of, because of	ob metum	because of fear
per		through	per multa maria	through many seas
			per iram	through anger
post		behind	post montem	behind the mountain
		after	post mortem	after death
praeter		beyond	praeter insulas	beyond the islands
			praeter spem	beyond expectation
propter		on account of	propter amorem	on account of love
trans		across	trans flumen	across the river

Prepositions with the Ablative
a, ab (before a vowel)		away from	a Britanniā	away from Britain
		by	interfectus est a Caesare	he was killed by Caesar
cum*		with	cum amicis	with friends
de		down from	de montibus	down from the mountains
e, ex (before a vowel)		out of	e provinciā	out of the province
prae		in front of	prae aedificio	in front of the building
sine		without	sine pugnā et sine vulnere	without fight and without injury

Prepositions with either the Accusative or the Ablative
in	+ acc.	into	in Asiam	into Asia
		against	oratio in Catilinam	a speech against Catilina
	+ abl.	in, on	in Asiā est.	He is in Asia.
sub	+acc.	under (implying motion)	canis sub mensam it.	the dog goes under the table.
	+ abl.	under (at rest)	canis sub mensā sedet.	the dog sits under the table.
super	+ acc.	over (with motion)	canis super mensam it.	the dog goes over the table.
	+ abl.	above (at rest)	Super mensā sunt.	They are above the table.

* When used with a pronoun, cum becomes and enclitic and attaches to the end of the pronoun.

mecum with me
quibuscum? with whom?

28. To go / ire

eo, ire, ivi (ii), itus - to go
eo	imus
is	it is
it	eunt

Compounds that include ire

abeo	to go away, leave
adeo	to go toward, approach, attack, visit
ambio	to go around, encircle
circumeo	to go around, visit, cheat
coeo	to meet, mate, copulate
depereo	to be hopelessly in love with; to parish
exeo	to ward off; to leave
ineo	to enter
intereo	to perish
obeo	to travel to; to die, fade away
pereo	to perish
praeeo	to lead
prodeo	to advance
redeo	to return
subeo	to approach
transeo	to cross
veneo	to be for sale

29. To be able / posse

possum, posse, potui, – to be able
possum	possumus
potes	potestis
potest	possunt

Tecum ad tabernam ire possum. I can come with you to the store.
Potesne mihi gladium dare? Can you give me the sword?

30. Adjectives

Adjectives in Latin are broken up into two main groups: those who are declined like first and second declension nouns, and those that are declined like third declension nouns.

All adjectives must agree in number, case, and gender with the noun that they modify.

Sample First/Second Declension Adjective: malus, -a, -um, bad

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
	Singular
Nom.	malus	mala	malum
Gen.	mali	malae	mali
Dat.	malo	malae	malo
Acc.	malum	malam	malum
Abl.	malo	malā	malo
	Plural
Nom.	mali	malae	mala
Gen.	malorum	malarum	malorum
Dat.	malis	malis	malis
Acc.	malos	malas	mala
Abl.	malis	malis	malis

For the third declension adjectives, there are three subcategories: one-, two-, and three-termination adjectives. Also, note that all third declension adjectives act like i-stem nouns. Also, remember that for all neuter nouns and adjectives, the nominative singular will match the accusative singular and the nominative plural will match the accusative plural.

Three-Termination

acer, acris, acre, sharp (given are the nominative singular for the masculine, feminine, and neuter, respectively.)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
	Singular
Nom.	acer	acris	acre
Gen.	acris	acris	acris
Dat.	acri	acri	acri
Acc.	acrem	acrem	acre
Abl.	acri	acri	acri
	Plural
Nom.	acres	acres	acria
Gen.	acrium	acrium	acrium
Dat.	acribus	acribus	acribus
Acc.	acres	acres	acria
Abl.	acribus	acribus	acribus

Two-Termination

omnis, omne, every, all (given are the masculine/feminine singular and the neuter singular)

	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
	Singular
Nom.	omnis	omne
Gen.	omnis	omnis
Dat.	omni	omni
Acc.	omnem	omne
Abl.	omni	omni
	Plural
Nom.	omnes	omnia
Gen.	omnium	omnium
Dat.	omnibus	omnibus
Acc.	omnes	omnia
Abl.	omnibus	omnibus

One-Termination

audax, -acis bold (given is the nominative singular and genitive singular for all genders)

	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
	Singular
Nom.	audax	audax
Gen.	audacis	audacis
Dat.	audaci	audaci
Acc.	audacem	audax
Abl.	audaci	audaci
	Plural
Nom.	audaces	audacia
Gen.	audacium	audacium
Dat.	audacibus	audacibus
Acc.	audaces	audacia
Abl.	audacibus	audacibus

There are nine adjectives that, for all intents and purposes, belong to the first/second declension adjective group. However, they are slightly irregular in the fact that they have -ius in the genitive singular and -i in the dative singular of all genders. The adjectives are:

alius, alia, aliud	another
alter, altera, alterum	the other (of two)
uter, utera, uterum	which (of two)
neuter, neutra, neutrum	neither
ullus, ulla, ullum	any
nullus, nulla, nullum	no, none
solus, sola, solum	only
totus, tota, totum	whole
unus, una, unum	one

31. Question Words

quis, quis, quid*	who, what
qualis, -is	what sort / kind of
quomodo	how
cur	why
quo	where to
ubi	where

*the declension of quis, quid is as follows:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
	Singular
Nom.	quis		quid
Gen.	cujus		cujus
Dat.	cui		cui
Acc.	quem		quid
Abl.	quo		quo
	Plural
Nom.	qui	quae	quae
Gen.	quorum	quarum	quorum
Dat.	quibus	quibus	quibus
Acc.	quos	quas	quae
Abl.	quibus	quibus	quibus

32. The Family

Parents	parens, -entis, m./f.	Cousin (brother's child)	patruelis, -is, m./f.
Mother	mater, -tris, f.	Cousin (sister's child)	consobrinus, -i, m. consobrina, -ae, f.
Father	pater, -tris, m.	Uncle (father's brother)	patruus, -i, m.
Son	filis, -i, m.	Uncle (mother's brother)	avunculus, -i, m.
Daughter	filia, -ae, f.	Aunt (father's sister)	amita, -ae, f.
Brother	frater, -tris, m.	Aunt (mother's sister)	matertera, -ae, f.
Sister	soror, -ris, f.	Relative	cognatus, -i, m. cognata, -ae, f.
Grandfather	avus, -i, m.	Relative	cognatus, -i, m. cognata, -ae, f.
Grandmother	avia, -ae, f.	Husband	maritus, -i, m.
Grandchildren	nepotes, -otum, m.pl.	Wife	uxor, -ris, f.
Grandson	nepos, -otis, m.	Boy	puer, -i, m.
Granddaughter	neptis, -is, f.	Girl	puella, -ae, f.
Niece	filia, -ae, f. sororis/fratris	Friend (m)	amicus, -i, m.
Nephew	filius, -i, m. sororis/fratris	Friend (f)	amica, -ae, f.
Child	liber, liberi, m.	Baby	infans, -antis, m./f.

33. Present tense of velle, nolle, malle

volo, velle, volui, – to want, wish		nolo, nolle, nolui, – to not want, to be unwilling		malo, malle, malui, – to prefer
volo	volumus	nolo	nolumus	malo	malumus
vis	vultis	non vis	non vultis	mavis	mavultis
vult	volunt	non vult	nolunt	mavult	malunt