Crash Latin Grammar · Lesson Review
Lesson 4
Verbs: The Indicative — Six Tenses, Four Conjugations, Active & Passive
Source: Oliver's handouts, Lesson 4 Outline · Full paradigms: A&G 180–192, 199–203
Morphology
The Six Tenses at a Glance
Two systems, three tenses each. The system tells you which stem to use; the tense tells you which endings.
| System | Tense | Stem used | Core meaning |
|---|
| Present | Present | present stem (2nd principal part minus -re) | is doing / does |
| Imperfect | present stem | was doing / used to do / kept doing |
| Future | present stem | will do |
| Perfect | Perfect | perfect stem (active) / perf. pass. participle (passive) | did / has done |
| Pluperfect | perfect stem / PPP | had done |
| Future Perfect | perfect stem / PPP | will have done |
Morphology
Formation Formulas
Worked in 3rd conjugation (regō) as the model — check A&G for the other three conjugations' vowels.
Present System — Active
- Presentstem + primary endings — regō, regis, regit…
- Imperfectstem + -bā- + primary endings — regēbam, regēbās…
- Futurestem + -a/ē- (3rd/4th) or -bi- (1st/2nd) + primary endings — regam, regēs…
Present System — Passive
- Presentstem + primary passive endings — regor, regeris, regitur…
- Imperfectstem + -bā- + passive endings — regēbar, regēbāris…
- Futurestem + tense sign + passive endings — regar, regēris…
Perfect System — Active
- Perfectperfect stem + -ī, -istī, -it, -imus, -istis, -ērunt
- Pluperfectperfect stem + eram (i.e. -eram, -erās, -erat…)
- Future Perfectperfect stem + erō (i.e. -erō, -eris, -erit…)
Perfect System — Passive
- Perfectperf. pass. participle (agrees w/ subject) + sum present — missa est
- PluperfectPPP + sum imperfect (eram) — iussī erant
- Future PerfectPPP + sum future (erō) — tactum erit
Why the passive perfect system "breaks the pattern"
It isn't one synthetic verb form — it's a participle (which declines, agreeing with the subject in gender/number/case) plus a separate helping verb sum. That's why missa est is two words: participle + present of sum, not a suffix on the verb stem.
Morphology
The Four Conjugations — Present Stem Vowel
| Conj. | Stem vowel | 1st principal part | Infinitive |
|---|
| 1st | ā | amō | amāre |
| 2nd | ē | moneō | monēre |
| 3rd | e/i/u (short, varies) | regō | regere |
| 3rd -iō | mixed — 3rd endings + 4th-style -i- in some forms | capiō | capere |
| 4th | ī | audiō | audīre |
3rd -iō verbs (capiō, faciō, iaciō…) look like 3rd conj. in most of the present system but sneak in the 4th conj. -i- wherever a vowel would otherwise be exposed: capiō, capiunt, capiēbam, capiam — memorize this class as its own pattern.
Morphology
Personal Endings Reference
These are the endings that stay constant across every conjugation — once you know these cold, every tense is just "stem + tense sign + ending."
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|
| 1sg | -ō / -m | -r / -or |
| 2sg | -s | -ris / -re |
| 3sg | -t | -tur |
| 1pl | -mus | -mur |
| 2pl | -tis | -minī |
| 3pl | -nt | -ntur |
One exception to flag
The perfect active system does NOT use these endings — it has its own dedicated set: -ī, -istī, -it, -imus, -istis, -ērunt. That's the whole reason perfect-active forms look unfamiliar at first glance.
Morphology
Irregular Verbs — Present Indicative
A&G 199–203. All highly irregular; memorize each as its own pattern rather than trying to derive it from the rules above.
| Verb | Meaning | 1sg | 2sg | 3sg | 1pl | 2pl | 3pl |
|---|
| sum | to be | sum | es | est | sumus | estis | sunt |
| possum | to be able | possum | potes | potest | possumus | potestis | possunt |
| volō | to wish | volō | vīs | vult | volumus | vultis | volunt |
| nōlō | to not wish | nōlō | nōn vīs | nōn vult | nōlumus | nōn vultis | nōlunt |
| mālō | to prefer | mālō | māvīs | māvult | mālumus | māvultis | mālunt |
| ferō | to carry, bear | ferō | fers | fert | ferimus | fertis | ferunt |
| eō | to go | eō | īs | it | īmus | ītis | eunt |
Family resemblances worth noticing
- possum = pot- + sum fused together — conjugate sum and prefix pot- (or po- before an s) and you already know it.
- volō / nōlō / mālō are one family: nōlō = ne + volō, mālō = magis + volō. All three share the irregular vīs / vult / vultis stem in 2sg/3sg/2pl.
- ferō is irregular only in the present system — its perfect (tulī) and supine (lātum) come from completely different roots. Principal parts must be memorized as a set.
- eō is a consonant-stem verb hiding as a vowel verb — its 3pl eunt and infinitive īre don't look related until you know the pattern.
Morphology
Deponent Verbs
A&G 188–192. Passive in form, active in meaning — conjugated exactly like the passive of a regular verb, but translated as active.
- arbitror, arbitrārīarbitrāmur = "we think / we judge" (present passive form → active sense), not "we are judged"
- loquor, loquīloquēbantur = "they were speaking" (imperfect passive form → active sense)
- cōnor, cōnārīcōnābimur = "we will try" (future passive form → active sense)
Recognition trick
If a verb's dictionary entry gives only three principal parts and the second one ends in -ī (not -ere/-āre/-ēre) — it's deponent. Translate every "passive" ending as active without exception.
Syntax
Use of the Tenses
- Imperfect vs. Perfectimperfect = ongoing/repeated/background action ("was doing," "used to do," "kept doing"); perfect = a single completed act viewed as a point ("did," "has done"). Same past time frame, different aspect.
- Pluperfectmarks an action completed before another past action — the "past before the past."
- Future Perfectmarks an action that will be completed before another future action — common in conditional/temporal clauses ("when he will have arrived…").
- Primary vs. secondary sequencepresent/future/future-perfect = primary tenses; imperfect/perfect/pluperfect = secondary (historic) tenses. This distinction governs which subjunctive tense a subordinate clause takes — keep it in your back pocket for Lesson 5+.
Self-Test
Exercise 1 — Parse & Translate
For each form: name the tense, voice, person/number, then translate. Watch for deponents and passive-perfect participles.
- cognōscunt
- audiēbāmus
- māvult
- tāctum est
- moriēbātur
- dedistis
- arbitrāmur
- ceciderat
- cucurrimus
- loquēbantur
- mānserās
- vīsus sum
- vultis
- posuistī
- iussī erant
- euntne
- missa est
- cōnābimur
- cessī
- potuērunt
Trap to watch for: ceciderat
cadō, cadere, cecidī, cāsūrus ("to fall") and caedō, caedere, cecīdī, caesus ("to cut/strike/kill") share the identical perfect stem cecid-. ceciderat is genuinely ambiguous out of context — "he had fallen" or "he had struck/killed" both parse. Only surrounding context (or a macron on the long ī of caedō) disambiguates. Worth flagging for Oliver if the reading passage doesn't make it obvious.
Self-Test
Exercise 2 — Translate the Sentences
Same sentences as the handout. Identify the main verb's tense/voice first, then work outward.
- Multi milites ad Italiam prima aestate mittentur.
- Pueri mali animal parvum in silvam secuti sunt.
- Cives miserrimi reginae loqui nolebant.
- In villa nostra sunt duodeviginti fenestrae.
- Agricola manus in flumine lavabat.
- Multi montes altissimi in finibus Helvetiorum sunt.
- Multos dies in nostris villis hieme manebamus.
- Pedites Romanorum ex palude in castra a duce ducti sunt.
- Equus niger ex agro ad villam agricolae currebat.
- Imperator audacissimus suos milites in pugnam ducet.
Pattern check across this set
Four of these ten sentences are passive with an expressed agent (mittentur, secuti sunt — deponent, reads active — and ducti sunt with ā duce). Confirm you can spot the perfect-passive participle + sum pattern instantly before moving to timed drills.