The Present Tense Verb System

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The Present Tense Verb System
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I. Proper format of verbs

• Verbs are properly named with their four
  principle parts
• amo , amare, amavi, amatus
• -to like, to love

Note This is how you will see verbs in the
dictionary.
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• This year we only really need the first two
  principle parts
• amo , amare

1st person sing., present tense
infinitive
Note This is how you will see verbs in the
vocabulary lists from now on.
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II. The parts of a verb

• amare

base
ama
re
stem
ending
characteristic vowel
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III. Four kinds of verbs

• Kind example vowel
• 1st Conjugation paro, parare a
• 2nd Conjugation habeo, habere e
• 3rd Conjugation mitto, mittere e
• 3rd io iacio, iacere
• 4th Conjugation audio, audire i

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IV. The Verb Party

• We now need to learn how to conjugate each kind
  of verb
• We start with the infinitive, as we usually do
  with verbs

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1st Conjugation - parare
par
a
re
The endings column is just filled with the
personal endings.
o
par
s
par
a
The base does not change.
t
par
a
mus
par
a
Now you need to know what the characteristic
vowel does for each conjugation.
tis
par
a
nt
par
a
Watch (and memorize) where the a appears.
personal ending
base
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2nd Conjugation - habere
e
The strong e of the 2nd conjugation shows
itself throughout the whole conjugation.
e
e
e
e
e
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3rd Conjugation - mittere
The weak e of the 3rd conjugation never shows
itself. Be sure to recite this strange pattern
until you have it memorized well.
i
i
i
i
u
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4th Conjugation - audire
aud
i
re
i
The 4th conjugation has the i all the way down,
but adds a u at the end.
i
i
i
i
iu
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The 3rd -io

• The 3rd io is kind of a combination of 3rd and
  4th conjugation
• From the infinitive, you know for sure that it is
  a 3rd conjugation verb
• Yet the 1st principle part ends in an -io
  instead of just an -o
• iacio, iacere

weak e is always 3rd conj.
the -io shows that its not a normal third
continued
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3rd -io Conjugation - iacere
i
Although it is a 3rd conj. verb, in the present
tense it is conjugated exactly like a 4th
i
i
i
i
iu
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What are the four characteristic vowels?(Say
them before they appear.)
1st Conj.
2nd Conj.
3rd Conj.
4th Conj.
a
e
e
i
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Practice reciting the endings of all four
conjugations
1st Conj.
2nd Conj.
3rd Conj.
4th Conj.
-o
-eo
-o
-io
-as
-es
-is
-is
-at
-et
-it
-it
-amus
-emus
-imus
-imus
-atis
-etis
-itis
-itis
-ant
-ent
-unt
-iunt