This document discusses present tense verbs in Latin. It explains that verbs have tense, person, and number. The present tense indicates an action happening now. Verbs change endings to indicate person - either singular (I, you, he/she) or plural (we, you all, they). There are six personal endings. Verbs are also conjugated by stem type, with four conjugations ending in -a, -e, consonants, and -i, respectively. An irregular verb is also discussed, with the verb "to be" conjugated as sum, es, est, sumus, estis, sunt. Learning these verb endings and forms is important for translating Latin verbs into the present tense.

1. Chapter 5 Grammar
Part One:
Present Tense Verbs

2. What makes up a verb?
– Tense: the tense of the verb tells us when
something happens
– Person: the person of the verb tells us who is
doing the action
– Number: the number of the verb tells us how
many are doing the action
There are three things that make up a verb:

3. What is the Present Tense?
• The Present Tense happens now.
Horatia in casam festinat.
Horatia is hurrying into the house.
• It is at this moment in time that Horatia is hurrying. It has not already happened, nor is it about to happen . . . that is the present tense.

4. Person and Number
• There are six persons for each Latin verb
(three singular and three plural)
Singular Plural
I We
You You All
He, She They

5. Endings of the Present Tense
• In order to tell which person is the subject
of your verb, Latin will change the ending
of the verb
• There are six personal endings that
correspond with the six possible subjects:
Singular Plural
I - o We - mus
You - s You All - tis
He, She - t They - nt

6. First Conjugation
• This conjugation has stems ending in ‘–a’
and follow this example:
Singular Plural
par – o para - mus
para - s para - tis
para - t para - nt

7. Second Conjugation
• This conjugation has stems ending in ‘-e’
and follows this example:
Singular Plural
mone - o mone - mus
mone - s mone - tis
mone - t mone - nt

8. Third Conjugation
• This conjugation has stems ending in a
consonant and follow this example:
Singular Plural
reg - o reg - imus
reg - is reg - it
reg - it reg - unt

9. Fourth Conjugation
• This conjugation has stems that end in ‘-i’
and follow this example:
Singular Plural
audi - o audi - mus
audi - s audi - tis
audi - t audi - unt

10. Irregular Verb ‘sum’
• There are eight irregular verbs in Latin -
they must be memorized!
Singular Plural
sum su - mus
e - s es - tis
es - t su - nt

11. Summary
• Learn the six personal endings - you will
continue to see them throughout your Latin
career
• Remember how to translate a present tense
verb
• Learn your example verbs!
• Learn the irregular verb sum!