2. Principal Parts The vocabulary list will present you with three principal parts for each verb. amo, amare, amavi 1st person, singular, Present tense 1st person, singular, perfect tense Infinitive (second principal part)
3. Translation of the Infinitive In regular Latin verbs, the infinitive will end in an –re. Whenever you see an infinitive, translate it with the English word “to.” Examples: amare= to love monere= to carry
4. The Infinitive The infinitive of a verb helps you in two very important ways. It tells you what conjugation a verb is in. It gives you the present stem of a verb.
5. Conjugation In order to tell what conjugation a verb is in, look at the vowel before the –re in the infinitive. a= first conjugation long e, (ē)= second conjugation short e (e)= third conjugation i= fourth conjugation
6. The Present Stem The second piece of information that the infinitive gives you is the present stem. In order to find the present stem of a verb, go to the infinitive and take off the –re.
7. Forming the present tense In order to form the present tense, add personal endings to the present stem The personal ending –t, is the ending for third person, singular. It is translated as he, she, or it. Examples: amat= he, she, or it loves monet= he, she, or it warns
8. Forming the Present Tense (con’t) The personal ending –nt, is the ending for third person, plural. It is translated as they. Examples: amant= they love monent= they warn
9. The verb “to be.” Even the irregular verb “to be” follows this same pattern for third person endings. Est= he, she, it, is Sunt= they are
10. Subject/Verb Agreement Always remember that the subject and the verb in a sentence MUST agree in number. In other words, if your subject is singular, the verb MUST also have a singular ending. If the subject is plural, the verb MUST also be plural.
11. Subject/Verb Agreement (con’t) Patercanemamat. Father loves the dog. “Father” (Pater) is a singular subject, so “loves” (amat) also has a singular ending. Pater et mater canemamant. The father and mother love the dog. Because “father and mother” are a plural subject, amant also has a plural ending.
