In linguistics and grammar, conjugation has two basic meanings.Merriam-Webster online dictionary "Conjugation". One meaning is the creation of derived forms of a verb from basic forms, or principal parts.
The second meaning of the word conjugation is a group of verbs which all have the same pattern of inflections. Thus all those Latin verbs which in the present tense have 1st singular -ō, 2nd singular -ās, and infinitive -āre are said to belong to the 1st conjugation, those with 1st singular -eō, 2nd singular -ēs and infinitive -ēre belong to the 2nd conjugation, and so on. The number of conjugations of regular verbs is usually said to be four.
The word "conjugation" comes from the Latin , a calque of the Greek (syzygia), literally "yoking together (horses into a team)".
For examples of verbs and verb groups for each inflectional class, see the Wiktionary appendix pages for first conjugation, second conjugation, third conjugation, and fourth conjugation.
Number of conjugations The ancient Romans themselves, beginning with Varro (1st century BC), originally divided their verbs into three conjugations ( "there are three different conjugations for verbs: the first, second, and third" (Donatus), 4th century AD), according to whether the ending of the 2nd person singular had an a, an e or an i in it.Donatus [Ars Maior], 10.16. However, others, such as Sacerdos (3rd century AD), Dositheus (4th century AD) and PriscianPriscian, (Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum) (c. 500 AD), recognised four different groups.Daniel J. Taylor "Latin declensions and conjugations: from Varro to Priscian" Historie Épistémologie Langage 13.2 (1991), pp. 85–93.
In modern times grammarianse.g. Gildersleeve and Lodge, 3rd edition (1895), §120. generally recognise four conjugations according to the ending of the active infinitive: namely -āre, -ēre, -ere, or -īre, for example: (1) "to love", (2) "to see", (3) "to rule" and "to capture", (4) "to hear". (3rd conjugation verbs ending in -iō such as are sometimes known as "mixed conjugation" since they use a mixture of 3rd and 4th conjugation endings.)
In addition to regular verbs, which belong to one or other of the four regular conjugations, there are also a few irregular verbs, which have a different pattern of endings. The most frequent of these is the verb "to be" together with its prefixed derivatives.
There also exist deponent Latin verbs, which though active in meaning have endings identical to the passive endings of ordinary verbs. Examples in the different conjugations are: (1) "to delay", (2) "to promise", (3) "to follow" and "to go back", (4) "to lie (tell a lie)". Some verbs are semi-deponent, using passive forms for the perfect tenses only.
+ Latin conjugation basic paradigm Aspect → Imperfect Perfect Voice → Active Passive Active Passive Mood → Indicative Subjunctive Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Imperative Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive Past amābam I was loving amārem I might love — amābar I was being loved amārer I might be loved — amāveram I had loved amāvissem I would have loved amātus eram I had been loved amātus essem I might have been loved Present amō I am loving I love amem I may love amā love! amor I am being loved I am loved amer I may be loved amāre be loved! amāvī I have loved I loved amāverim I might have loved amātus sum I have been loved amātus sim I may have been loved Future amābō I will love — amātō you should love amābor I will be loved — amātor you should be loved amāverō I will have loved — amātus erō I will have been loved —
Principal parts A verb's full paradigm relies on multiple different stems. The present indicative active and the present infinitive are both based on the present stem.
It is not possible to infer the stems for other tenses from the present stem. This means that, although the infinitive active form normally shows the verb conjugation, knowledge of several different forms is necessary to be able to confidently produce the full range of forms for any particular verb.
In a dictionary, Latin verbs are listed with four "principal parts" (or fewer for deponent and defective verbs), which allow the student to deduce the other conjugated forms of the verbs. These are: the first person singular of the present indicative active the present infinitive active the first person singular of the perfect indicative active the supine or, in some grammars, the perfect passive participle, which uses the same stem. (Texts that list the perfect passive participle use the future active participle for intransitive verbs.) Some verbs lack this principal part altogether.
Regular conjugations First conjugation The first conjugation is characterized by the vowel ā and can be recognized by the -āre ending of the present active infinitive form. The infectum tenses conjugate as follows (see also their meaning): IndicativeSubjunctivePresentFutureImperfectPresentImperfectActiveI loveI will loveI was loving I may loveI might loveIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.theyPassiveI am lovedI will be lovedI was being loved I may be loved I might be lovedIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.they
* The 2nd person singular passive can be shortened to . -re was the regular form in early Latin and (except in the present indicative) in Cicero; -ris was preferred later.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 89.
In early Latin (Plautus), the 3rd singular endings -at and -et were pronounced -āt and -ēt with a long vowel.
Other forms:
Infinitive: "to love" Passive infinitive: "to be loved" (in early Latin often ) Imperative: (pl. ) "love!" Future imperative: (pl. ) "love! (at a future time)" Indirect imperative: (pl. ) "let him love!" Passive imperative: (pl. ) "be loved!" (usually only found in deponent verbs) Passive future imperative: (pl. ) "be loved! (at a future time)" Passive indirect imperative: (pl. ) "let him be loved!" Present participle: (pl. ) "loving" Future participle: (pl. ) "going to love" Gerundive: (pl. ) "needing to be loved" Gerund: "of loving", "by/for loving", "in order to love"
The principal parts usually adhere to one of the following patterns: The perfect has the suffix -āvī. The majority of first-conjugation verbs follow this pattern, which is considered to be "regular", for example: , "to love"; , "to order"; , "to praise"; , "to deny"; , "to announce, report"; , "to beg, pray"; , "to prepare"; , "to carry"; , "to fight"; , "to think"; , "to ask"; , "to save"; , "to call"; The perfect has the suffix -uī, for example: , "to rub"; , "to cut, to divide"; , "to forbid, to prohibit"; The perfect has the suffix -ī and vowel lengthening in the stem, for example: , "to help, to assist"; , "to wash, to bathe"; The perfect is reduplicated, for example: , "to give" , "to stand";
The verb "I give" is irregular in that except in the 2nd singular and imperative , the a is short, e.g. "I will give".
The a is also short in the supine and its derivatives, but the other parts of "I stand" are regular.
Deponent verbs in this conjugation all follow the pattern below, which is the passive of the first type above:Gildersleeve & Lodge, Latin Grammar (1895), §163. "to think" "to try" "to hesitate" "to exhort" "to be surprised, to be amazed at" "to delay, stay"
Perfect tenses The three tenses of the 1st conjugation go as in the following table:
IndicativeSubjunctivePerfectFuture perfectPluperfectPerfectPluperfectActiveI lovedI will have lovedI had loved I lovedI had lovedIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.they*PassiveI was lovedI will have been lovedI had been loved I was loved I had been lovedIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.they
In poetry (and also sometimes in prose, e.g. Livy), the 3rd person plural of the perfect indicative is often instead of . Occasionally the form is also found.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 91.
In early Latin, the future perfect indicative had a short i in , but by the time of Cicero these forms were usually pronounced with a long i, in the same way as in the perfect subjunctive.C.J. Fordyce (1961), Catullus, note on Catullus 5.10. Virgil has a short i for both tenses; Horace uses both forms for both tenses; Ovid uses both forms for the future perfect, but a long i in the perfect subjunctive.Wackernagel (2009) Lectures on Syntax, p. 305, note 7.
The -v- of the perfect active tenses sometimes drops out, especially in the pluperfect subjunctive: for . Forms such as and are also found.
The passive tenses also have feminine and neuter forms, e.g. "she was loved", "it was announced".
Forms made with instead of and instead of are also found, for example and so on, but these are not common in classical Latin. See Latin tenses.
For other meanings of the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive, see Latin tenses#Jussive subjunctive.
Other forms:
Perfect infinitive active: () "to have loved" Perfect infinitive passive: () "to have been loved" Perfect participle passive: "loved (by someone)"
Second conjugation The second conjugation is characterized by the vowel ē, and can be recognized by the -eō ending of the first person present indicative and the -ēre ending of the present active infinitive form:
IndicativeSubjunctivePresentFutureImperfectPresentImperfectActiveI seeI will seeI was seeing I may seeI might seeIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.theyPassiveI am seenI will be seenI was being seen I may be seen I might be seenIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.they
The passive also often means "I seem".
Other forms:
Infinitive: "to see" Passive infinitive: "to be seen" Imperative: (pl. ) "see!" Future imperative: (pl. ) "see! (at a future time)" Passive imperative: (pl. ) "be seen!" (usually only found in deponent verbs) Present participle: (pl. ) "seeing" Future participle: (pl. ) "going to see" Gerundive: (pl. ) "needing to be seen" Gerund: "of seeing", "by /for seeing", "in order to see"
The principal parts usually adhere to one of the following patterns:
The perfect has the suffix -uī. Verbs which follow this pattern are considered to be "regular". Examples: "to owe, be obliged" "to teach, to instruct" "to lie (on the ground/bed)" "to deserve" "to mix" "to warn, advise" "to be harmful" "to provide, show" "to hold, to keep" "to frighten, to deter" "to fear" "to be strong" The perfect has the suffix –ēvī. Example: "to destroy" "to weep"
In verbs with perfect in -vī, syncopated (i.e. abbreviated) forms are common, such as for .Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 90.
The perfect has the suffix –īvī. Example: "to arouse, to stir" The perfect has the suffix -sī (which combines with a preceding c or g to –xī). Examples: "to burn" "to increase, to enlarge" "to stick, to adhere, to get stuck" "to order" "to remain" "to persuade" "to laugh" The perfect is reduplicated with -ī. Examples: "to bite" "to vow, to promise" The perfect has suffix -ī and vowel lengthening in the stem. Examples: "to be cautious" "to favour" "to caress, to cherish" "to sit" "to see" The perfect has suffix -ī. Examples: "to reply" "to hiss, to creak" (also 3rd conj.)
Deponent verbs in this conjugation are few. They mostly go like the passive of , but and have a perfect participle with ss:Gildersleeve & Lodge, Latin Grammar (1895), §164. "to confess" "to deserve" "to promise"
The following are semi-deponent, that is, they are deponent only in the three perfect tenses:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 114. "to dare" "to rejoice, to be glad" "to be accustomed"
Third conjugation The third conjugation has a variable short stem vowel, which may be e, i, or u in different environments. Verbs of this conjugation end in -ere in the present active infinitive. Deponent verbs have the infinitive -ī. IndicativeSubjunctivePresentFutureImperfectPresentImperfectActiveI leadI will leadI was leading I may leadI might leadIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.theyPassiveI am ledI will be ledI was being led I may be led I might be ledIyou sg.he, she, itweyou pl.they