Questions tagged [conjugation]

For questions about conjugating verbs.

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2 votes
1 answer
62 views

Does the old English second person verb ending -est (eg thou comest) come from Latin conjugation?

I feel like the question has all the information but yeah I'm just curious if the Latin verb endings influenced the old English -est endings.
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5 votes
1 answer
311 views

Is there a latin helper word that can used with infinitives (and implies that the subsequent word may be an infinitive)?

As I'm working on vocabulary, I'm doing all I can on my flashcards to stay "in Latin" as much as possible (as opposed to English translations), and also to use as much "natural" ...
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1 vote
2 answers
88 views

Declensions and Conjugations in Latin

I have noticed that in charts parsing the Declensions and Conjugations of Latin words, that the words are sometimes parsed with what looks like multiple options. For example, if you take the root &...
7 votes
1 answer
248 views

Vowel Quantity in Third Person Plural of Passive Voice

Cārī collēgae, The third person plural of the passive voice in the present stem has a peculiarity that I noticed a couple of weeks ago (far later than I should have, I might add) and have been curious ...
6 votes
1 answer
523 views

Why does the length of a vowel before verb endings change?

I'm learning Latin and I see that the stem I am supposed to add things onto keeps changing from long to short and back again. For example, take teneō, tenēre, tenuī, tentum. As I see the present ...
3 votes
1 answer
136 views

Best conjugation for memento vivere or viveri

Memento vivere or viveri, as a complementary phrase (not necessary an opposite) to memento mori?
4 votes
3 answers
157 views

Helpful tips for the learning of latin verbs

I have lately begun learning latin (about two-three months in) and have thus far memorised all the noun and adjective declensions. But the task of committing to memory and understanding sufficiently ...
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2 votes
1 answer
88 views

“Itis” Versus “Is” in Latin

I am learning Latin on Duolingo, and the app does not clarify when to use “itis” and when to use “is”. They both mean “to go”, for the second person singular in present tense. Clarification would be ...
7 votes
1 answer
95 views

Why "inscripserim" and not "inscripsi" in Haury's translation of "Le Petit Prince"?

Haury's translation of the dedication of "Le Petit Prince" begins like this: Pueros oro ut mihi ignoscant quod librum hunc ad adultum hominem inscripserim. I don't get why we have a ...
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6 votes
0 answers
62 views

Paradigm of (reduplicated) "fhefhaked"?

Do we have any reasonable speculations about a possible paradigm of archaic fhefhaked? I found an unreduplicated paradigm on Wikipedia, but I cannot judge its validity: 1st Sing. *fēkai 2nd Sing. ...
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9 votes
1 answer
2k views

On the basis of "Veni, vidi, vici" is "Veni, bibi, oblidi" remotely correct?

When using Google Translate or eprevodilac from Latin to English, both tools translate the following phrases as shown: Veni, vidi, vici → I came, I saw, I conquered (Google Translate) Veni, vidi, ...
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3 votes
2 answers
166 views

Use of passive verb in "Echō iuvenem sēcrētō sequitur"

In chapter XIII of Latin Via Ovid, the authors have the following sentences (bolding is mine): Ōlim Narcissus cum cēteris iuvenibus animālia fera in silvīs et montibus sequitur. Forte sōlus errat, et ...
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2 votes
2 answers
127 views

What happened to the expected -ε- thematic vowel in present active indicative 1 p sg and 3 p pl?

I am trying to understand how Greek verbs are formed, having just begun learning their formation in present active indicative. The model verb used is λύω, which I understand to be formed as such: ...
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3 votes
1 answer
121 views

What are the verb conjugation names called in Latin?

What are the terms in Latin for the Latin verb conjugations? I would like to also know the Latin for the mixed conjugation (or if preferred that known as the io sub conjugation) and any term for verbs ...
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0 answers
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Does the PPA occur in a periphrastic form? [duplicate]

Can you put a PPA in a periphrastic construction, with a form of esse? I was working on the periphrastic declension of the future active parts and the future passive parts. Now it occurred to me: ...
7 votes
3 answers
269 views

Is it possible to have an imperative feel without using the imperative form of a verb?

In English, we can have a sentence that doesn't include a verb but is taken as a directive. Consider the following phrase from the HBO television show, Carnivale: Every prophet in his house. In the ...
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11 votes
3 answers
976 views

Parsing "quae cum audisset"

I'm having trouble parsing the phrase "quae cum audisset," which I've seen translated as "when [subject] heard" or "and when [subject] heard" in the latin vulgate. For ...
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3 votes
1 answer
122 views

Is there an alternative way to label verb conjugations?

Similar to my question about labeling declensions by something other than just numbers, is there a way to describe the four groups of regular conjugations using something other than just numbers? The ...
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6 votes
1 answer
313 views

Is quod too ambiguous for "that which"?

I'm trying to write a variation of Ovid's phrase "Omnia mutantur, nihil interit" — "Everything changes, nothing perishes". So far I've came up with "quod mutat, non pereat&...
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7 votes
2 answers
171 views

Fourth conjugation imperfect -e

in the fourth conjugation imperfect after the stem and before the imperfect indicator there is -e. e .g. audi + e + ba +t. Where this -e comes from?
2 votes
1 answer
66 views

What is the difference between passive and past participle?

Is there a semantic difference between a past participle followed by esse and a passive verb? Example. Roma destructa est. / Roma destruitur.
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3 votes
1 answer
126 views

Conjugating confluo for app title

I have a software product called Continua. I want to make another with a title like Confluo. What are some reasonable variants of that word for this purpose — confluere, etc.? I'm feeling like it ...
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11 votes
1 answer
502 views

Numbering of persons

It is conventional to number the three persons of Latin and Greek and many other languages so that the first person is the speaker, the second one is the listener, and the third one is anyone else. ...
1 vote
2 answers
110 views

When conjugating a verb, when should the vowel preceding a personal ending contain a macron? [duplicate]

I am working through ch 1 of Wheelock's Latin, and I am confused as to when the vowel immediately preceding a personal ending should receive a macron. For example, here is the present indicative ...
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4 votes
1 answer
148 views

Should I learn the four conjugations?

So I did well in my Latin GCSE this year but we just learned that -o is first person, -s is second person, etc. But I had a closer look at the textbook today and it lists verbs in four conjugations ...
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2 votes
0 answers
69 views

Contraction of the v-perfect in the first person singular

When there is talk about the v-perfect contraction, I don't ever see first person forms used as examples, only forms like "amavisti" becoming "amasti". So my question is whether first person singular ...
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5 votes
1 answer
2k views

May they rest in peace

This may become an inscription written on a historical marker commemorating a mass grave. Which of the following is correct: Requiesce in Pace or Requiescant in Pace? The former was offered up by a ...
7 votes
2 answers
416 views

What evidence points to a long ō in the first syllable of nōscō's present-tense form?

I've read in various sources that the verb nosco 'know' had a long vowel in the first syllable in Classical Latin pronunciation: nōscō [noːskoː]. I'm wondering what the linguistic evidence is for the ...
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2 votes
1 answer
197 views

What evidence is there for volēre over volere?

In this answer, fdb mentions the Classical verb volō, velle transforming into *voleō, volēre in Vulgar Latin. The main evidence for this is a form volendi in Augustine and reflexes like voglio, volere ...
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2 votes
2 answers
219 views

Second vs. third person in future imperative for a general rule or maxim

I am trying to translate "plan [in order] to achieve" into Latin. Is it more appropriate to use second ("meditator ut consequaris") or third person ("meditator ut consequatur") in future imperative ...
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4 votes
0 answers
82 views

Alternative forms in second-person singular present active subjunctive [duplicate]

I am trying to translate "plan [in order] to achieve" into Latin. From the dictionary it looks like both "meditator ut consequaris" and "meditator ut consequare" are grammatically correct. Are they, ...
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5 votes
1 answer
183 views

Is it better to memorize verb's 1st person perfect tense?

Is it necessary to memorize verb's perfect form like paro, parare, paravi? Or can I predict a verb's perfect forms if I remember the rules by which perfect stems are formed. Like, the suffix -v/iv or ...
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3 votes
0 answers
85 views

What do I do when "ait" fails me?

In a separate answer, I was trying to use ait in an English sentence: If the Lex Julia can ait its wording… …but I ran into a problem. Even ignoring my bastard mixture of English and Latin, "can ...
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3 votes
2 answers
100 views

Is ulcantur a subjunctive of ultus?

I have a prayer I say every morning. It includes the word ulcantur. I can't find a translation. I think it is a subjunctive for ultus? O Piisima Virgo Maria, quæ caput serpentis contrivisti, protege ...
4 votes
1 answer
346 views

Why "amatus est" instead of "*amavitur"

Is there any diachronic reason whereby synthetic perfective passive forms like *amavitur (and similar ones) are not possible and analytic forms like amatus est (and similar ones) are selected instead? ...
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3 votes
1 answer
78 views

Are there Latin verbs with Greek cognates in all four conjugations?

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few Latin verbs with obvious Greek cognates: pherō~ferō "to bear", pheugō~fugiō "to flee". But all the words I can think of are in the third conjugation. Are ...
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8 votes
1 answer
153 views

Is the U long or short in the forms ussi and ustus of the verb ūro?

I'm uncertain about the length of the u in the perfect and perfect passive participle stems of the verb uro /uːroː/. My research Lewis (1890) gives "ūrō ūssī, ūstus" but doesn't explain why....
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5 votes
2 answers
6k views

How to find the stem of any word?

I am wondering if the stem of every word has an exact form? For example: For the word genus, how could you determine is it gen or gener? For the word līber, how could you determine is it līber or ...
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6 votes
2 answers
238 views

Did the Romans create any irregular verbs?

Most newly-formed Latin verbs were put into the nice, regular first conjugation: both deriving from existing words (dīcō, -ere > dīctō, -āre) and with borrowings (Graecissō, -āre). English is mostly ...
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3 votes
3 answers
168 views

How to do indefinite person with verbs

In English you can conjugate like so: I eat You eat He/she/it eats We eat You all eat They eat But you can also conjugate with a variety of “indefinite” pronouns: One eats Everyone ...
3 votes
1 answer
101 views

Conjugation/grammar for fictitious title

In a work of fiction, I have an Order of ordained detectives that do not exist. I use the term Lictor Rebus Sanctorae for the Order, and Lictor Rebus Sanctorus for the male protagonist. I know this ...
3 votes
1 answer
72 views

Translating sentence but how do I deal with conjugation - if it's plural in English, is it plural in Latin?

I want to translate "Fear is a crossroads" but I'm confused because in English, "crossroads" is plural, but uses the singular article "a". So would my sentence be "Timor est compitum" or "Timor sunt ...
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4 votes
2 answers
429 views

'plecto, plectere, plexi', -tor/-sor form (agent noun)

How would one add the agent noun suffix (normally -tor) to the verb 'plecto' (I weave/twist)? It's been a few years — about 10 — but if I recall correctly, verbs whose stem ends in 't' ...
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4 votes
2 answers
370 views

Aperio - to reveal?

I’m trying to conjugate aperio to say, “I reveal/uncover/disclose”. So, I guess I have two questions. First, is aperio the correct verb to say this? And, if so, what is the correct conjugation?
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9 votes
1 answer
235 views

Audio and video... and tango?

Audio and video are two (apparently XX-century) concepts. Both take the same form as 1st-person sing., present tense Latin verbs. Wiktionary articles for the English words (audio, video) assert that ...
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8 votes
1 answer
164 views

Future: why -am instead of -em?

The future tense of third and fourth conjugation verbs is marked by -ē-, as in trahes and audies. The regular personal endings are added after this vowel. But in the first person singular the ...
4 votes
0 answers
111 views

Cur coniugationes systematis praesentis sunt tam dissimiles cum eae cum coniugationibus systematis perfecti comparentur?

TL;DR & the actual question For those who don't need an explanation of all verb endings and the ways in which they differ from each other, my question follows below. For those who might need a ...
12 votes
1 answer
315 views

Third conjugation passive infinitive: why -i and not -eri?

The active infinitive is uniform (-re from -se by rhotacism) across the regular Latin conjugations, but the passive one is not: the third conjugation loses the consonant. We have amare/amari, habere/...
2 votes
1 answer
544 views

What is the origin of the active perfect indicative personal endings?

The active perfect stem conjugation in Latin resembles the conjugation of esse a lot, but I recently learned that it is likely to be a coincidence. However, the active perfect indicative forms do not ...
4 votes
1 answer
125 views

Does 'fiebam' contain the same root twice?

I learned from this question and its answers that the imperfect marker -ba- comes from the same PIE root as fui and fio. What about the form fiebam (and other persons) then? Does it contain the same ...