3. Translating Verbs
Stem + Tense Sign + Personal Ending
Stem tells you the meaning of the word
Vocabamus comes from voco=call
Laudant comes from laudo=praise
Natabo comes from nato=swim
4. Translating Verbs
Stem + Tense Sign + Personal Ending
Tense Sign tells the tense
– Present: no tense sign
• Is, are
– Imperfect (past): tense sign = ba
• Was, were
– Future: tense sign = bi (bo/bi/bu)
• Will
5. Translating Verbs
Stem + Tense Sign + Personal Ending
Personal Endings tell
– Person
• 1st = I, we
• 2nd = you
• 3rd = he, she, it, they
– Number
• Singular
• Plural
6. Personal Endings Chart
Singular Plural
1st Person -o or -m -mus
2nd Person -s -tis
3rd Person -t -nt
Memory help for Singular endings: MOST (Latin is the most fun
class!); or O for one, S for second, and T for third person
7. Examples
Stem + Tense Sign + Personal Ending
Amo, amare: love
stem=ama
Present Imperfect Future
1st Person Sing Amo* Amabam Amabo**
2nd Person Sing Amas Amabas Amabis
3rd Person Sing Amat Amabat Amabit
1st Person Plural Amamus Amabamus Amabimus
2nd Person Plural Amatis Amabatis Amabitis
3rd Person Plural Amant Amabant Amabunt***
*“a” disappears before final “o”
**“i” disappears before final “o”
***“i” changes to “u” before “nt”
8. Translation
The order of Stem/Tense/Ending is basically
reversed from Latin to English.
In English we say “I am walking” or “You were
preparing” or “They will watch”. The person
and number comes first, then the be verb that
indicates tense, then the definition.
So when you are decoding a verb in Latin, the
elements will go in the opposite order in English.
