Latin Reference — Vol. IV: The Verb Engine
Nouns carry their grammar in endings; so do verbs. One Latin verb form does the work of an English pronoun + verb pair: amō = I love, amant = they love. No pronoun needed — the ending names the person. This is the same principle as the case system: endings carry grammar, word order carries emphasis.
The personal endings
These six endings run through almost the entire language. Learn them once, reuse them forever.
| Person | Sing. | Meaning | Pl. | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | -ō / -m | I | -mus | we |
| 2nd | -s | you | -tis | you (pl.) |
| 3rd | -t | he/she/it | -nt | they |
Pithy anchor: -t = one person doing it, -nt = a crowd. On Romano-British stones you will meet the third person constantly: fecit (he made), posuit (she set this up), vixit (he lived).
The four conjugations
Verbs sort into four families by the vowel that joins stem to ending. The dictionary form to memorise is the infinitive (the to — form): its vowel announces the family.
| Conj. | Infinitive | Vowel | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | amāre | -ā- | to love |
| 2nd | monēre | -ē- | to warn |
| 3rd | regere | -e- (short) | to rule |
| 4th | audīre | -ī- | to hear |
Present tense, all four side by side
| Person | 1st: amō | 2nd: moneō | 3rd: regō | 4th: audiō |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | amō | moneō | regō | audiō |
| you | amās | monēs | regis | audīs |
| he/she/it | amat | monet | regit | audit |
| we | amāmus | monēmus | regimus | audīmus |
| you (pl.) | amātis | monētis | regitis | audītis |
| they | amant | monent | regunt | audiunt |
The third conjugation is the scruffy one — its short -e- weakens to -i- and its they form is -unt, not -ent. The other three behave.
Aside — hidden English. These verbs are living in your mouth already. Amat → amateur (one who does it for love), amorous. Monet → monitor, admonish, premonition. Regit → regent, regulate, direct. Audit → audience, auditor — an auditor was originally a hearer of accounts read aloud. Videt (he sees) → video, evident.
Aside — where money comes from. Juno was worshipped on the Capitoline as Iūnō Monēta — "Juno who warns" (from monēre), after her sacred geese raised the alarm during a Gallic attack. Rome's mint stood in her temple precinct, so coinage took her name: monēta → money, mint. Every coin in your pocket carries a warning goddess.
sum — to be
Irregular in every language it touches, and unavoidable: it ends half the inscriptions in Britain (hic situs est — "here he lies").
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sing. | sum | I am |
| 2nd sing. | es | you are |
| 3rd sing. | est | he/she/it is |
| 1st pl. | sumus | we are |
| 2nd pl. | estis | you (pl.) are |
| 3rd pl. | sunt | they are |
Even here the skeleton shows: -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt.
Worked sentences — nouns and verbs together
Old friends from Vols I–II, now doing things:
| Latin | Translation | Mechanics |
|---|---|---|
| Mīles templum videt. | The soldier sees the temple. | mīles nom (doer) · templum acc (done-to) · -t (he) |
| Mīlitēs templum vident. | The soldiers see the temple. | -ēs nom pl · -nt (they) |
| Puella mātrī flōrēs dat. | The girl gives flowers to her mother. | mātrī dat (recipient) · flōrēs acc pl |
| Amīcī ad flūmen ambulant. | The friends walk to the river. | ad + acc (goal of motion) · -nt |
| Dea aquās sacrās regit. | The goddess rules the sacred waters. | acc pl object · adjective agreeing in case, number, gender |
| In templō sumus. | We are in the temple. | in + abl (location, not motion) |
Read each one twice: once for meaning, once naming the case and ending doing the work. That second pass is where the engine becomes visible.
The drill
Take any third-person sentence above and run it through all six persons aloud — videō, vidēs, videt, vidēmus, vidētis, vident — keeping the object the same. Six forms, one breath. The train window doesn't judge.