Nominative plurals and THEY as the subject of the verb

The plural of ancilla is ancillae of servus is servi of dux is duces So subjects can have plurals just like any other case But

The verb must agree with the subject Ancilla urbem occupat means The slave girl attacks the city. Ancillae urbem occupant means The slave girls attack the city. The verb reflects the fact that the subject is now plural. So

The majority of tenses follow the –t to –nt rule servus tauros agebat and servi tauros agebant dux aurum celaverat and duces aurum celaverant puer accedebat ut aquam biberet and pueri accedebant ut aquam biberent !!But there are some glitches!!

Glitch 1. perfect endings –it to -erunt Filius flumen spectavit Filii flumen spectaverunt Dux crimen fecit Duces crimen fecerunt Pater corpora tulit Patres corpora tulerunt

Magister verbum docebit. Magistri verbum docebunt. Latro donum mittit. Glitch 2 –it to –unt In the present and future forms, an –i becomes a –u before -nt Magister verbum docebit. Magistri verbum docebunt. Latro donum mittit. Latrones donum mittunt.

Irregulars use that –unt fert becomes ferunt it becomes eunt Glitch 2 and ½: Irregulars use -unt Irregulars use that –unt fert becomes ferunt it becomes eunt vult becomes volunt potest becomes possunt

Glitch 3. –io verbs always show an -i Magus corpus sepelit. (sepelio) Magi corpus sepeliunt. Miles signa rapit. (rapio) Milites signa rapiunt.

And passives? In the present system, just insert that –n- Urbs occupabatur Urbes occupabantur Frater mittitur Fratres mittuntur Carmen audietur Carmina audientur

The perfect system plural needs looking at While the third principle part is used for the active perfect forms Miles arborem fregit Milites arborem fregerunt The passive forms are made from the fourth principle part (the past participle passive) plus a helping verb. And both those forms need to show plural endings.

The perfect passive verb needs to agree in The perfect passive verb needs to agree in gender (m/f/n) and number (s/p) arbor ab milite fracta est. (arbor is fem.) arbores ab milite fractae sunt. dux ab hostibus latus erat. (dux is mas.) duces ab hostibus lati erant. carmen ab poeta scriptum est. (carmen carmina ab poeta scripta sunt. is neu.)