1. The Present Tense Verb System

2. I. Proper format of verbs
Verbs are properly “named” with their four principle parts:
amo , amare, amavi, amatus
-to like, to love
Note: This is how you will see verbs in the dictionary.

3. This year we only really need the first two principle parts:
amo , amare
1st person sing., present tense
infinitive
Note: This is how you will see verbs in the vocabulary lists from now on.

4. ama re amare II. The parts of a verb base stem ending
characteristic vowel

5. III. Four kinds of verbs Kind example vowel
1st Conjugation paro, parare a
2nd Conjugation habeo, habēre ē
3rd Conjugation mitto, mittere e
3rd –io iacio, iacere
4th Conjugation audio, audire i

6. IV. The Verb Party
We now need to learn how to conjugate each kind of verb
We start with the infinitive, as we usually do with verbs

7. 1st Conjugation - parare
The endings column is just filled with the personal endings.
par o
par a s
The base does not change.
par a t
par a
mus
Now you need to know what the characteristic vowel does for each conjugation.
par a
tis
par a nt
Watch (and memorize) where the “a” appears.
personal ending
base

8. 2nd Conjugation - habēres t
mus
tis nt
The “strong e” of the 2nd conjugation shows itself throughout the whole conjugation. e e e e e

9. 3rd Conjugation - mitteres t
mus
tis nt
The “weak e” of the 3rd conjugation never shows itself. Be sure to recite this strange pattern until you have it memorized well. i i i i u

10. 4th Conjugation - audires t
mus
tis nt
The 4th conjugation has the “i” all the way down, but adds a “u” at the end. i i i i iu

11. The 3rd -io
The 3rd –io is kind of a combination of 3rd and 4th conjugation
From the infinitive, you know for sure that it is a 3rd conjugation verb
Yet the 1st principle part ends in an “-io” instead of just an “-o”
iacio, iacere
the “-io” shows that it’s not a normal third
“weak e” is always 3rd conj.
continued…

12. 3rd -io Conjugation - iaceres t
mus
tis nt
Although it is a 3rd conj. verb, in the present tense it is conjugated exactly like a 4th i i i i iu

13. What are the four characteristic vowels. (Say them before they appear
1st Conj.
2nd Conj.
3rd Conj.
4th Conj. a e ē i

14. Practice reciting the endings of all four conjugations
1st Conj.
2nd Conj.
3rd Conj.
4th Conj. -o
-eo -o
-io
-as
-es
-is
-is
-at
-et
-it
-it
-amus
-emus
-imus
-imus
-atis
-etis
-itis
-itis
-ant
-ent
-unt
-iunt