Verb Conjugations

Latin verbs change their endings on the subject.

• 1st person singular: -o
• 2nd person singular: -is/-es
• 3rd person singular: -t
• infinitive form(to do): -re
  eg:

Subject	studere	scribere	legere	dormire	laborare	docere	videre
ego	studeo	scribo	lego	dormio	laboro	doceo	video
tu	studes	scribis	legis	dormis	laboras	doces	vides
(it)	studet	scribit	legit	dormit	laborat	docet	videt

Sentence Structure

Latin uses word endings to show that role a noun plays in a sentence. Object: -m
eg:

• Magistra discipulam docet.
• Poeta epistulam scribit.

Possession

To show ownership or relationships(“of”), Latin changes the ending to -ae.
eg:

• Discipulae magistra=Magistra discipulae
• Discipula epistulam magistrae scribit.

Adjectives and Noun-adjectives

eg:

• Longam epistulam scribo.
• Magistra magnam discipulam docet.
• Magistra magna discipulam docet.

Conjunctions and Adverbs

• et=and
• sed=but
• quod=because
• non = not
• qui=who
• nemo=no one

Gender

Latin nouns have grammatical gender (masculine / feminine). Gender usually
lines up with declension:

• Nouns ending in -a (1st declension) → usually feminine
• Nouns ending in -us / -er / -ius (2nd declension) → usually masculine

EXCEPTION: some 1st-declension (-a) nouns are masculine because they refer
to men, e.g. agricola (farmer), poeta (poet). They still take -a/-am/-ae
endings, but agree with masculine adjectives.

Declension patterns compared

	1st decl. (usu. fem.)	2nd decl. (usu. masc.)
Subject	-a	-us / -er / -ius
Object	-am	-um
”of ___“	-ae	-i (or -ii)

eg:

• discipula (f.) — discipulus (m.) — “student”

  • Discipulus studet. — The (male) student studies.
  • Discipulum video. — I see the (male) student.
  • Agricola epistulam discipuli legit. — The farmer reads the student’s letter.

• amica (f.) — amicus (m.) — amici (“of the male friend”) — “friend”

  • Amicum habeo. — I have a (male) friend.
  • Discipulus amicam habet. — The (male) student has a (female) friend.
  • Epistulam agricolae habes. — You have the farmer’s letter.
    (agricola is masculine, but still uses -ae, since it’s 1st declension)

• liber (m.) — librum — libri — “book”
  (2nd declension, but nominative singular has no -us, like puer)

• gladius — “sword” (2nd declension, -ius noun)

  • gladii amicus — friend of the sword
    (genitive of gladius is gladii, often shortened to gladi)

Irregular verb: esse (to be)

esse doesn’t follow normal conjugation patterns — memorize it directly.
Because “to be” equates two things rather than acting on an object,
BOTH sides of the sentence stay in the subject form (nominative) —
never use -m or -am here.

Subject	esse
ego	sum
tu	es
(it)	est

eg:

• Agricola est poeta. = Agricola poeta est. — The farmer is a poet.
• Discipula est amica mea. — The student is my friend. (fem: discipula/amica/mea)
• Discipulus est amicus meus. — The student is my friend. (masc: discipulus/amicus/meus)
• Tu es discipula. — You are a student.
• Ego sum. / Magnus discipulus sum. — I am. / I am a great student.

Adjectives agree with gender

Adjectives (and possessives like meus/mea) change form to match the
gender of the noun they describe — masculine drops/changes the ending,
feminine keeps -a.

• Magistra est pulchra. — The teacher (f.) is beautiful.
• Discipulus/Poeta pulcher est. — The student/poet (m.) is handsome.

Compound verb: posse (to be able to / can)

posse = pot- + esse. Same personal endings as esse, just with “pot-”
attached. Always followed by an infinitive (“to ___“).

esse	posse
sum	possum
es	potes
est	potest

eg:

• Poeta bene scribere potest. — The poet can write well.
• Amicus meus non potest legere. — My friend cannot read.
  (infinitive of lego/legis/legit is legere, not “legire”)

New vocabulary

• desiderare (desidero/desideras/desiderat) = desire
  • Amicum desidero. — I miss a friend.
  • Puellam desiderat. — S/he misses the girl.
• puella / puellam / puellae = girl (truly feminine, 1st declension)
  • Poeta puella non est. — The poet is not a girl. (nominative on both
    sides, because of “est”)
  • Epistulam puellae legis. — You read the girl’s letter.
• bene = well (adverb)