Page:Latin for beginners (1911).djvu/72

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52
CONJUGATION

(he sings). Instead of using personal pronouns for the different persons in the two numbers, singular and plural, the Latin verb uses the personal endings (cf. § 22 a; 29). We have already learned that -t is the ending of the third person singular in the active voice and -nt of the third person plural. The complete list of personal endings of the active voice is as follows:

Singular   Plural
1st Pers. I -m or we -mus
2d Pers. thou or you -s you -tis
3d Pers. he, she, it -t they -nt

123. Most verbs form their moods and tenses after a regular plan and are called regular verbs. Verbs that depart from this plan are called irregular. The verb to be is irregular in Latin as in English. The present, imperfect, and future tenses of the indicative are inflected as follows:

Present Indicative
Singular Plural
1st Pers. su-m, I am su-mus, we are
2d Pers. e-s, you[1] are es-tis, you[1] are
3d Pers. es-t, he, she, or it is su-nt, they are
Imperfect Indicative
1st Pers. er-a-m, I was er-ā´-mus, we were
2d Pers. er-ā-s, you were er-ā´-tis, you were
3d Pers. er-a-t, he, she, or it was er-a-nt, they were
Future Indicative
1st Pers. er-ō, I shall be er´-i-mus, we shall be
2d Pers. er-i-s, you will be er´-i-tis, you will be
3d Pers. er-i-t, he will be er-u-nt, they will be
a. Be careful about vowel quantity and accent in these forms, and consult §§ 12.2; 14; 15.
  1. 1.0 1.1 Observe that in English you are, you were, etc. may be either singular or plural. In Latin the singular and plural forms are never the same.