Latin for Beginners · Lesson XIX · Part 4: Verbs: the active voice
19. Present tense of amō and moneō
Goal: Your child conjugates first- and second-conjugation verbs in the present tense and translates each form three ways.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook for Latin, and a pencil
What's in the book
The four conjugations, the present stem (found by dropping -re from the infinitive), and the present tense of amō and moneō. A list of 21 verbs to learn, then forms to translate both ways.
The lesson, step by step
Review
Chant the present of sum.
Four conjugations
Regular verbs fall into four groups, called conjugations. You find the group from the infinitive (the "to" form): amāre, to love (first); monēre, to advise (second); regere, to rule (third); audīre, to hear (fourth). Drop the -re to get the present stem: amā-, monē-.
The present tense
Add the personal endings to the stem:
amō, amās, amat, amāmus, amātis, amant
moneō, monēs, monet, monēmus, monētis, monent
The long vowel of the stem goes short before -t and -nt, and before another vowel.
Three ways to say it
Section 130: amat can be "he loves", "he is loving" or "he does love". Latin uses one form for all three.
Learn the verbs
Section 129 lists the verbs to conjugate this way, including arō (plow), cūrō (care for), habeō (have), iubeō (order), videō (see) and vocō (call). The book points out that dō, dare (give) has a short a.
Exercises
Section 131, Exercise I: give the person and number of each form, then translate. Two of the lines:
Vocāmus, properātis, iubent.
Movētis, laudās, vidēs.
The book says to look at the personal ending first. Then do Exercise II, English to Latin.
Wrap up
Your child conjugates videō and laudō aloud.
Answers to the book's problems
Exercise I: 1. We call, you (plural) hasten, they order. 2. You (plural) move, you praise, you see. 3. You (plural) destroy, you (plural) have, they give. 4. You hasten, he longs for, we see. 5. He orders, they move, he kills. 6. We tell, you move, they see. 7. You (plural) labor, they hasten, you carry, they prepare. 8. He destroys, you (plural) have, we order, you give. (Each present can also be said "is calling" or "does call".)
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.