Latin/Verbs Present Tense Lesson 2

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Second conjugation verbs

Last lesson we studied 1st conjugation verbs, which have the letter A in the present tense conjugation and are marked by the –are ending of the infinitive (2nd principal part). This week we’ll look at verbs from the 2nd conjugation. These verbs are characterized by the letter E in the 1st and 2nd principal parts. The 2nd principal part, the infinitive, contains an ē (with a macron or accent mark): -ēre.

This is a time that it is important to emphasize the macrons, other than for pronounciation, because the infinitive form is the form you need for classification of verbs, and the macron over the ē is the only thing to distinguish 2nd from 3rd conjugation infinitives. Here are the 2nd conjugation verbs we’ve already used in previous lessons:

Second conjugation verbs

Latin	English	Audio (Classical)
ferveō, fervēre, ferbuī (intr.), 2	boil
habeō, 2	have
valeō, valēre, valuī, valiturus, 2	am strong, am well
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus, 2	see

The 2nd principal part (infinitive) of 2nd conjugation verbs ends in –ēre. There is a somewhat typical pattern of endings for 4 principal parts, like habeō, habēre, habuī, habitus. (eō, ēre, uī, itus). But as you will see, not all verbs follow this pattern. The ones that do not have the forms written out, while the “typical” ones just have a 2 after them. The pattern for a present tense conjugation is as follows:

Typical Second conjugation verb moneō

Latin	English	Audio (Classical)
moneō	I warn
monēs	you warn
monet	he/she/it warns
monēmus	we warn
monētis	you (pl.) warn
monent	they warn

The E from the stem stays in all the forms of the present tense, including 1st person singular, where it is pronounced distinctly from the O (moneo is a 3-syllable word).

New Vocabulary

Second declension verbs — principal parts like moneō, monēre, monuī, monitus unless otherwise noted

Latin	English	Audio (Classical)	Notes
doceō, docēre, docuī, doctus, 2	teach, inform
fleō, flēre, flēvī, flētus, 2	cry, weep
maneō, manēre, mānsī, mānsus, 2	remain, stay
moneō, 2	warn, advise
moveō, movēre, mōvī, mōtus, 2	move
sedeō, sedēre, sēdī, sessus, 2	sit
teneō, tenēre, tenuī, tentus, 2	hold, keep
terreō, 2	frighten, terrify
timeō, timēre, timuī, 2	fear

Other vocabulary

Latin	English	Audio (Classical)	Notes
circum, prep. w. acc.	around
quot, indecl. adj.	how many?
ubī, adv.	where?

New Sentences

Latin	English	Notes
Soror mea patellās habet.	My sister has the plates.
Aqua in ōllā fervet.	The water is boiling in the pot.
Mārcus nōn valet.	Marcus is not well (strong).
Elephantus murem videt.	The elephant sees the mouse.
Quot māla habēs?	How many apples do you have?
Quot librōs tenet?	How many books is he/she holding?
Cibum movēmus.	We move the food.
In oppidō manētis.	You (all) remain in town.
Magistra puellās et puerōs docet.	The teacher teaches the girls and boys.
Parva puella canem timet.	The small girl is afraid of the dog.
Mīlitēs fortēs urbem tenent.	The brave soldiers are holding the city.
Ubī pānem tenēs?	Where do you keep the bread?
Canis parvam puellam terret.	The dog frightens the small girl.
Servus barbarōs monet.	The slave warns the barbarians.
Discipulī in herbam sedent.	The students are sitting on the grass.
Lūciam dē perīculō monēmus.	We warn Lucia about the danger.
Fēlēs et canis nōn movent.	The cat and the dog do not move.
Nepōtēs circum mēnsam sedent.	The grandchildren sit around the table.
Māter flet quod puerī malī sunt.	Mother weeps because the boys are bad.
Rōmānī Klingōnēs nōn timent.	Romans do not fear Klingons.
Verbum memoriā nōn teneō.	I do not remember the word. (lit. I do not hold the word in memory.)
Magistrī multa nōmina memoriā tenent.	The teachers remember many names.
Gāius stat, sed Paula sedet.	Gaius stands, but Paula sits.
Littera scrīpta manet.	The written word (letter) endures.

Practice

Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson
Step one	First learn the words using this lesson: Verbs Present Tense vocabulary
Step two	Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: Verbs Present Tense Sentences
Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function)

That’s enough for this lesson … next time we’ll look at 3rd conjugation verbs. Please feel free to ask questions or give comments below. We hope you are enjoying the course. Valēte!

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