Latin III/Present Subjunctive Lesson 1
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New Grammar
[edit | edit source]Today we'll meet a new form of Latin verbs called the present subjunctive. The subjunctive is used rather like may, would, should in English. It conveys the idea of wishes or uncertainty.
While the subjunctive might sound complicated, it's actually quite straightforward to form in first conjugation verbs - you just need to change the -ā- to -ē-!
Let's look at our familiar verb amō:
| Person | Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | amō | amem |
| 2nd person singular | amās | amēs |
| 3rd person singular | amat | amet |
| 1st person plural | amāmus | amēmus |
| 2nd person plural | amātis | amētis |
| 3rd person plural | amant | ament |
See the pattern? We simply change the characteristic -ā- of first conjugation verbs to -ē- and add the endings. The subjunctive is a different mood of the verb that we'll use in special situations, which we'll learn about in later lessons.
Verbs in This Lesson
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Audio (Classical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| amō, 1 | love | ||
| laudō, 1 | praise | ||
| parō, 1 | prepare | ||
| servō, 1 | save, preserve | ||
| spectō, 1 | watch, look at | ||
| cōgitō, 1 | think | ||
| natō, 1 | swim | ||
| ambulō, 1 | walk |
New Words
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Audio (Classical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| hodiē | today | ||
| mox | soon | ||
| bene | well |
New Sentences
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amem. | May I love. | Simple wish |
| Amēmus patriam. | Let us love our country. | |
| Bene cogitēmus. | Let us think well. | |
| Laudēs amīcōs. | May you praise your friends. | |
| Spectēmus stellās. | Let us look at the stars. | |
| Parēmus cēnam. | Let us prepare dinner. | |
| Hodiē natēmus! | Let us swim today! | |
| Mox ambulēmus. | Let us walk soon. | |
| Servēmus librōs. | Let us preserve the books. | |
| Bene ambulet. | May he/she walk well. | |
| Spectet et laudet. | May he/she watch and praise. |
Practice
[edit | edit source]| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Step one | First learn the words using this lesson: |
| Step two | Next try learning and writing the sentences using this: |
| 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 to start with for the present subjunctive. Next lesson we'll look at second conjugation verbs. Until then, valēte!