Verb Endings

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165. Every form of the finite verb is made up of two parts:

  1. The STEM (see § 24). This is either the root or a modification or development of it.
  2. The ENDING, consisting of—
    1. the Signs of Mood and Tense (see § 168 and § 169).
    2. the Personal Ending (see § 163).

Thus in the verb vocā-bā-s (you were calling) the root is VOC, modified into the verb-stem vocā-, which by the addition of the ending -bās becomes the imperfect tense vocābās; and this ending consists of the tense-sign bā- and the personal ending (-s) of the second person singular.

166. The Verb endings, as they are formed by the signs for mood and tense combined with personal endings, are—

Present and imperfect Verb endings with signs for mood and tense combined

Future verb endings with signs for mood and tense combined

Perfect and pluperfect verb endings with signs for mood and tense combined

Future perfect verb endings with signs for mood and tense combined

For convenience a table of the Noun and Adjective forms of the verb is here added.

Verb endings for noun and adjective forms of the verb

167. A long vowel is shortened before the personal endings -m (-r), -t, -nt (-ntur).

ame-t for older amē-t
habe-t for habē-t
mone-nt, mone-ntur

Suggested Citation

Meagan Ayer, Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-947822-04-7. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/verb-endings