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النشر الإلكتروني

LESSON VII

FORMS OF VERBS: CONJUGATION OF PORTO

FORMS OF THE VERB

38. In the present tense of the active voice, the English verb praise has a different form for the third person singular from that used in the first person. Thus, I praise, he praises. In the plural, the forms are the same for all persons: we praise, you praise, they praise. In Latin there is a different form for each person, and the forms of the plural differ from those of the singular. The endings show what the person and number of a verb are, and the pronouns which mean I, you, he, etc., are commonly omitted. Thus portō means I carry, portāmus means we carry, and the subjects I and we are denoted by the endings -ō and -mus. These endings of a verb which show person and number are called Personal Endings.

a. In some modern European languages the pronoun as subject is often omitted as in Latin, for the reason that the ending shows what the person and number of thể verb is.

CONJUGATION

The grouping together of the different forms of a verb is called Conjugation, and in giving all these different forms one is said to conjugate the verb.

THE INDICATIVE MOOD

39. A verb which states something as a fact or asks a question which can be answered by a statement of fact is said to be in the Indicative Mood. Thus, We walk. Has the boy arrived?

1

The other moods of the verb will be explained later.

THE PRESENT INDICATIVE ACTIVE OF PORTŌ

40. The verb porto, I carry, is conjugated in the present tense of the active voice, indicative mood, as follows:

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41. The personal endings which have been seen in the conjugation of portō are used in the present tense of all regular verbs in the active voice of the indicative mood. They are as follows:

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THE SECOND PERSON IN LATIN AND IN ENGLISH

42. In modern English the word you may refer to one person or to more than one. In Latin there are different forms both of the pronoun (when used) and of the verb, to indicate whether one person or more than one is meant in the second person: portās, you carry, spoken to one person, portatis, you carry, spoken to more than one. In older English thou was used for the second person singular, and the verb of the singular differed from that of the plural, but today this form is found only in poetry and in prayers or other religious expressions. Modern European languages keep the second person singular, but it has special uses which are not quite the same as in the older English and the Latin.

1The verb dō differs from all other verbs in having the vowel a short in the first person plural, and the second person plural.

In the first person singular of some tenses to be given later m is used instead of ō.

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TRANSLATION OF THE THIRD PERSON SINGULAR

43. The forms laudat, portat, dat, etc., may be translated with the subjects he or she or it. When such words are used in sentences, it is possible to decide from the meaning of the sentence which pronoun is to be used.

SUGGESTED DRILL

1. What are the uses of the indicative mood? 2. How many forms of the English verb praise are there in common use in the present tense, active voice, to indicate person and number? 3. How many forms of a Latin verb are there in a tense of the active voice? 4. Why may personal pronouns as subjects be omitted in Latin? 5. What is meant by conjugating a verb? 6. What is the difference between the English use of you and the Latin usage in referring to the second person? 7. What is the difference between modern English and older English usage in this respect? 8. Give the personal endings of porto as seen in the present indicative active.

LESSON VIII

THE CONJUGATIONS: THE PRESENT STEM

THE FOUR CONJUGATIONS

44. There are four conjugations of Latin verbs. In Latin dictionaries and vocabularies the present active infinitive, or its termination, is used to indicate the conjugation to which a verb belongs. The termination of the present active infinitive of the first conjugation is -āre.

THE FIRST CONJUGATION

45. The verbs of the first conjugation are conjugated like portō, of which the present indicative active has been given in section 40. The present active infinitives of portō and laudō are portare, to carry, and laudăre, to praise. The verb dō differs from all other Latin verbs of the first conjugation in that the infinitive termination has the a short: dare, to give.

THE ROMANCE VERB

46. In Spanish, French, and the other modern languages derived from Latin, there are three conjugations instead of four. The loss of one of the conjugations of the original Latin has come about through a confusion in the use of forms.

THE PRESENT STEM OF LATIN VERBS

47. The present tense of Latin verbs is made by adding the personal endings to what is called the Present Stem. The present stem is found by dropping the final -re of the present active infinitive. Thus, the present stem of all verbs in the first conjugation ends in ā. The vowel in which the present stem ends is called the Characteristic Vowel of the conjugation. In the first conjugation, the characteristic ā becomes short before the personal endings -t and -nt. Before -ō it disappears.

POSITION OF THE OBJECT

48. In Latin the object regularly stands before the verb, instead of being placed after it as in English. Thus, I carry the letter is in Latin Epistulam portō.

EXERCISES

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49. Translate: 1. Industriam laudāmus. 2. Rosam portās. 3. Nautam laudant. 4. Rosas dō. 5. Eloquentiam laudare. 6. Epistulam portare.

50. 1. You (sing.) praise the victory. 2. He praises eloquence. 3. They give roses. 4. We carry roses. 5. To carry roses. 6. To praise victory. 7. To give a rose. 8. To carry letters. 9. To praise industry. 10. To praise the victories.

ROMAN PITCHER

SUGGESTED DRILL

1. What form of the verb is used to indicate the conjugation to which a verb belongs? 2. What is the termination of the present active infinitive of the first conjugation? 3. In what respect does the infinitive ending of dō differ from that of other verbs of the first conjugation? 4. How many conjugations are there in the Romance languages? 5. How is the present stem of the Latin verb found? 6. What is meant by the characteristic vowel of a conjugation? 7. What is the characteristic vowel of the first conjugation? 8. What is the position of the object in Latin?

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