Author: Indigo Curnick
Date: 2025-03-16
In this blog we'll cover the conjugations of the Latin imperfect indicative active verb conjugation. To review what that means we need to remember that a verb conjugation is defined by: person, tense, mood and voice.
In this case
- Tense = imperfect
- Mood = indicative
- Voice = active
And as a reminder of what those mean
- Imperfect: The action or state of being is was ongoing on repeated in the past e.g. I was leading, I used to lead
- Indicative: The verb is stating a fact about the world
- Active: The subject of the verb performs the action
Examples of this idea in English are I am running, she eats the cake, he walks to work, they read the textbook and so on.
We'll consider five verbs from each of the conjugations, as well as some irregular verbs.
First Conjugation
-
dō, dare, dedī, datum - to give
-
portō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to carry, to bring
-
servō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to save, to keep
-
habitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to live, to dwell
-
labōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to work
| Person | dō | portō | servō | habitō | labōrō |
| 1st Sing. | dabam | portābam | servābam | habitābam | labōrābam |
| 2nd Sing. | dabās | portābas | servābās | habitābās | labōrābās |
| 3rd Sing. | dabat | portābat | servābat | habitābat | labōrābat |
| 1st Plur. | dabāmus | portabāmus | servābat | habitābāmus | labōrābāmus |
| 2nd Plur. | dabātis | portabātis | servābātis | habitābātis | labōrābātis |
| 3rd Plur. | dabant | portābant | servābant | habitābant | labōrābant |
Second Conjugation
- doceō, -ēre, -uī, -tum - to teach
- iubeō, -bēre, -ssī, -ssum - to order
- maneō, -āre, mānsī, mānsum - to remain, to stay
- respondeō, -ondēre, -ondī, -ōnsum - to reply, to respond
- dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itum - to owe, to ought
| Person | doceō | iubeō | maneō | respondeō | dēbeō |
| 1st Sing. | docēbam | iubēbam | manēbam | respondēbam | dēbēbam |
| 2nd Sing. | docēbās | iubēbas | manēbas | respondēbas | dēbēbas |
| 3rd Sing. | docēbat | iubēbat | manēbat | respondēbat | dēbēbat |
| 1st Plur. | docēbāmus | iubēbāmus | manēbāmus | respondēbāmus | dēbēbāmus |
| 2nd Plur. | docēbātis | iubēbātis | manēbātis | respondēbātis | dēbēbātis |
| 3rd Plur. | docēbant | iubēbant | manēbant | respondēbant | dēbēbant |
Third Conjugation
- pōnō, -ere, posuī, postium - to place, to put
- vīvō, -vere, -xī, -ctum - to live, to be alive
- agō, agere, ēgī, āctum - to do, to drive
- dīcō, -cere, -xī, dictum - to say
- petō, -ere, -īvi, -ītum - to seek, to ask for
| Person | pōnō | vīvō | agō | dīcō | petō |
| 1st Sing. | pōnēbam | vīvēbam | agēbam | dīcēbam | petēbam |
| 2nd Sing. | pōnēbas | vīvēbas | agēbas | dīcēbas | petēbas |
| 3rd Sing. | pōnēbat | vīvēbat | agēbat | dīcēbat | petēbat |
| 1st Plur. | pōnēbāmus | vīvēbāmus | agēbāmus | dīcēbāmus | petēbāmus |
| 2nd Plur. | pōnēbātis | vīvēbātis | agēbātis | dīcēbātis | petēbātis |
| 3rd Plur. | pōnēbant | vīvēbant | agēbant | dīcēbant | petēbant |
Fourth Conjugation
- dormiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to sleep
- serviō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to serve
- pūniō, -īre, -ior, -īrī - to punish
- fīnīo, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to finish
- impediō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to hinder
| Person | dormiō | serviō | pūniō | fīnīo | impediō |
| 1st Sing. | dormiēbam | serviēbam | pūniēbam | fīniēbam | impediēbam |
| 2nd Sing. | dormiēbas | serviēbas | pūniēbas | fīniēbas | impediēbas |
| 3rd Sing. | dormiēbat | serviēbat | pūniēbat | fīniēbat | impediēbat |
| 1st Plur. | dormiēbāmus | serviēbāmus | pūniēbāmus | fīniēbāmus | impediēbāmus |
| 2nd Plur. | dormiēbātis | serviēbātis | pūniēbātis | fīniēbātis | impediēbātis |
| 3rd Plur. | dormiēbant | serviēbant | pūniēbant | fīniēbant | impediēbant |
Irregular Verbs
Unfortunately, Latin has its own bag of irregular verbs. We can't possibly list all of them now, but here's a few to memorise. Thankfully the imperfect indicative active has fewer verbs which are irregular that you must memorise
Consider
-
sum, esse, fuī - to be (the most important verb - you MUST memorise this)
-
posse, -sse, -tuī - to be able
-
eō, īre, īvī, itum - to go
| Person | sum | posse | ire |
| 1st Sing. | eram | poteram | ībam |
| 2nd Sing. | erās | poteras | ības |
| 3rd Sing. | erat | poterat | ībat |
| 1st Plur. | erāmus | poterāmus | ibāmus |
| 2nd Plur. | erātis | poterātis | ibātis |
| 3rd Plur. | erant | poterant | ībant |
Next Steps
Memorise all of the verb forms here before moving onto the next verb form. Place all of these into Anki - once you've memorised them all this should be enough examples to be able to recognise the verb form in written text.
References
Collar, W. C., Daniell, M. G., Jenkins, T. (1918) Collar and Daniel's First Year Latin (Revised Ed.). Ginn and Company
Bullions, P. (1856) The Principles of Latin Grammar (62nd Ed.). Pratt, Woodford, Farmer & Brace
Wheelock, F. M. (2005) Wheelock's Latin 6th ed. HarperResource
Kidd, D. A., Wade, M (1997) Collins Latin Dictionary & Grammar. Harper Collins