Author: Indigo Curnick
Date: 2026-02-21
In this blog we'll cover the conjugations of the Latin perfect 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 = perfect
- Mood = indicative
- Voice = active
And as a reminder of what those mean
- Perfect: The action was completed in the past by the time of speaking
- 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 have love, I have slept and so on.
First Conjugation
Consider
-
amō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to love
-
vocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to call
-
laudō, -ārē, -āvī, -ātum - to praise
-
spectō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to look at
-
parō, -āre, -āvī -ātum - to prepare
| Person | amō | vocō | laudō | spectō | parō |
| 1st Sing. | amāvi | vocāvī | laudāvī | spectāvī | parāvī |
| 2nd Sing. | amāvistī | vocāvistī | laudāvistī | spectāvistī | parāvistī |
| 3rd Sing. | amāvit | vocāvit | laudāvit | spectāvit | parāvit |
| 1st Plur. | amāvimus | vocāvimus | laudāvimus | spectāvimus | parāvimus |
| 2nd Plur. | amāvistis | vocāvistis | laudāvistis | spectāvistis | parāvistis |
| 3rd Plur. | amāvērunt | vocāvērunt | laudāvērunt | spectāvērunt | parāvērunt |
Second Conjugation
Consider
- habeō, -ēre, -uī, -itum - to have, to hold
- videō, -ēre, vīdī, vīsum - to see
- moneō, -ēre, -uī, -itum - to advise, to warn
- teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tum - to hold
- timeō, -ēre, -uī - to fear (no passive, or past participle, hence only three forms)
| Person | habeō | videō | moneō | teneō | timeō |
| 1st Sing. | habuī | vīdī | monuī | tenuī | timuī |
| 2nd Sing. | habuistī | vīdistī | monuistī | tenuistī | timuistī |
| 3rd Sing. | habuit | vīdit | monuit | tenuit | timuit |
| 1st Plur. | habuimus | vīdimus | monuimus | tenuimus | timuimus |
| 2nd Plur. | habuistis | vīdistis | monuistis | tenuistis | timuistis |
| 3rd Plur. | habuērunt | vīdērunt | monuērunt | tenuērunt | timuērunt |
Third Conjugation
Consider
- ducō, -cere, -xī, ductum - to lead
- mittō, -ere, mīsi, missum - to send
- legō, -ere, lēgī, lēctum - to choose, to read
- pōnō, -ere, posuī, postium - to place, to put
- vincō, -ere, vīcī, victum - to conquer
| Person | ducō | mittō | legō | scrībō | vincō |
| 1st Sing. | dūxī | mīsī | lēgāvī | posuī | vīcī |
| 2nd Sing. | dūxistī | mīsistī | lēgāvistī | posuistī | vīcistī |
| 3rd Sing. | dūxit | mīsit | lēgāvit | posuit | vīcit |
| 1st Plur. | dūximus | mīsimus | lēgāvimus | posuimus | vīcimus |
| 2nd Plur. | dūxistis | mīsistis | lēgāvistis | posuistis | vīctistis |
| 3rd Plur. | dūxērunt | mīsērunt | lēgāvērunt | posuērunt | vīcērunt |
Fourth Conjugation
Consider
- audiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to hear
- veniō, -īre, vēnī, ventum - to come
- sciō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to know
- sentiō, -īre, sēnsī, sēnsum - to feel
- aperiō, -īre, -uī, -tum
| Person | audiō | veniō | sciō | sentiō | aperiō |
| 1st Sing. | audīvī | vēnī | scīvī | sēnsī | aperuī |
| 2nd Sing. | audīvistī | vēnistī | scīvistī | sēnsistī | aperuistī |
| 3rd Sing. | audīvit | vēnit | scīvit | sēnsit | aperuit |
| 1st Plur. | audīvimus | vēnimus | scīvimus | sēnsimus | aperuimus |
| 2nd Plur. | audīvistis | vēnistis | scīvistis | sēnsistis | aperuistis |
| 3rd Plur. | audīvērunt | vēnērunt | scīvērunt | sēnsērunt | aperuērunt |
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
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
- ferō, ferre, tulī, lātum - to carry
- volō, velle, voluī - to want
- nōlō, -le, -uī, to not want
- mālō, -le, -uī, to prefer
| Person | sum | posse | eō | ferō | volō | nōlō | mālō |
| 1st Sing. | fuī | potuī | iī | tulī | voluī | nōluī | māluī |
| 2nd Sing. | fuistī | potuistī | īstī | tulistī | voluistī | nōluistī | māluistī |
| 3rd Sing. | fuit | potuit | iit | tulit | voluit | nōluit | māluit |
| 1st Plur. | fuimus | potuimus | iimus | tulimus | voluimus | nōluimus | māluimus |
| 2nd Plur. | fuistis | potuistis | īstis | tulistis | voluistis | nōluistis | māluistis |
| 3rd Plur. | fuērunt | potuērunt | iērunt | tulērunt | voluērunt | nōluērunt | māluērunt |
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