Author: Indigo Curnick
Date: 2026-07-04
In this blog we'll cover the conjugations of the Latin imperfect indicative passive 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 = passive
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
- Passive: The object of the verb performs the action
Examples of this idea in English are the textbook used to be read by them, the cake was ate by her and so on
First Conjugation
- properō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to hasten
- rogō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to ask
- iūdicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to judge, to decide
- agitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum - to drive, to put in motion
- sonō, -āre, -uī, -itum - to sound, to make noise
| Person | properō | rogō | iūdicō | agitō | sonō |
| 1st Sing. | properābar | rogābar | iūdicābar | agitābar | sonābar |
| 2nd Sing. | properābāris | rogābāris | iūdicābāris | agitābāris | sonābāris |
| 3rd Sing. | properābātur | rogābātur | iūdicābātur | agitābātur | sonābātur |
| 1st Plur. | properābāmur | rogābāmur | iūdicābāmur | agitābāmur | sonābāmur |
| 2nd Plur. | properābāminī | rogābāminī | iūdicābāminī | agitābāminī | sonābāminī |
| 3rd Plur. | properābantur | rogābantur | iūdicābantur | agitābantur | sonābantur |
Second Conjugation
-
misceō, -scēre, -scuī, -xtum - to mix
-
noceō, -ēre, -uī, -itum - to harm
-
moveō, -ēre, mōvī, mōtum - to move, to rouse
-
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tum - to hold
-
cāreō, -ēre, -uī - to be free from
| Person | misceō | noceō | moveō | teneō | cāreō |
| 1st Sing. | miscēbar | nocēbar | movēbar | tenēbar | cārēbar |
| 2nd Sing. | miscēbāris | nocēbāris | movēbāris | tenēbāris | cārēbāris |
| 3rd Sing. | miscēbātur | nocēbātur | movēbātur | tenēbātur | cārēbātur |
| 1st Plur. | miscēbāmur | nocēbāmur | movēbāmur | tenēbāmur | cārēbāmur |
| 2nd Plur. | miscēbāminī | nocēbāminī | movēbāminī | tenēbāminī | cārēbāminī |
| 3rd Plur. | miscēbantur | nocēbantur | movēbantur | tenēbantur | cārēbantur |
Third Conjugation
-
premō, -mere, -ssī, -ssum - to press, to compress
-
cōgō, -ere, coēgī, coāctum - to collect, to gather together
-
vertō, -tere, -tī, -sum - to turn
-
trādō, -ere, -idī, -itum - to hand over
-
cēdō, -ere, cessī, cessum - to go, to depart
| Person | premō | cōgō | vertō | trādō | cēdō |
| 1st Sing. | premēbar | cōgēbar | vertēbar | trādēbar | cēdēbar |
| 2nd Sing. | premēbāris | cōgēbāris | vertēbāris | trādēbāris | cēdēbāris |
| 3rd Sing. | premēbātur | cōgēbātur | vertēbātur | trādēbātur | cēdēbātur |
| 1st Plur. | premēbāmur | cōgēbāmur | vertēbāmur | trādēbāmur | cēdēbāmur |
| 2nd Plur. | premēbāminī | cōgēbāminī | vertēbāminī | trādēbāminī | cēdēbāminī |
| 3rd Plur. | premēbantur | cōgēbantur | vertēbantur | trādēbantur | cēdēbantur |
Fourth Conjugation
-
impediō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to hinder
-
conveniō, -enīre, -ēnī, -entum - to come together, to meet
-
inveniō, -enīre, -ēnī, -entum - to discover, to invent
-
reperiō, -īre, repperī, -tum - to find out, to discover
-
fīnīo, -īre, -īvī, -ītum - to finish
| Person | impediō | conveniō | inveniō | reperiō | fīnīo |
| 1st Sing. | impediēbar | conveniēbar | inveniēbar | reperiēbar | fīniēbar |
| 2nd Sing. | impediēbāris | conveniēbāris | inveniēbāris | reperiēbāris | fīniēbāris |
| 3rd Sing. | impediēbātur | conveniēbātur | inveniēbātur | reperiēbātur | fīniēbātur |
| 1st Plur. | impediēbāmur | conveniēbāmur | inveniēbāmur | reperiēbāmur | fīniēbāmur |
| 2nd Plur. | impediēbāminī | conveniēbāminī | inveniēbāminī | reperiēbāminī | fīniēbāminī |
| 3rd Plur. | impediēbantur | conveniēbantur | inveniēbantur | reperiēbantur | fīniēbantur |
Irregular Verbs
- eō, īre, īvī, itum - to go
- ferō, ferre, tulī, lātum - to carry
| Person | eō | ferō |
| 1st Sing. | ferēbar | |
| 2nd Sing. | ferēbāris | |
| 3rd Sing. | ībātur | ferēbātur |
| 1st Plur. | ferēbāmur | |
| 2nd Plur. | ferēbāminī | |
| 3rd Plur. | ferēbantur |
Note that eō only has the third singular form in the imperfect indicative passive form.
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