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# 5. The verb

**On this page**

1. [1. The categories and the three stems](#1-the-categories-and-the-three-stems)
2. [2. The personal endings](#2-the-personal-endings)
3. [3. The four conjugations: present system](#3-the-four-conjugations-present-system)
4. [4. The perfect system](#4-the-perfect-system)
5. [5. The passive voice](#5-the-passive-voice)
6. [6. The principal parts and the formation of the perfect](#6-the-principal-parts-and-the-formation-of-the-perfect)
7. [7. *Sum* and its compounds; the irregular verbs](#7-sum-and-its-compounds-the-irregular-verbs)
8. [8. Deponent and semi-deponent verbs; defective and impersonal verbs](#8-deponent-and-semi-deponent-verbs-defective-and-impersonal-verbs)
9. [9. Tense and aspect](#9-tense-and-aspect)
10. [10. Mood](#10-mood)
11. [11. Word formation of verbs](#11-word-formation-of-verbs)
12. [12. How Mova handles it](#12-how-mova-handles-it)

The Latin finite verb carries **person** (1st, 2nd, 3rd), **number** (singular, plural), **tense**, **mood** (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) and **voice** (active, passive) in a single word. The non-finite forms (infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine) are treated in chapter 6, the uses of the moods and tenses in chapters 7 and 10. This chapter is about the forms: the four conjugations, the three stems, the principal parts, the irregular verbs, the deponents.

## Contents

1. The categories and the three stems
2. The personal endings
3. The four conjugations: present system
4. The perfect system
5. The passive voice
6. The principal parts and the formation of the perfect
7. *Sum* and its compounds; the irregular verbs
8. Deponent and semi-deponent verbs; defective and impersonal verbs
9. Tense and aspect
10. Mood
11. Word formation of verbs
12. How Mova handles it

---

## 1. The categories and the three stems

Bennett 1918 §§93–99. A Latin verb has two **systems**, the **present system** (also called the *infectum*, "unfinished"), built on the **present stem**, and the **perfect system** (*perfectum*, "finished"), built on the **perfect stem**. A third stem, the **participial** or **supine stem**, forms the perfect passive participle and the supine, and with them the whole perfect passive. The principal parts of a verb give these three stems:

> *amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum* — "I love, to love, I have loved, loved (supine/participle)"

1. *amō* — 1st person singular present indicative active: the present stem *amā-* (with *ā* dropped before *-ō*);
2. *amāre* — present infinitive active: the stem *amā-* plus *-re*;
3. *amāvī* — 1st person singular perfect indicative active: the perfect stem *amāv-*;
4. *amātum* — supine (or the perfect passive participle *amātus*): the supine stem *amāt-*.

| system | tenses | stem |
| --- | --- | --- |
| present (*infectum*) | present, imperfect, future (indicative); present, imperfect (subjunctive); imperative; present infinitive; present participle; gerund | present stem |
| perfect (*perfectum*) | perfect, pluperfect, future perfect (indicative); perfect, pluperfect (subjunctive); perfect infinitive | perfect stem |
| participial | perfect passive participle; future active participle; supine | supine stem |

The **passive** of the perfect system is not made on the perfect stem but is **periphrastic**: the perfect passive participle with a form of *sum* (*amātus sum*, "I have been loved, I was loved"). Latin has **six tenses** in the indicative (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect, future perfect), **four** in the subjunctive (present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect), and no future in the subjunctive (periphrastic *-ūrus sim* supplies it), no perfect imperative.

## 2. The personal endings

| person | active (present system) | active (perfect) | passive |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | -ō / -m | -ī | -or / -r |
| 2 sg. | -s | -istī | -ris, -re |
| 3 sg. | -t | -it | -tur |
| 1 pl. | -mus | -imus | -mur |
| 2 pl. | -tis | -istis | -minī |
| 3 pl. | -nt | -ērunt (-ēre) | -ntur |

Bennett 1918 §96. The ending **-ō** of the present indicative and the future of the third conjugation; **-m** (and **-r** in the passive) in the imperfect, pluperfect, future perfect and subjunctive. The perfect has its own endings. The second singular passive may be **-re** (*amāre* "you are loved") against the infinitive *amāre*, which is told by the context.

## 3. The four conjugations: present system

The four conjugations are distinguished by the **stem vowel** that appears in the infinitive (Bennett 1918 §98): **I** *-āre* (*amāre*), **II** *-ēre* (*monēre*), **III** *-ere* (short *e*: *regere*), **IV** *-īre* (*audīre*). A **mixed** group of the third conjugation in *-iō* (*capiō, capere*) takes forms of the fourth in some tenses (Bennett 1918 §109).

### 3.1 Principal parts of the model verbs

| conj. |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| I | *amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum* | love |
| II | *moneō, monēre, monuī, monitum* | advise |
| III | *regō, regere, rēxī, rēctum* | rule |
| III-*iō* | *capiō, capere, cēpī, captum* | take |
| IV | *audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum* | hear |

### 3.2 The active indicative of *amō*

|  | present | imperfect | future | perfect | pluperfect | future perfect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | amō | amābam | amābō | amāvī | amāveram | amāverō |
| 2 sg. | amās | amābās | amābis | amāvistī | amāverās | amāveris |
| 3 sg. | amat | amābat | amābit | amāvit | amāverat | amāverit |
| 1 pl. | amāmus | amābāmus | amābimus | amāvimus | amāverāmus | amāverimus |
| 2 pl. | amātis | amābātis | amābitis | amāvistis | amāverātis | amāveritis |
| 3 pl. | amant | amābant | amābunt | amāvērunt | amāverant | amāverint |

### 3.3 The active subjunctive of *amō*

|  | present | imperfect | perfect | pluperfect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | amem | amārem | amāverim | amāvissem |
| 2 sg. | amēs | amārēs | amāveris | amāvissēs |
| 3 sg. | amet | amāret | amāverit | amāvisset |
| 1 pl. | amēmus | amārēmus | amāverimus | amāvissēmus |
| 2 pl. | amētis | amārētis | amāveritis | amāvissētis |
| 3 pl. | ament | amārent | amāverint | amāvissent |

The imperfect subjunctive is **the present infinitive + the personal endings** (*amāre-m*), and the pluperfect subjunctive is the **perfect infinitive + endings** (*amāvisse-m*); a quick rule that works for all verbs. The perfect subjunctive and the future perfect indicative are identical except in the first person singular (*amāverim*/*amāverō*) and in quantity (*amāverīs*/*amāveris*).

### 3.4 The present system of the four conjugations

|  | I | II | III | III-*iō* | IV |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| present ind., 1 sg. | amō | moneō | regō | capiō | audiō |
| 2 sg. | amās | monēs | regis | capis | audīs |
| 3 pl. | amant | monent | regunt | capiunt | audiunt |
| imperfect, 3 sg. | amābat | monēbat | regēbat | capiēbat | audiēbat |
| future, 1 sg. | amābō | monēbō | regam | capiam | audiam |
| future, 3 sg. | amābit | monēbit | reget | capiet | audiet |
| present subj., 3 sg. | amet | moneat | regat | capiat | audiat |
| imperfect subj., 3 sg. | amāret | monēret | regeret | caperet | audīret |
| imperative sg./pl. | amā / amāte | monē / monēte | rege / regite | cape / capite | audī / audīte |
| infinitive | amāre | monēre | regere | capere | audīre |
| pres. participle | amāns | monēns | regēns | capiēns | audiēns |
| gerund | amandī | monendī | regendī | capiendī | audiendī |

The **future** of the first two conjugations has **-bi-** (*amā-bō*, *monē-bō*); of the third and fourth, a long vowel **-am, -ēs, -et** (*regam, regēs, reget*; *audiam, audiēs*). The **imperfect** has **-bā-** in all conjugations (*regēbam* with *ē* before it). The **subjunctive** has **-ē-** in the first conjugation (*amem*, with *a* changed), **-ea-** in the second (*moneam*), **-a-** in the third and fourth (*regam, audiam*); the imperfect subjunctive always has *-rē-* on the infinitive stem. The **imperative** is the bare stem in the singular; the plural adds *-te* (Bennett 1918 §§101–111).

The present **third person singular** is the most useful form in a text: *erat inanis* and *ferebatur* (Gen 1:2: *Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebræ erant super faciem abyssi: et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas*, Vulgate): the imperfect of *sum* and the imperfect passive of *ferō*, depicting the situation before the creative speech *Dixitque Deus* (the perfect, Gen 1:3).

## 4. The perfect system

The perfect stem takes the **perfect active endings** (§2) for the perfect indicative, and in the other tenses of the system the endings of *sum*:

|  | perfect indicative | pluperfect | future perfect | perfect subj. | pluperfect subj. |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| stem + | -ī, -istī, -it … | -eram, -erās … | -erō, -eris … | -erim, -erīs … | -issem, -issēs … |

(Compare the forms of *sum* in §7.) The perfect infinitive is the stem + **-isse** (*amāvisse*), and the perfect and pluperfect **passive** are the perfect passive participle + the present and the imperfect (and so on) of *sum*: *amātus sum, amātus eram, amātus erō*, subjunctive *amātus sim, amātus essem*, infinitive *amātum esse* (Bennett 1918 §§101–111).

**Contracted forms.** After *-v-*, *-vi-* or *-ve-* before *s* or *r*, the *v* and the following vowel may drop out: *amāstī* for *amāvistī*, *amārunt* for *amāvērunt*, *nōram* for *nōveram*, *audierunt* for *audīvērunt*; Bennett 1918 §116. The third person plural ends in **-ērunt** in prose, **-ēre** in verse and in solemn prose (Bennett 1918 §96, note).

In the sentence *nihil … nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt?* (Cic. *Cat.* 1.1) the verb *moverunt* is the perfect *mōvērunt* with a plural subject made of several neuter words; the sentence has no conjunction and ends with the verb (chapter 9).

## 5. The passive voice

The passive of the present system is made with the passive endings of §2: *amor, amāris (-re), amātur, amāmur, amāminī, amantur*; imperfect *amābar*, future *amābor*; subjunctive *amer, amārer*; infinitive **-rī** (first, second, fourth: *amārī, monērī, audīrī*) or **-ī** (third: *regī, capī*); imperative *amāre, amāminī*.

|  | present | imperfect | future | perfect | pluperfect | future perfect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | amor | amābar | amābor | amātus sum | amātus eram | amātus erō |
| 2 sg. | amāris | amābāris | amābiris | amātus es | amātus erās | amātus eris |
| 3 sg. | amātur | amābātur | amābitur | amātus est | amātus erat | amātus erit |
| 1 pl. | amāmur | amābāmur | amābimur | amātī sumus | amātī erāmus | amātī erimus |
| 2 pl. | amāminī | amābāminī | amābiminī | amātī estis | amātī erātis | amātī eritis |
| 3 pl. | amantur | amābantur | amābuntur | amātī sunt | amātī erant | amātī erunt |

The passive subjunctive: present *amer, amēris, amētur…*; imperfect *amārer…*; perfect *amātus sim …*; pluperfect *amātus essem …*. Three points of use:

- The agent of a passive verb is the ablative with *ā, ab* if it is a person, the plain ablative if it is a thing (chapter 7).
- Intransitive verbs form an **impersonal passive**: *ītur* "one goes", *pugnātum est* "there was fighting", *ventum est* "they came".
- The perfect passive participle with *sum* is both the **perfect** passive ("was made", an event) and a **state** ("is made"), and the English past participle covers both: *Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres* (Caes. *B. G.* 1.1) states a division as a fact of geography: "Gaul is (in a state of being) divided in three parts"; and *facta est lux* (Gen 1:3, "and light was made") reports the event.

## 6. The principal parts and the formation of the perfect

The present stem is predictable from the infinitive; the **perfect stem** and the **supine stem** are not, so a dictionary lists them (Bennett 1918 §§117–122). The first conjugation and the fourth are very regular; the second and third are the sources of the variety.

| way of forming the perfect | pattern | examples |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **-v-** | stem + *vī* | *amō, amāvī*; *audiō, audīvī*; *nōscō, nōvī*; *petō, petīvī* |
| **-u-** | stem + *uī* | *moneō, monuī*; *habeō, habuī*; *colō, coluī*; *possum, potuī* |
| **-s-** | stem + *sī* (with sandhi: *cs/gs* = *x*, *ps*) | *regō, rēxī*; *scrībō, scrīpsī*; *dīcō, dīxī*; *iubeō, iussī*; *mittō, mīsī* |
| **reduplication** | first consonant + vowel doubled | *cadō, cecidī*; *currō, cucurrī*; *dō, dedī*; *stō, stetī*; *poscō, poposcī* |
| **lengthening** of the stem vowel |  | *videō, vīdī*; *veniō, vēnī*; *emō, ēmī*; *agō, ēgī*; *faciō, fēcī*; *capiō, cēpī* |
| **the stem itself** | perfect = present stem | *vertō, vertī*; *bibō, bibī*; *vīsō, vīsī*; *ascendō, ascendī* |

The verbs of the **third conjugation** have the most unpredictable parts: *agō, ēgī, āctum*; *cadō, cecidī, cāsum*; *dīcō, dīxī, dictum*; *faciō, fēcī, factum*; *fugiō, fūgī, fugitum*; *legō, lēgī, lēctum*; *mittō, mīsī, missum*; *petō, petīvī, petītum*; *vincō, vīcī, victum*; *vīvō, vīxī, vīctum*; *scrībō, scrīpsī, scrīptum*. The **second** conjugation: *videō, vīdī, vīsum*; *iubeō, iussī, iussum*; *maneō, mānsī, mānsum*; *sedeō, sēdī, sessum*; *doceō, docuī, doctum*. The **first** has a few irregular verbs: *stō, stetī, stātum*; *dō, dedī, datum*; *iuvō, iūvī, iūtum*; *secō, secuī, sectum*; *domō, domuī, domitum*.

The principal parts of the irregular and the most frequent verbs:

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| *sum, esse, fuī, futūrus* | be |
| *possum, posse, potuī* | be able |
| *eō, īre, iī (īvī), itum* | go |
| *ferō, ferre, tulī, lātum* | carry |
| *volō, velle, voluī* | wish |
| *nōlō, nōlle, nōluī* | not wish |
| *mālō, mālle, māluī* | prefer |
| *fīō, fierī, factus sum* | become, be made |
| *dō, dare, dedī, datum* | give |
| *edō, ēsse (edere), ēdī, ēsum* | eat |

## 7. *Sum* and its compounds; the irregular verbs

### 7.1 *Sum* (Bennett 1918 §100)

|  | present | imperfect | future | perfect | pluperfect | future perfect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | sum | eram | erō | fuī | fueram | fuerō |
| 2 sg. | es | erās | eris | fuistī | fuerās | fueris |
| 3 sg. | est | erat | erit | fuit | fuerat | fuerit |
| 1 pl. | sumus | erāmus | erimus | fuimus | fuerāmus | fuerimus |
| 2 pl. | estis | erātis | eritis | fuistis | fuerātis | fueritis |
| 3 pl. | sunt | erant | erunt | fuērunt | fuerant | fuerint |

Subjunctive: present *sim, sīs, sit, sīmus, sītis, sint*; imperfect *essem* (or *forem*); perfect *fuerim*; pluperfect *fuissem*. Imperative *es, este* (future *estō*); infinitive *esse*, perfect *fuisse*, future *futūrus esse* (or *fore*); participle: *futūrus* only. *Sum* is both the **copula** ("is") and the **existential** verb (*Deus erat Verbum*, John 1:1) and, as the auxiliary of the perfect passive and of periphrastic forms, the only fully grammaticalised verb of Latin. Its compounds are *absum, adsum, dēsum, intersum, praesum, prōsum* (*prōd-* before a vowel: *prōdest*), *possum*.

### 7.2 *Possum*

*Possum* (*pot-sum*): *possum, potes, potest, possumus, potestis, possunt*; imperfect *poteram*; future *poterō*; perfect *potuī*; subjunctive *possim*; *possem*; infinitive *posse*, perfect *potuisse*. *Possum* takes the infinitive: *Nemo potest duobus dominis servire*, "no one can serve two masters" (Matt 6:24); it has no imperative and no participle (*potens* is an adjective).

### 7.3 *Eō*, *ferō*, *volō*, *nōlō*, *mālō*, *fīō*

|  | *eō* "go" | *ferō* "carry" | *volō* | *nōlō* | *mālō* | *fīō* |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 sg. | eō | ferō | volō | nōlō | mālō | fīō |
| 2 sg. | īs | fers | vīs | nōn vīs | māvīs | fīs |
| 3 sg. | it | fert | vult | nōn vult | māvult | fit |
| 1 pl. | īmus | ferimus | volumus | nōlumus | mālumus | (fīmus) |
| 3 pl. | eunt | ferunt | volunt | nōlunt | mālunt | fīunt |
| inf. | īre | ferre | velle | nōlle | mālle | fierī |
| subj. 3 sg. | eat | ferat | velit | nōlit | mālit | fīat |
| imp. | ī / īte | fer / ferte | — | nōlī / nōlīte | — | fī |

Bennett 1918 §§129–131. *Eō* is irregular in the stem alternation *ī-/e-* (*īs*, but *eunt*) and in the future *ībō* and the perfect *iī* (contracted: *isse*). The imperative *nōlī* with the infinitive is the standard **polite prohibition**: *nōlī timēre*, "do not be afraid". *Fīō* serves as the passive of *faciō* in the present system (*fit*, *fierī*) and has the perfect passive *factus sum*: *Fiat lux. Et facta est lux* (Gen 1:3, "Let there be light: and light was made"); *fiat voluntas tua* (Matt 6:10).

## 8. Deponent and semi-deponent verbs; defective and impersonal verbs

### 8.1 Deponent verbs

A **deponent** has passive forms with active meaning (Bennett 1918 §112). It has the active participles and the future infinitive and the gerund and supine, besides the passive forms: *hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum* (I) "encourage"; *vereor, verērī, veritus sum* (II) "fear"; *sequor, sequī, secūtus sum* (III) "follow"; *largior, largīrī, largītus sum* (IV) "bestow"; *patior, patī, passus sum* (III-*iō*) "suffer".

> **Verg. *Aen.* 1.5** · Latin Library multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem "… much he suffered also in war, until he should found a city …"

*Passus* is the perfect participle of *patior* with active meaning, and *conderet* is the imperfect subjunctive of *condō* in a *dum* clause (chapter 10).

> **Cic. *Cat.* 1.1** · Latin Library Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? … quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? "How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience? … Which of us do you think does not know?"

*Abutere* is the second person singular of *abūtor* in the **-re** form of the passive ending (*abūteris* = *abūtere*), and *arbitraris* of *arbitror*; both have active meaning. In Late and Medieval Latin the deponent forms are often replaced by active ones or confused with the passive (chapters 14 and 15).

Some verbs are **semi-deponent**: the present system is active and the perfect passive: *audeō, audēre, ausus sum*; *gaudeō, gāvīsus sum*; *soleō, solitus sum*; *fīdō, fīsus sum* (Bennett 1918 §114).

### 8.2 Defective and impersonal verbs

*Coepī, meminī, ōdī, nōvī* have only the perfect system, with present meaning for *meminī* "I remember", *ōdī* "I hate", *nōvī* "I know", and *coepī* "I began" (Bennett 1918 §§133–136, with *inquam, aiō, fārī*). *Inquam* "I say" is placed after the first words of a direct quotation; *aiō, ait*; *fārī*. **Impersonal verbs** have no personal subject: *pluit* "it rains", *oportet* "it is proper", *licet* "it is allowed", *decet*, *libet*, *taedet*, *pudet*, *paenitet*, *piget*, *miseret*, and in the passive the impersonal use of the intransitive (*ītur*); verbs of the type *pudet*, *paenitet* take an accusative of the person and a genitive of the cause (chapter 7).

## 9. Tense and aspect

The Latin tense system mixes **time** and **aspect** (Bennett 1918 §§257–265). The first division is between the **present system** (action unfinished, in progress or repeated) and the **perfect system** (action finished): this is an **aspect** contrast, and in the past it distinguishes the **imperfect** (the background, the situation, the repeated or the attempted) from the **perfect** (the event, the fact, the completed act). A text of Latin narrative has a recognisable pattern of this contrast.

| tense | basic meaning | use |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **present** | now, general truth | also the **historic present** in vivid narrative: *persuadet … dat … confirmat* (Caes. *B. G.* 1.3) |
| **imperfect** | past in progress, habit, setting, "was doing" | *Terra autem erat inanis et vacua* (Gen 1:2) |
| **future** | will do |  |
| **perfect** | (a) **present perfect** ("has done", with present result); (b) **aorist** ("did", a narrated event) | *Dixitque Deus* (Gen 1:3), *Viditque Deus cuncta quae fecerat* (Gen 1:31) |
| **pluperfect** | had done (prior to a past point) | *cuncta quae fecerat*, "all that He had made" |
| **future perfect** | will have done (completed before a future point) | *dum cunctis inluxerit dies ille tremendus*, "until that dread day shall have dawned for all" (`la_llct` train-s247) |

Four notes for translating: (1) the Latin perfect covers both the English present perfect and the simple past; (2) the **future perfect** is used where English uses the present for a future-time condition: *sī quis fēcerit* "if anyone does" (literally "shall have done"), *dum cunctis inluxerit … iudicium mecum habeat* (the charter threat, train-s247); (3) the perfect indicative of a **verb of knowing** (*nōvī, meminī*) translates the present; (4) the **historic present** may be mixed with the perfect in a single narrative (Caes. *B. G.* 1.3 above). **Sequence of tenses** in subordinate clauses and in reported speech is chapter 10.

## 10. Mood

The **indicative** states a fact or asks about a fact. The **subjunctive** has two families of use (Bennett 1918 §§271–281): (a) **independent** (in main clauses), with an attitude of will, wish, doubt or possibility: the hortatory (*amēmus*, "let us love"), jussive (*amet*, "let him love"), optative (*utinam amet*, "may he love"), deliberative (*quid faciam?* "what shall I do?"), potential (*dīcat aliquis*, "someone might say"); (b) **dependent** (chapter 10). The **imperative** is used for commands and entreaties: **present** (*amā*, *dī*, *fac*, *fer*, *dūc*) for immediate commands; **future** (*amātō*, *estō*, *itō*) for the law, the rules and the instructions of a formula: *Si in ius vocat, ito. Ni it, antestamino* (Twelve Tables 1.1; Latin Library) with the future imperative *ito* "let him go", *antestamino* "let him call witnesses" (the summoner). The negative command is **not** *nē* with the imperative in classical prose but **nōlī/nōlīte** + infinitive, or *nē* + perfect subjunctive (*nē timueris*); the Vulgate has *nolite timere* regularly (*Et nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus*, Matt 10:28).

> **Matt 6:9–12** · Clementine Vulgate … sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua … Panem nostrum supersubstantialem da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra … "… hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come; your will be done … give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts …"

The verbs *sanctificetur, adveniat, fiat* are **third-person jussive/optative subjunctives** in prayer, and *da, dimitte* are **present imperatives**. The same three forms occur in the charter's imprecation: *iudicium mecum habeat ante omnium creatorem*, "let him have a case with me before the creator of all" (`la_llct` train-s247): the jussive subjunctive survives into the 9th century.

## 11. Word formation of verbs

The most important formations (Bennett 1918 §§155–157): the **inchoative** in *-scō* (*calēscō* "grow warm", from *caleō*; *senescō*; *crēscō*); the **frequentative** or **intensive**, from the supine stem in *-tō, -sō* (*cantō* from *canō*, *dictō* from *dīcō*, *iactō* "throw about" from *iaciō*, whence *iactātus* in *terris iactatus et alto*, Verg. *Aen.* 1.3); the **desiderative** in *-turiō* (*ēsuriō*); the **denominatives** from nouns and adjectives (*nōminō* "name" from *nōmen*; *albeō* "be white"; *sitiō*, *dōnō*); and the **compounds** with prepositions, whose vowel is weakened (chapter 1, §6). The preverb gives the verb a new meaning and often a new government: *ex-eō*, *ad-sum*, *per-suādeō*, *cōn-ficiō*; the prefix is often repeated as a preposition (*ex urbe exīre*).

## 12. How Mova handles it

**The pipeline (2026-10-22).** Mova analyses no Latin verb form; the UPOS (`VERB` or `AUX` for *sum*) and the FEATS come with the treebank. For the parser, `en xpos-fill` maps `VERB` and `AUX` to a Penn-Treebank-style tag from the FEATS: `VB` if `VerbForm=Inf`; `VBG` for a present participle (`Tense=Pres`) or a gerund (`VerbForm=Ger`); `VBN` for any other participle (so a perfect passive and a future active participle both become `VBN`); `VBD` if `Tense=Past` or `Tense=Imp`; `VBZ` if `Person=3|Number=Sing`; `VBP` otherwise. So the subjunctive, the imperative, the voice and the aspect are not visible in the tag, and the first and third persons plural of the present both become `VBP`. The same tag-derived pipeline reaches LAS 87.35 on LLCT dev (87.80 with gold tags; 2026-10-22).

**UD conventions.** The feature set of the Latin verb is `VerbForm` (UD has `Fin`, `Inf`, `Part`, `Ger`, `Gdv`, `Sup`), `Mood`, `Tense`, `Aspect`, `Voice`, `Person`, `Number`. The treebanks use the set differently: LLCT train has only `Fin` (14 645), `Inf` (3 675) and `Part` (7 775), and puts the gerundive and the gerund under `Part` with `Aspect=Prosp|Voice=Pass` (*exigendum*, *vendendum*); UD_Latin-CIRCSE train has `Fin` 2 369, `Part` 710, `Inf` 327, `Gdv` 18, `Ger` 4, `Sup` 4 (counts of 2026-10-22). LLCT has `Mood=Ind` 12 770, `Mood=Sub` 1 874 and a single `Mood=Imp`, `Aspect=Imp` 11 279, `Perf` 13 289, `Prosp` 1 527; `Tense` `Pres`, `Past`, `Fut`, `Pqp`. LLCT's FEATS for *regnante*: `Aspect=Imp|Case=Abl|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Act`, and the MISC column keeps the traditional labels `TraditionalMood=Participium|TraditionalTense=Praesens` (train-s1); for *coepit* `Aspect=Perf|Mood=Ind|…|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin`. The UD verb features of Latin do not agree across the treebanks in the way the traditional six tenses map to `Tense` and `Aspect`: the reorganisation of `VerbForm` (cecchini-2021-formae-reformandae-reorganisation-verb-form) and the morphological harmonisation (gamba-2023-latin-morphology-through) are the references. The **perfect passive** is analysed in UD as a participle (`VERB` with `VerbForm=Part`) plus the auxiliary `AUX` (*est*, *sum*) related as `aux:pass`; LLCT has 1 010 `aux:pass` (every one a form of *sum*) and 1 197 `cop` (train, 2026-10-22).

**Where it stops.** There is no Latin morphological analyser in Mova: a form such as *amāverint* (perfect subjunctive 3 pl. or future perfect indicative 3 pl.) is read from the treebank's tag, not from the word. A table of the paradigms of this chapter, with the principal parts, in a Latin morphology module would be needed to read texts outside the treebanks; LatInfLexi (pellegrini-2018-latinflexi-inflected-lexicon-latin-verbs, CC BY 4.0) is an inflected lexicon of Latin verbs that is a candidate resource, and Whitaker's Words (public licence) carries the verb classes.

**Sources for this chapter.** Bennett 1918 §§93–138, 155–157, 257–281; Allen & Greenough 1903 (paraphrased), Gildersleeve & Lodge 1895; examples: Cic. *Cat.* 1.1, Caes. *B. G.* 1.1, 1.3, Verg. *Aen.* 1.3–5, Twelve Tables (Latin Library); Vulgate Gen 1:2–3, 1:31, Matt 6:9–12; UD_Latin-LLCT; pellegrini-2018, cecchini-2021, gamba-2023-latin-morphology-through.

- [← previous 4. Pronouns](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/la/04-pronouns/)
- [next → 6. The non-finite verb: infinitive, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/la/06-nonfinite/)
- [↑ back to Latin (la) — a reference manual for Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/la/)