Principal Parts of Verbs All Latin verbs have

Principal Parts of Verbs All Latin verbs have 4 principal parts. These parts tell you about the verb: • what conjugation it belongs to • what the perfect stem is • how different tenses will be formed

The 4 Principal Parts are: 1. Present Active Indicative 1 st Person Singular 2. Infinitive (Present Active) 3. Perfect Active Indicative 1 st Person Singular 4. Perfect Passive Participle (We will not be learning the 4 th principal part until next year)

Example 1: porto, portare, portavi, portatus – carry 1. porto – present = I carry 2. portare – infinitive = to carry 3. portavi – perfect = I carried 4. portatus – perfect passive participle = having been carried

Example 2: mitto, mittere, misi, missus– send 1. mitto – present = I send 2. mittere – infinitive = to send 3. misi – perfect = I sent 4. missus – perfect passive participle = having been sent

What do PP’s tell us? • The 1 st pp tells us the 1 st person singular present tense active indicative. • The 2 nd pp tells us the infinitive (i. e. “to do” form) of the verb. • The 3 rd pp tells us the stem for perfect tense.

Infinitives are key! • The 2 nd pp, or infinitive, also tells us the conjugation of the verb. Look at the ending … • -are = 1 st Conjugation • -ēre = 2 nd Conjugation • - ere = 3 rd Conjugation • - ire = 4 th Conjugation • All others are irregular • This will also determine stem and linking vowels for present and imperfect (to be learned later).

Practice Using Principal Parts Given the verb audio, audire, audivi, auditus – hear 1. What is the infinitive? How does it translate? audire = to hear 2. What is the perfect? How does it translate? audivi = I heard 3. To what conjugation does this verb belong? 4 th because of –ire ending of the 2 nd pp 4. Which form is the present? How does it translate? audio = I hear

Practice Using Principal Parts Given the verb capio, capere, cepi, captus - take 1. What is the infinitive? How does it translate? capere = to take 2. What gives us the perfect stem? How does it translate? cepi = I took 3. To what conjugation does this verb belong? 3 rd because of –ere ending of the 2 nd pp 4. Which form is the present? How does it translate? capio – I take

Practice Using Principal Parts Given the verb do, dare, dedi, datus - give 1. What is the present? How does it translate? do = I give 2. What is the infinitive? How does it translate? dare = to give 3. To what conjugation does this verb belong? 1 st because of –are ending of the 2 nd pp 4. Which form gives us the perfect stem? How does it translate? dedi = I gave

Practice Using Principal Parts Given the verb sum, esse, fui, futurus - be 1. What is the present? How does it translate? sum = I am 2. What is the infinitive? How does it translate? esse = to be 3. To what conjugation does this verb belong? irregular 4. Which form gives us the perfect stem? How does it translate? fui = I have been