Lesson 18: Verb Times 1-3

Learning to recongnize and to form Verb Times 1, 2, and 3

Once one knows the 4 verb groups, presented in Lesson 17 and recalls the meaning of these times from Lesson 12 one can make the following table.
Instructions: instead of trying to memorize 24 different endings for each time, just look at the patterns. Spend no more than 2-3 minutes memorizing the patterns by which to form the different verb times.

Group 1 = AreGroup 2 = Ere
Time 1probo
probas
...		luceo
luces
...
Time 2probabam
...		lucebam
...
Time 3probabo
probabis
...
*probabunt		lucebo
lucebis
...
*lucebunt

N.B.

Group 3 = ereGroup 4 = Ire
Time 1dico
dicis
...
*dicunt		sentio
sentis
...
*sentiunt
Time 2dicebam
...		sentiebam
...
Time 3dicam
dices
...		sentiam
senties
...

Now go on to Homework 13 and then Homework 14 for practicing your verb times.

N.B.

  • Time 1 is essentially the same, with the regular verb endings for all 4 verb groups, except having a different vowel. Notice how the vowel usually follows the group.
  • Time 2 is the same for all 4 verb groups, just adding -bam to the vowel which always follows the verb group.
  • Time 3 here is the most irregular of all 6 verb times. Beware of what can happen because of this - some examples:
    scribo appears T.3, but is T.1; scribam appears T.2, but is T.3 - scribo, scribere (group 3)
    monet is T.1, but dicet is T.3 - moneo, monere (group 2); dico, dicere (group 3)
  • Because of this, one has to know the vocabulary, and can't just rely on the endings.

    • First Experience Latin - Fr. Reginald Foster

    Answers to First Experience

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