Lesson 9 – Using the Latin word list for verbs, past tense of verbs
Using the Latin word list
We have set out our word list for these lessons in the same format used in most Latin dictionaries. When you use the word list, you will be gaining the experience and confidence to use a dictionary. Concentrate on learning words marked with an asterisk* first.
Verbs are given in parts (called the principal parts). Our example is tenere – to hold:
teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum (2) to hold
- teneo is the ‘I’ form of the present tense
- tenere is the infinitive
- tenui is the ‘I’ form of the past tense
- tentum is the supine (not covered in these lessons)
- (2) is the conjugation
- ‘to hold’ is the meaning in English
The parts are always arranged in this order: sometimes the supine is not given.
Knowing this, you will be able to look a verb up in a dictionary and conjugate it.
Why not try looking up verbs in the Latin word list for practice?
Verbs – past tense
The past tense is used for actions that have been completed.
All verbs have the same endings in the past tense:
| Ending | Person |
| -i | I |
| -isti | you (singular) |
| -it | he/she/it |
| -imus | we |
| -istis | you (plural) |
| -erunt | they |
Look at our example of tenere to hold
| Latin | Means | and |
| tenui | I held | I have held |
| tenuisti | you held | you have held |
| tenuit | he/she/it held | he/she/it has held |
| tenuimus | we held | we have held |
| tenuistis | you held | you have held |
| tenuerunt | they held | they have held |
The past tense can be translated in two ways in English. You will be able to work out which meaning is appropriate for your document.
The endings are added onto the stem of the verb. The stem in the past tense is slightly different from the stem in the present tense. This table shows how the stems of first, second and fourth conjugation verbs are formed in the past tense.
| Conjugation | First | Second | Fourth |
| Infinitive (‘to …’) | laborare | tenere | audire |
| Stem in past tense | laborav- | tenu- | audiv- |
| idem Edwardus manerium de Johanne tenuit per novem annos | The same Edward held the manor from John for nine years. | idem the same |
| Georgius in terra dominica domini laboravit | George worked in the lord’s demesne land. | Georgius, -ii (m.) George |
| testamentum probatum coram domino apud Eboracum in predicto anno domini | Will proved before the lord at York in the aforesaid year of the Lord | Eboracum, -i (n.) York
probatum, proved probare to prove a will |
Two important verbs have an irregular stem:
| dare | to give | past stem is ‘ded’ |
| obire | to die | past stem is ‘obii’ |
| Henricus rex terram per cartam suam dedit. | King Henry gave the land by his charter. |
| in hoc anno abbas de Eboraco obiit. | In this year the abbot of York died. |
Third conjugation verbs
There is no set rule for creating the past stem of third conjugation verbs.
Here are some examples of common verbs:
| Past tense | Means in English | Past tense | Means in English |
| cepi | I took | feci | I did |
| concessi | I conceded* | misi | I sent |
| dixi | I said* | reddidi | I gave back |
| duxi | I led |
| ego Simo episcopus dedi concessi et confirmavi per hanc cartam meam. | I, Bishop Simon, have given, conceded and confirmed by this my charter. | episcopus, –i (m.) bishop |
| juratores dixerunt quod vidua manerium concessit coram domino. | The jurors said that the widow conceded the manor in the presence of the lord. |
esse – to be
This is an irregular verb. Note its different form in the past tense.
| Latin | Means in English | and |
| fui | I have been | I was |
| fuisti | you have been | you were (singular) |
| fuit | he/she/it has been | he/she/it was |
| fuimus | we have been | we were |
| fuistis | you have been | you were (plural) |
| fuerunt | they have been | they were |
| homines episcopi non fuerunt in curia | The men of the bishop were not in court. |
Remember that if you don’t know the past or present tense of a verb, you can find it by looking up the verb in a dictionary and conjugating the principal parts.
Handy hint – verbs
In the past and the present tense, verbs ending in
- -t relate to ‘he/she/it’
- -nt relate to ‘they’
Checklist
Are you confident with
- which parts of a verb are given in a dictionary?
- the endings of verbs in the past tense?
- the Latin word for ‘He has been’ and ‘He was’?