Chapter 9: The Latin Verb System

§66. Latin Verbs of the Third I-STEM and Fourth Conjugations

In a course of this kind, where the sole objective is gaining insight into English words, it may not be crucially important to remember Latin verbs by conjugation number; that knowledge is admittedly of less practical value than remembering the declension groups of Latin nouns. However, when we come to look at other Latin verb forms, such as present participles and gerundives, you will probably find it helpful to be able to associate Latin verb vocabulary with these numbered categories.

The Latin 4th conjugation always has an infinitive in re, like audíre or veníre. This easily recognized form, therefore, makes it parallel to the 1st in re and the 2nd in ēre. Once again, unhappily, there is no predictable perfect participle. What is most noticeable about the fourth conjugation is the persistence of that vowel -i- in many of its forms—in audi̠o (“I hear”), for instance, and the English words audence, salent, or convenence.

There is a small but important subtype of 3rd conjugation verbs that can be described as having an “i-stem,” because they also show that same persistent vowel.[1] To judge them by the evidence of their English derivatives, they appear more closely associated with the 4th conjugation than with the 3rd. For this reason, they are included on Table 9.4 with the 4th conjugation type. They include capere and facere , which may be the most productive of all Latin verbs, from the standpoint of English vocabulary. The “i-stem” deponent verbs gradi and pati are also very important; it may help to remember them with words like gradient, aggression and patient, passion.

Table 9.4: LATIN THIRD I-STEM AND FOURTH CONJUGATION VERBS
Third Conjugation, I-stem Third I-stem deponent verbs:

capere, captus

[-cipere, -ceptus]

facere, factus

[-ficere, -fectus]

jacere, jactus

[-jicere, -jectus]

-spicere, -spectus

take

 

make, do

 

throw

 

look

gradi, gressus

pati, passus

Fourth Conjugation:

audire, auditus

salire, saltus

sentire, sensus

venire, ventus

step, go

suffer, allow

 

hear

leap, jump

feel

come


  1. If we were learning all four principal parts, the contrast between the regular 3rd conjugation verb and this special subtype would be more apparent. Compare the first principal part of ago, agere, egi, actus with that of capio, capere, cepi, captus, or facio, facere, feci, factus.

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Greek and Latin Roots: Part I - Latin Copyright © 2016 by Peter Smith (Estate) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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