Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Personal Endings of the Latin Verb and the Present Tense of esse

One of the most significant contrasts between Latin and English is found in the morphology of the verb. In English, due to sound change, we have been left with an impoverished morphological system in the verb. Only two distinct forms are used in the present tense for all 6 persons, and only one form is used in most other tenses. In comparison, Latin has 6 distinct forms in every tense, one for each person. Take a look at the table below containing the 6 personal endings. These endings are used for almost every verb form and always denote the same thing (e.g., -s always mean you, -mus always means we).


1st person, sing

I

-o or –m

2nd person, sing

you

-s

3rd person, sing

he, she, it

-t

1st person, plural

we

-mus

2nd person, plural

y’all

-tis

3rd person plural

they

-nt


After familiarizing yourself with this table, follow this link to find your assignment:


After completing this assignment, follow this link to test your newly acquired knowledge:

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