What the present tense is
The present tense says what is happening now, or what happens regularly. In Latin it is one word: the stem of the verb with a person ending on it.
portamus.
We carry, or we are carrying.
porta- is the stem, "carry". -mus is "we".
the stemthe ending
- Every verb in Chapter 1 belongs to the 1st conjugation: its stem ends in -a.
- The stem stays the same; only the ending changes.
- The one exception is "I": the -o takes the place of the stem's a, so porta- + o is porto.
The pattern: porto
| Person | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| I | porto | I carry |
| you (one) | portas | you carry |
| he, she, it | portat | he carries |
| we | portamus | we carry |
| you (more than one) | portatis | you carry |
| they | portant | they carry |
Every verb in the chapter works the same way. These are the ones to know:
| Latin | Meaning | Latin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ambulo | walk | navigo | sail |
| amo | love, like | neco | kill |
| clamo | shout | paro | prepare, provide |
| laboro | work | porto | carry |
| pugno | fight | saluto | greet |
| voco | call |
Three ways to say it in English
English has three present tenses where Latin has one. All three are correct translations; use the one that sounds natural.
| Latin | Simple | Continuous | With "do" |
|---|---|---|---|
| pugnant | they fight | they are fighting | they do fight |
| voco | I call | I am calling | I do call |
necat.
He kills, or he is killing.
"Kills" needs its s in English after "he" or "she".
The "do" form is rare in a straight translation. It comes into its own with "not", which is in lesson 1.4.
Watch out
Common mistakes
- Make the English agree: "he carries", not "he carry".
- -t is "he", "she" or "it". Any of them is right on its own; the mark is for one person.
- amo can be "I love" or "I like". Both are on the GCSE list.
Try it
Two short exercises. Type your answer and it is marked against a mark scheme, so you can see which part you have and which you have not. Nothing is saved.
Translate it
0 of 10 marksTranslate each verb. Any of the three English present tenses is right.
1pugnatis.
2paramus.
3necat.
4salutant.
5voco.
Write the Latin
0 of 5 marksType the Latin for the English. The verbs are all from the list above.
1they are sailing
2she is preparing
3I do love
4you are calling: more than one person
5we are working