Editing Latin (section)

=== Verbs ===
{{Main|Latin grammar|Latin conjugation}}

A regular verb in Latin belongs to one of four main [[Latin conjugation|conjugations]]. A conjugation is "a class of verbs with similar inflected forms".<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Conjugation |dictionary=Webster's II new college dictionary |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1999}}</ref> The conjugations are identified by the last letter of the verb's present stem. The present stem can be found by omitting the -{{lang|la|re}} (-{{lang|la|rī}} in deponent verbs) ending from the present infinitive form. The infinitive of the first conjugation ends in {{lang|la|-ā-re}} or {{lang|la|-ā-ri}} (active and passive respectively): {{lang|la|amāre}} 'to love', {{lang|la|hortārī}} 'to exhort'; of the second conjugation by {{lang|la|-ē-re}} or {{lang|la|-ē-rī}}: {{lang|la|monēre}} 'to warn', {{lang|la|verērī}} 'to fear', of the third conjugation by {{lang|la|-ere}}, {{lang|la|-ī}}: {{lang|la|dūcere}} 'to lead', {{lang|la|ūtī}} 'to use'; of the fourth by {{lang|la|-ī-re}}, {{lang|la|-ī-rī}}: {{lang|la|audīre}} 'to hear', {{lang|la|experīrī}} 'to attempt'.<ref name="Wheelock 2011">{{cite book |title=Wheelock's Latin |last=Wheelock |first=Frederic M. |publisher=CollinsReference |edition=7th |location=New York |date=2011}}</ref> The stem categories descend from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] and can therefore be compared to similar conjugations in other Indo-European languages.

[[Regular and irregular verbs|Irregular verbs]] are verbs that do not follow the regular conjugations in the formation of the inflected form. Irregular verbs in Latin are ''esse'' 'to be'; ''velle'' 'to want'; ''ferre'' 'to carry'; ''edere'' 'to eat'; ''dare'' 'to give 'ire 'to go'; ''posse'' 'to be able'; ''fieri'' 'to happen'; and their compounds.<ref name="Wheelock 2011" />

There are six simple [[grammatical tense|tenses]] in Latin (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect and future perfect), three [[grammatical mood|moods]] (indicative, imperative and subjunctive, in addition to the [[infinitive]], [[participle]], [[gerund]], [[gerundive]] and [[supine]]), three [[grammatical person|persons]] (first, second and third), two numbers (singular and plural), two [[grammatical voice|voices]] (active and passive) and two [[grammatical aspect|aspects]] ([[perfective and imperfective]]). Verbs are described by four principal parts:
# The first principal part is the first-person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative mood form of the verb. If the verb is impersonal, the first principal part will be in the third-person singular.
# The second principal part is the present active infinitive.
# The third principal part is the first-person singular, perfect active indicative form. Like the first principal part, if the verb is impersonal, the third principal part will be in the third-person singular.
# The fourth principal part is the supine form, or alternatively, the nominative singular of the perfect passive participle form of the verb. The fourth principal part can show one gender of the participle or all three genders (-''us ''for masculine, -''a'' for feminine and -''um'' for neuter) in the nominative singular. The fourth principal part will be the future participle if the verb cannot be made passive. Most modern Latin dictionaries, if they show only one gender, tend to show the masculine; but many older dictionaries instead show the neuter, as it coincides with the supine. The fourth principal part is sometimes omitted for intransitive verbs, but strictly in Latin, they can be made passive if they are used impersonally, and the supine exists for such verbs.

The six simple [[Latin tenses (semantics)|tenses of Latin]] are divided into two systems: the present system, which is made up of the present, imperfect and future forms, and the perfect system, which is made up of the perfect, pluperfect and future perfect forms. Each simple tense has a set of endings corresponding to the person, number, and voice of the subject. Subject (nominative) pronouns are generally omitted for the first (''I, we'') and second (''you'') persons except for emphasis.

The table below displays the common inflected endings for the indicative mood in the active voice in all six tenses. For the future tense, the first listed endings are for the first and second conjugations, and the second listed endings are for the third and fourth conjugations:

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2|Tense !! colspan=3|Singular !! colspan=3|Plural
|-
! 1st Person !! 2nd Person !! 3rd Person !! 1st Person !! 2nd Person !! 3rd Person
|-
! Present
| -ō/m || -s || -t || -mus || -tis || -nt
|-
! Future
| -bō, -am || -bis, -ēs || -bit, -et || -bimus, -ēmus || -bitis, -ētis
| -bunt, -ent
|-
! Imperfect
| -bam || -bās || -bat || -bāmus || -bātis || -bant
|-
! Perfect
| -ī || -istī || -it || -imus || -istis || -ērunt
|-
! Future Perfect
| -erō || -eris/erīs || -erit || -erimus/-erīmus || -eritis/-erītis || -erint
|-
! Pluperfect
| -eram || -erās || -erat || -erāmus || -erātis || -erant
|}

==== Deponent verbs ====
Some Latin verbs are [[deponent verb|deponent]], causing their forms to be in the passive voice but retain an active meaning: {{lang|la|hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum}} 'to urge'.