Latin/Lesson 6-Irregular Verbs

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Intro: 12
Chapter 1 123456
Chapter 2 12345678
Chapter 3 12345678
Chapter 4 12345678910
Chapter 5 123456789

Irregular Verbs[edit]

Irregular verbs do not fit in any particular conjugation. Irregular verbs conjugate but not in a predictable manner. An example of an irregular verb that you have met is 'esse'. There are a few others which will be listed in the present indicate active tense below for you to memorise and refer to.

Verb Meaning ego tu is/ea nos vos ei/eae Imperative sing. Imp. pl
ire to go eo is it imus itis eunt i ite
esse to be sum es est sumus estis sunt es este
fieri to become fio fis fit fimus fitis fiunt fi fite
velle to wish volo vis vult volumus vultis volunt (none) (none)
malle to prefer malo mavis mavult malumus mavultis malunt (none) (none)
nolle to be unwilling nolo non vis non vult nolumus non vultis nolunt noli* nolite
ferre* to carry fero fers fert ferimus fertis ferunt fer ferte
The imperatives noli and nolite are used to mean "don't", eg. "nolite ire" = "don't go!"
Sometimes ferre is considered to be an 'o' stem 3rd conjugation verb. For practical purposes ferre is irregular.

Exercise 1[edit]

1. Copy out this table and translate.

Translate the following sentences:

1. fero portam. 2. fers portam 3. fert portam 4. ferimus portam 5. fertis portam 6. ferunt portam 7. sum bonus 8. es bonus 9. est bonus 10. sumus bonī 11. estis bonī 12. sunt bonī 13. este bonī! 14. nolī currāre!

Answer the following questions:

15. What do the irregular verbs have in common with regular verbs? 16. Why do we use 'boni' in question 10, 11, and 12 but 'bonus' in question 7, 8 and 9?

Exercise 2[edit]


1. Decline the following five nouns in both singular and plural number in the five common cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative):

Nominative nauta ātrium servus dictātor rēx cornū diēs

2. Conjugate the verb 'servāre' in both singular and plural number and all three persons.

3. Conjugate the verb 'esse', in both singular and plural number and all three persons.

4. Translate:

Nota Bene: Often Latin uses the present to indicate a 'vivid past'. It would be suitable to translate the following passage in the past tense.

Latin English Notes
heri yesterday heri is an adverb. Don't try to use it as a noun ("Yesterday was a good day")
taberna, -ae shop 1st declension feminine
solea, -ae sandle 1st declension feminine
sic so, and so, thus
solus, -a, -um alone The adverb form (only) is solum
casa, -ae house, hut 1st declension feminine
sto, stare, steti, statum stand One of the few irregular first conjugation verbs

Heri, ad tabernam eō. In tabernā sunt trēs rēs quārum amō duas sōleās et unam mensam. Habeō trēs denariōs, sīc ego emeō mensam sōlum quod sum nōn dīvīnitās. Hodiē, mensa est in casā meā. In triclīnio stat.