The second conjugation covers many everyday verbs of the senses and the mind - seeing, warning, holding, fearing.
Can recognize Second conjugation present in a short Latin prompt
Schau dir diese Beispiele an. Kannst du das grammatische Muster erkennen?
Do you see the moon?
The teacher teaches the pupils.
Achte auf die hervorgehobenen Teile. Was haben sie gemeinsam?
The second conjugation covers many everyday verbs of the senses and the mind - seeing, warning, holding, fearing. Its signature is the long e that you hear in the infinitive -ere: monere (to warn), videre (to see), tenere (to hold), habere (to have). Once you recognize that steady e, these verbs read predictably.
Here is the present tense of moneo (I warn). The e is what marks this family. It is long in the infinitive and in monēs, monēmus, monētis, and it shortens before a final -t or -nt:
| Person | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | moneo | I warn |
| 2nd sg. | mones | you warn |
| 3rd sg. | monet | he/she/it warns |
| 1st pl. | monemus | we warn |
| 2nd pl. | monetis | you (all) warn |
| 3rd pl. | monent | they warn |
Examples: Magistrum videmus. - We see the teacher. Canem timet. - He fears the dog.
For English speakers: do not confuse this family with the third conjugation, whose infinitive also ends in -ere. The difference is the vowel, but test it on the SECOND singular rather than the third: monēs against regis. In the third person the two families nearly merge, because a long vowel shortens before a final -t - monet and regit both have a short e.
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an
ÜbungsaufgabenDo you see the moon?
The long e of vides marks the second conjugation. The particle -ne attached to the verb turns the statement into a question.
The teacher teaches the pupils.
Docet, not docit: the second conjugation's marker is the e before the ending. It is long in docere, doces, docemus, and shortens before a final -t: docet.
Im Kurs üben
Wende diese Grammatik in den Übungen des Kurses A1 an