12/31/92




                              CHAPTER 8

     "Third Conjugation (duco): Present Infinitive, Present and
            Future Indicative, Present Imperative Active"


PRESENT INFINITIVE AND PRESENT TENSE

You remember that Latin verbs are divided into groups called
"conjugations", and the conjugations are distinguished from one
another by their thematic vowels.  The  thematic vowel of the
first conjugation is "-a-"; the thematic vowel of the second is
"-e-".  You can tell what the stem vowel (its thematic vowel) of
a verb is -- and thereby its conjugation -- by dropping the "-re"
ending from the infinitive, which is given to you in the
dictionary.

           laudo  laudare       stem: lauda-   1st conjugation
           moneo  monere        stem: mone-    2nd conjugation

Now look at the dictionary entry for the verb "to lead" in Latin:
"duco, ducere".  Simply by looking at the first entry, you might
think that this verb is going to be a first conjugation verb --
it looks like "laudo".  But the next entry looks something like a
second.  Find the stem: it's duce-.  You have to look closely,
but the "-e-" of the stem is short.  This is the characteristic
vowel of the third conjugation: short "-e-".

     Even if you're not watching the long marks, you can still
tell a second conjugation verb in the dictionary from a third.
The first entry for a second conjugation verb will always end in
"-eo", and then the second entry will end "-ere".  The first
dictionary entry of a third conjugation ends simply with "-o" and
then the second entry is "-ere".  So if the first entry of a verb
looks like a first conjugation verb in the first person singular
and if the infinitive looks like a second conjugation verb, then
you have a third conjugation verb.  Identify the conjugations of
the following verbs:

  ENTRY              CONJUGATION   ENTRY
CONJUGATION

  doceo, docere      __________    audeo, audere          __________

  amo, amare         __________    tolero, tolerare       __________

  duco, ducere       __________    valeo, valere          __________

  scribo, scribere   __________    ago, agere             __________


We'll use "duco" as our example (paradigm) of third conjugation
verbs.  Now let's see about conjugating a third conjugation verb
in the present tense.  You remember the formula for all verbs in
Latin in the present tense: it's just the stem plus the personal
endings "-o", "-s", "-t", etc.  Fill out the following table,
except for the conjugated form.

PRESENT TENSE OF "duco, ducere"

           STEM   +     PERSONAL ENDINGS    =      CONJUGATED FORM

1st      _________                          __________
____________________

2nd      _________                          __________
____________________

3rd      _________                          __________
____________________


1st      _________                          __________
____________________

2nd      _________                          __________
____________________

3rd      _________                          __________
____________________

What we need to know is what happens to the stem vowel when you
start attaching the personal endings.  In the first and second
declensions this presented no problem, because the stem vowels
are long and strongly pronounced.  But short vowels always cause
difficulties in languages and are subject to changes.  You
already have experience with what happens to the short "-e-"
before personal endings.  Do you remember how you form the future
tense of first and second conjugation verbs?  You insert the
tense sign "-b-" in between the stem and the personal endings.
And then the short "-e-" changes:

                laudabo         -       laudabo ("-e-" disappears)
                laudabs         -       laudabis
                laudabt         -       laudabit

                laudabmus       -       laudabimus
                laudabtis       -       laudabitis
                laudabnt        -       laudabunt

This is what happens to short "-e-" before the personal endings.
In third conjugation verb, then, what is going to happen to the
short "-e-" of its stem?  Right.  It's going to undergo precisely
the same changes.  Now go back to the table and fill out the
conjugated forms of "duco".  (Check the answers in Wheelock, p.
35.)


FUTURE TENSE

Third conjugation verbs form the future tense in a way entirely
different from that of the first and second conjugation.  First
and second conjugation verbs insert a tense sign -- "-be-"
between the stem and the personal endings.  Third conjugation
verbs do two things:

     (1)   For the first person singular, they replace the stem
           vowel with an "-a-" and use the alternate personal
           ending "-m" -- instead of the more regular "-o".
     (2)   For all the other forms, they lengthen the short "-e-"
           of the stem to long "-e-".  Since the "-e-" is now
           long, it no longer goes through any of the changes it
           went through in the present tense.  It simply stays
           "-e-". (Except of course where long vowels normally
           become short: before "-t", and "-nt".)

Fill out the future tense of the verb "duco".

      STEM   +  TENSE SIGN   +  PERS. END.  =   CONJUGATED FORMS

1st    duc      __________      __________       _______________

2nd   _____     __________      __________       _______________

3rd   _____     __________      __________       _______________


1st   _____     __________      __________       _______________

2nd   _____     __________      __________       _______________

3rd   _____     __________      __________       _______________


FUTURE OF THIRD CONJUGATION VS. PRESENT OF SECOND CONJUGATION

The way a third conjugation verb forms its future presents an
interesting problem.  Write out the present tense of the second
conjugation verb "moneo, monere", and next to it write out the
future of the third conjugation verb "mitto, mittere" (to send).

                        moneo           mitto

                       PRESENT         FUTURE

                1st  __________      __________

                2nd  __________      __________

                3rd  __________      __________


                1st  __________      __________

                2nd  __________      __________

                3rd  __________      __________

As you can see, except for the first person singular, the endings
of both these verbs look the same: the personal endings in both
these verbs are preceded by an "-e-".  The present tense of a
second conjugation verb almost always looks like the future tense
of a third conjugation verb, and this could cause you some
problems when you're reading and translating.  But not if you
keep your wits about you.

     Suppose that you see a form like this in a text you're
reading: "legent".  What do you do with it?  First you recognize
the "-nt" as an ending that's attached to verbs, so the word
you're looking at is a verb.  You want to look this verb up in
the dictionary, so you must simplify it to its basic form, which
is the first person singular.  You remember that a verb is
conjugated by adding personal ending, so to reduce this form, you
drop of the "-nt".  This leaves you with "lege-".

     Now the next thing you have to consider is the "-e-": is it
the stem vowel of a second conjugation verb, or is it the
lengthened "-e-" of a third conjugation verb as the tense sign
for the future?  That is, is this a present tense form of a
second conjugation verb (stem + personal endings), or is it a
future of a third (stem + lengthened "-e-" + personal endings).
What do you do next to find out?  You've gone as far as you can
with you preliminary analysis of the form.  Now you have to
proceed provisionally.

     Suppose that the verb is a second conjugation, what will the
dictionary entry look like?  The first entry is the first person
singular, the second is the infinitive, so, if this is a second
conjugation verb, the entry will be "legeo, legere".  Right?
Because all second conjugation verbs end in "-eo" in the first
person singular.  So you've reduced the conjugated form "legent"
to a form you can look up.

     The next step is to look it up -- but look for exactly what
you've supposed the form to be.  Look for both "legeo", and
"legere".  Look it up.  You didn't find it, did you?  But if your
analysis was correct, "legeo" must be there.  But it's not.  What
does that tell you?  It tells you that "legent" is not a form of
a second conjugation verb.  (If it were, you would have found
"legeo" in the dictionary, but you didn't.)  Go back to the other
possibility: "legent" could be the future of a third conjugation
verb, where the "-e-" is the sign of the future.  So if this is
correct, what will the dictionary entry be?  It'll be "lego,
legere".  Check it out.  This time you found what you were
looking for: "lego" means "to read".  So how do you translate
"legent?"

                   leg-        -e-       -nt
                   read       will      they

Or "they will read".

     The moral of this is that your lives used to be fairly
simple.  An "-e-" before the personal endings always used to
indicate a present tense of a second conjugation verb.  Now it
could mean a future of a third conjugation verb as well.  You
have to proceed cautiously now, and make sure you have thoroughly
mastered your grammar before you start reading.  You'll also have
to use the dictionary more deliberately and intelligently than
you had to before.  And that means thinking your forms through
before you turn to the dictionary.


IMPERATIVE

Do you remember the formulae you followed for forming the
imperative of first and second conjugation verbs?  It was this:

           Singular:      stem  +    0
           Plural:        stem  +    te

And so you came up with forms like this:  "lauda", "laudate",
"mone", "monete", etc.  Third conjugation verbs follow the same
formulae, but don't forget that pesky short "-e-" stem vowel.  If
there is something added to it, it changes to an "-i-" (or "-u-"
before the ending "-nt"); if there is nothing added to it, it
stays short "-e-".   So how are you going to form the imperative
of the verb "mitto?"  Think.

           Singular  mitte  +   0    =    __________

           Plural    mitte  +   te   =    __________

This is how all third conjugation verbs will form their
imperatives -- except for four very common verbs.  The verbs
"duco", and three other verbs you'll get later, form their
singular imperatives by dropping the stem vowel altogether: "duc"
not "duce".  But the plural imperatives are quite regular:
"ducite".


VOCABULARY PUZZLES

scribo, -ere         One way to memorize the conjugation of verbs
                     is to learn them with the proper
                     accentuation.  A second conjugation verb is
                     accented on the stem vowel in the infinitive,
                     so say "MOH neh o, moh HEH reh" for the
                     second conjugation verb "moneo, monere". The
                     stress accent on a third conjugation falls on
                     the syllable before the stem vowel.  So say,
                     "SREE boh, SCREE beh reh" for the third
                     conjugation verb "scribo, scribere".
                     Similarly "DOO keh re" for "ducere", "MIT teh
                     re" for "mittere" and so on.

copia, -ae (f)       Another one of those words which have a
                     different meaning in the plural.  In the
                     singular "copia" means "abundance"; in the
                     plural -- copiae, -arum (f) -- it means
                     "supplies, troops, forces".

ad + acc             Means "to" and "toward", always with a sense
                     of "movement to.  Students often "ad + acc".
                     with the dative case of indirect object,
                     which we often translate into English with
                     the preposition "to".  Contrast these two
                     examples: "I am giving you a dollar ("you"
                     would be dative case) and "I am running to
                     you" ("you" would be in the accusative case
                     governed by "ad").

ex, e + abl.         Students sometimes get hung up on when to use
                     "ex" or "e".  Use "ex" before any word you
                     like, but use "e" only before words which
                     start with a consonant.  If you wish, use
                     "ex" only.  That way, you'll always be right.

ago, agere           An idiom with this verb which Wheelock is
                     going use a lot is "ago vitam", which means
                     "to live" (to lead a life).  Another is "ago
                     gratias" + dative, which means "to thank".
                     The person being thanked is in the dative
                     case: "Populus hominibus gratias agent".

duco, ducere         Means "to lead", but can also mean "to
                     think".  This extension is logical: we want
                     our leaders to be thinkers too, don't we?

