Chapter 8
Just as the third declension was a little different looking from the first and second declension, so too the third conjugation is a little different from the first and second conjugations. To begin, we first have to recognize a third conjugation verb. How do you do that? Well a third conjugation verb ends with an “ere” just like the second. However, this time there is no long mark over there “ere”. A long “ere” indicates that the verb belongs to the second conjugation; a short “ere” indicates that the verb belongs to the third conjugation. That’s how important that particular long mark is. We’ll see how important when we begin forming some of the tenses in the third conjugation.
Is there a pattern which will help us learn the principle parts for the third. Yes and no. The most I can give you for a pattern is this: o, ere ------, ------
Why are third and forth form for the principle parts blank? Did I forget to write something. Not really. The last two form are just not regular enough to present a pattern that would be valid. You just have to memorize the verb with its peculiarities.
Let’s begin with the simplest form, the imperfect. To form the imperfect of the third, you still go to the infinitive, the second principle, remove the final re, and add the imperfect endings. So let’s look at an example.
Dico, dicere, dixi, dictus to speak
Go to the infinitive, ducere, drop the final “re”, and that gives us “duce”. Now, add the imperfect endings.
1st dicebam dicebamus
2nd dicebas dicebatis
3rd dicebat dicebant
Well that doesn’t look strange. In fact, it seemed to be formed like every other imperfect we’ve had. Well you’re right. That’s why we started with it. However, now things begin to get a little strange.
To form the present tense, you go to the infinitive. But this time, we remove the entire “ere”, not just the “re” as we did with the first and second conjugations. Now we add these endings: o, is, it, imus, it is, unt. So let’s look at the verb:
Present Tense 3rd Conjugation
1st dico I say dicimus we say
2nd dicis you say dicitis you say
3rd dicit he says dicunt they say
At first, we would be expecting something like duco duces ducet. But that would be wrong for the present tense of the third conjugation. Why? Because we don’t form it the same was we do the first and second conjugations.
Now for the future tense for the third conjugation. Just as you didn’t form the present tense as you did the first and second conjugation, so, you guessed it, you don’t form the future of the third the same way either. Instead of using bo, bis, bit, bimus, bitis, bunt, as we did for the first and second declensions, we will use a different set of endings for the future tense of the third conjugation.
The endings are: am, es, et, emus, etis, ent.
Okay! How do you form it?
Well you do go to the infinitive again, and as we did with the present tense, we drop the entire “ere”. We now add the future endings for the third and fourth conjugations. And this is what we end up with.
Future tense 3rd Conjugation
1st dicam I shall speak dicemus we shall speak
2nd dices you will speak dicetis you will speak
3rd dicet he will speak dicent they will speak
To form the imperatives, you follow the same procedure and you don’t. To form the singular imperative you merely drop the “re” off of the infinitive. That’s the part that is the same. Normally, to form the plural imperative, you merely add “te” to the singular imperative. But not this time. This is the part that is different. This time you go back to the infinitive, drop the entire “ere” and add “ite” to the stem. Let’s look at an example.
Mitto mittere misi misus to send
Singular Plural
Imperative: Mitte Mittite
There are four (4) exceptions to this formation of the imperative of
the third conjugation. But the exceptions only exist in the singular. The plural
is still done like all other plural imperatives of the third.
The four verbs are dico (dic) to say; duco (duc) to lead; facere (fac); to do
and ferere (fer) to bear.
That’s the third conjugation. Let’s practice a few verbs and then we’ll return to our workbook.
Pono ponere posui positus put
Mitto mittere misi misus send
Defendo defendere defendi defenses to defend