First Conjugation Paradigm
First conjugation is the friendliest corner of the Latin verb system: the stem ends in a long -ā- and almost everything else is predictable. Memorize one verb — amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum — and you have a key that unlocks roughly 60% of all Latin verbs.
The pattern is almost too clean: present stem amā-, perfect stem amāv-, supine stem amāt-. Endings glue on.
Amat ("he loves"), amābat ("was loving"), amāvit ("loved / has loved"), amābit ("will love") — same root, four tenses, no surprises.
The one wrinkle textbooks warn about and students miss anyway: in the present subjunctive the ā swaps to ē (amem, amēs, amet), and the stem-vowel drops before -ō in amō itself. Everything else is rule-following.
Present stem ends in long -ā-; perfect stem adds -v-; supine stem ends in -āt-. Cleanest, most regular conjugation in Latin.
The -ā- drops before -ō in amō, and turns into -ē- throughout the present subjunctive (amem, amēs, amet). Otherwise every form keeps the ā.
| Case | Active Indicative | Active Subjunctive | Passive Indicative | Passive Subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pres. 1s | am-ō | am-em | am-or | am-er |
| Pres. 2s | am-ās | am-ēs | am-āris ( | am-ēris ( |
| Pres. 3s | am-at | am-et | am-ātur | am-ētur |
| Pres. 1p | am-āmus | am-ēmus | am-āmur | am-ēmur |
| Pres. 2p | am-ātis | am-ētis | am-āminī | am-ēminī |
| Pres. 3p | am-ant | am-ent | am-antur | am-entur |
| Impf. 1s | am-ābam | am-ārem | am-ābar | am-ārer |
| Impf. 2s | am-ābās | am-ārēs | am-ābāris ( | am-ārēris ( |
| Impf. 3s | am-ābat | am-āret | am-ābātur | am-ārētur |
| Impf. 1p | am-ābāmus | am-ārēmus | am-ābāmur | am-ārēmur |
| Impf. 2p | am-ābātis | am-ārētis | am-ābāminī | am-ārēminī |
| Impf. 3p | am-ābant | am-ārent | am-ābantur | am-ārentur |
| Fut. 1s | am-ābō | — | am-ābor | — |
| Fut. 2s | am-ābis | — | am-āberis ( | — |
| Fut. 3s | am-ābit | — | am-ābitur | — |
| Fut. 1p | am-ābimus | — | am-ābimur | — |
| Fut. 2p | am-ābitis | — | am-ābiminī | — |
| Fut. 3p | am-ābunt | — | am-ābuntur | — |
| Perf. 1s | am-āvī | am-āverim | amātus sum | amātus sim |
| Perf. 2s | am-āvistī | am-āveris | amātus es | amātus sīs |
| Perf. 3s | am-āvit | am-āverit | amātus est | amātus sit |
| Perf. 1p | am-āvimus | am-āverimus | amātī sumus | amātī sīmus |
| Perf. 2p | am-āvistis | am-āveritis | amātī estis | amātī sītis |
| Perf. 3p | am-āvērunt ( | am-āverint | amātī sunt | amātī sint |
| Plup. 1s | am-āveram | am-āvissem | amātus eram | amātus essem |
| Plup. 2s | am-āverās | am-āvissēs | amātus erās | amātus essēs |
| Plup. 3s | am-āverat | am-āvisset | amātus erat | amātus esset |
| Plup. 1p | am-āverāmus | am-āvissēmus | amātī erāmus | amātī essēmus |
| Plup. 2p | am-āverātis | am-āvissētis | amātī erātis | amātī essētis |
| Plup. 3p | am-āverant | am-āvissent | amātī erant | amātī essent |
| Fut.Pf. 1s | am-āverō | — | amātus erō | — |
| Fut.Pf. 2s | am-āveris | — | amātus eris | — |
| Fut.Pf. 3s | am-āverit | — | amātus erit | — |
| Fut.Pf. 1p | am-āverimus | — | amātī erimus | — |
| Fut.Pf. 2p | am-āveritis | — | amātī eritis | — |
| Fut.Pf. 3p | am-āverint | — | amātī erunt | — |
| Imper. Pres. | am-ā / am | — | am-āre / am | — |
| Inf. Pres. | am-āre | — | am-ārī | — |
| Inf. Perf. | am-āvisse (am | — | amātus esse | — |
| Inf. Fut. | amātūrus esse | — | amātum īrī | — |
| Ptc. Pres. | am-āns, | — | — | — |
| Ptc. Perf. | — | — | amātus, -a, | — |
| Ptc. Fut. | amātūrus, -a, | — | amandus, -a, | — |
| Gerund | am-andī, | — | — | — |
| Supine | am-ātum, am | — | — | — |
| Case | Active Indicative | Active Subjunctive | Passive Indicative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pres. 3s | par-at | par-et | par-ātur |
| Pres. 3p | par-ant | par-ent | par-antur |
| Impf. 3s | par-ābat | par-āret | par-ābātur |
| Fut. 3s | par-ābit | — | par-ābitur |
| Perf. 3s | par-āvit | par-āverit | parātus est |
| Plup. 3s | par-āverat | par-āvisset | parātus erat |
| Fut.Pf. 3s | par-āverit | — | parātus erit |
| Imper. | par-ā / par | — | — |
| Ptc. Perf. | — | — | parātus, -a, |
See It In Action
— Cat. 62.16
Amat is the textbook 1st-conj present: stem amā-, drop the -ā- before person ending? No — the -ā- survives in the 3rd singular as a short -a- before -t (am-a-t). Catullus uses it as pure proverb: "victory loves effort."
— Cat. 3.5
Amabat shows the imperfect-tense recipe in one form: present stem (amā-) + tense marker (-bā-) + personal ending (-t). That same recipe (portābat, vocābat, parābat) builds the imperfect of every 1st-conj verb.
— Sall. Cat. 44.4
Dō, dare is 1st conj. but irregular: its stem-vowel is short a (dă-), not long ā — so damus, datis, dabam, dare, never *dāmus. The macron rule has exactly one exception in 1st conj. and this is it.
— Sall. Cat. 32.2
Parāta is the perfect-passive participle of parō — and it has crossed over from "having been prepared" to plain adjective "ready." That semantic drift (ppl. → adj.) is everywhere in 1st-conj verbs: parātus, ornātus, certus.
Latin perfect → English simple past: amāvit = "he loved" (he did the loving once, it's done).
plūs quam sē amāvit (Cat. 58.3) → "she loved (him) more than herself" — completed action.
Latin perfect → English perfect: amāvit = "he has loved" — the action is past but the result still matters.
compluribus narrāvit (Sall. Cat. 23.4) → "she has told several" — and now they all know.
Latin imperfect → English "was V-ing" / "used to V" / "kept V-ing" — never simple past.
amābat (Cat. 3.5) → "she kept on loving / used to love," not "she loved."
Both LOOK like am- + vowel + ending — amābit = "he will love"; amet = "may he love." Vowel decides it.
amābit (fut. ind.) ≠ amet (pres. subj.). The -bi- gives it away as future indicative; bare -e- signals subjunctive.
The macron isn't decoration — it decides which syllable gets the stress, and 1st conj. is where students first feel the consequences.
The stem-vowel is HEAVY → it pulls the stress
amāmus, amātis, amābāmus
stress on the long syllable: a-MĀ-mus, a-MĀ-tis, a-mā-BĀ-mus
The stem-vowel is LIGHT → stress retreats further left
amat, amant, dare
stress on the antepenult or first syllable: AM-at, AM-ant, DA-re
Tip: Read out loud and check the macron BEFORE you stress. amāmus is a-MĀ-mus (penult heavy → stressed); amat is AM-at (penult light → stress jumps back). Latin verse and prosody depend on this — get it wrong and the meter collapses.
In Catullus 3.5 — quem plus illa oculīs suīs amābat — what tense and voice is amābat, and what does that tell you about the action?
Study Tips
- •Drill amō cold — every other 1st-conj verb (and most of the verb system's logic about tense and voice) is built on this template, so the time pays back immediately.
- •When you hit a 1st-conj form in reading, name three things in order: stem (present / perfect / supine?), tense, person/number. That parsing routine works for all four conjugations.
- •Watch for the present-subjunctive ē (amet, vocet, paret) — it's the ONLY place the stem-vowel turns from ā into something else, and confusion with 2nd conj is the #1 trap.
- •Syncopated perfect forms — amāstī for amāvistī, amārunt for amāvērunt, amāsse for amāvisse — are everywhere in poetry. Memorize the rule (drop -ve- or -vi-) once and stop being confused.