Verbs: Syntactic Roadmap
A Latin verb is more than its endings — it brings a whole little syntactic frame with it. Legō expects an accusative object (legō librum); currō refuses one; pluit refuses even a subject.
Imperō drags a ut clause behind it; putō drags an accusative + infinitive. Knowing which verb takes which frame is half of reading Latin.
This page is the orientation map. Each verb class below — transitive, intransitive, deponent, impersonal, copulative, dative-governing, two-object, indirect-statement, indirect-command — is a doorway into a deeper construction page.
Use it to figure out what kind of verb you're staring at, then click through.
Reading Latin = reading the verb plus the slots it expects to fill.
The frame is fixed by the verb, not by you. Persuādeō takes a dative; iubeō takes accusative + infinitive — substitution is not optional.
See It In Action
— Cic. Mil. 11
Silent is intransitive — no object, no passive needed. The action stops at the subject. This is the cleanest verb frame: just subject + verb.
— B. G. i. 26
Notice there is no subject at all. Latin uses the passive of an intransitive verb to say 'fighting was done' — English has to invent a vague 'they.'
— Ter. And. 555
The copula est doesn't describe an action — it equates two nouns. Notice that the verb is singular, agreeing with the predicate noun integrātiō, not the plural subject.
— Verg. Aen. iv. 113
The verb est is missing — Latin loves to drop the copula. Whenever you see two nouns in the nominative with no verb, supply 'is/are.'
subject + verb + direct object — straight across
Caesar Galliam vīcit = 'Caesar conquered Gaul'
translate ACTIVELY despite the passive form
hostēs sequitur = 'he follows the enemy' (NOT 'is followed by')
supply a dummy 'it' or rephrase with 'one / they'
licet īre = 'it is permitted to go' / 'one may go'
translate as English transitive — drop the 'to/for'
tibi pāreō = 'I obey you' (not 'I obey to you')
'that' + subject (was acc.) + finite verb (was infinitive)
dīcit eum venīre = 'he says THAT he is coming'
Some Latin verbs that translate to English transitives actually take a dative, not an accusative — and students mark them wrong every year.
Object in the accusative
laudō Caesarem
I praise Caesar
'Object' in the dative
pāreō Caesarī
I obey Caesar
Tip: If the verb means favor, trust, obey, command, please, spare, harm, persuade, envy, pardon, expect a dative. Memorize this short list — it covers almost every case.
In senātus populusque Rōmānus intellegit (Cic. Fam. v. 8), why is the verb intellegit singular when there are two subjects?
Study Tips
- •When you meet a new verb, ask three quick questions: does it take an object? what case? what kind of clause?
- •Memorize the small list of dative-governing verbs (placēre, parcere, nocēre, persuādēre, imperāre) — they are tested every year and they look transitive in English.
- •Treat dīcō, putō, sciō, audiō, videō as flags: when you see one, expect an accusative + infinitive coming around the corner.