Below is this week's catch-up post to help you review any lesson(s) you missed over the past two weeks of lessons and/or to work on whatever kind of practice is most useful to you as you review these new 1st-person forms for the 3rd and 4th conjugations, plus a few 1st and 2nd-conjugation verbs too:
And this is the slideshow with all the sayings from the week. You can read out loud, first with the English to remind you of the vocabulary... and then read out loud again with the cat!
I also made a printable crossword PDF as usual, focusing on the verb forms; screenshots below.
The focus for today's lesson is a look back over the 1st-person endings for all four conjugations. Some end in -o, some in -eo, and some in -io. Here's a quick review showing the 1st-person form and the infinitive; those are the two items you will see for each verb in a Latin dictionary entry, and those two forms allow you to identify the conjugation:
1st: amo ~ amare
2nd: habeo ~ habere
3rd-o: vivo ~ vivere
3rd-io: capio ~ capere
4th: audio ~ audire
See how that works? If a 1st-person verb ends just in -o it could be 1st conjugation or 3rd conjugation; you need to see the infinitive to tell the difference. And if a 1st-person verb ends in -io it could be 3rd conjugation or 4th conjugation; the infinitive tells you which one. The only conjugation that is unambiguous in the 1st-person form is the 2nd conjugation: -eo tells you without a doubt that it is a 2nd-conjugation verb.
To get ready for the sayings, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before, and you have seen almost all of them before!
The verb propero is the 1st-person form of properat; infinitive properare.
The cunctando is the ablative form of cunctandum, "delaying, going slowly."
The idea is that by going slowly you actually hurry up because you don't rush down blind alleys, you don't take wrong turns, you don't have to backtrack.
You can see this motto expressed visually with a winged turtle: the turtle is the cunctando part, and the wings are the propero part!
2. Audio, sed taceo.
I-hear, but I-am-silent.
AU-dio, sed TA-ceo.
The verb audio is the 1st-person form of audit; infinitive audire, while the verb taceo is the 1st-person form of tacet; infinitive tacere.
You can see this motto in a family crest here:
3. Pareo, non servio.
I-obey, I-serve not.
PA-reo, non SER-vio.
The verb pareo, "I obey," is the 1st-person form of paret; infinitive parere, while the verb servio is the 1st-person form of servit; infinitive servire. The idea is "I obey (of my free will)," "I do not serve (like a slave)." This is the motto of the Jenkinson family.
4. Quietae aquae non credo.
I-believe not (in) quiet water.
qui-E-tae aquae non credo.
The verb credo is the 1st-person form of credit; infinitive credere.
The word aquae is the dative form of aqua, and that's because the verb takes a dative complement. The adjective quietae, "quiet," is also dative feminine, agreeing with aquae. You haven't seen the feminine quieta before, but you have seen the neuter form: quietum.
Compare the English saying, "Still waters run deep." The idea is that water might look still, smooth, and quiet on the surface, but you don't know what currents lurk below. That's literally true about water, and it's also metaphorically true about people: just because someone is quiet on the outside, you don't know what lurks inside. So... be careful!
5. Deo fortunaeque committo.
I-trust (in) God and-luck.
deo fortu-NAE-que com-MIT-to.
The verb committo is the 1st-person form of committit; infinitive committere.
Like credo, the verb committo takes a dative complement: Deo is the dative form of the noun Deus, and fortunae is the dative form of fortuna.
The word -que goes after a word, and it is equivalent to et before the word, so Deo fortunaeque means the same thing as Deo et fortunae.
The focus for today's lesson is the last of the four conjugations like audit. These 4th-conjugation verbs have -io for the 1st-person ending, so here is audit:
audio: I hear
audit: she/he hears
audire: to hear
audi! hear!
There are not a lot of 4th-conjugation verbs, but there are a few common ones that you have met before. All of today's sayings contain 4th-conjugation verbs!
And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:
And here are today's proverbs:
1. Nil scio nisi nescio. I-know nothing except (that) I-don't-know.
nil scio nisi NE-scio.
You already know all the words in this saying.
The verb scio is from the verb scit, and the verb nescio is from the verb nescit. They are both 4th-conjugation verbs.
This is a paradoxical point of view associated with the Greek philosopher Socrates; find out more at Wikipedia: I know that I know nothing. This particular Latin saying was used by the archaic Roman playwright Plautus in one of his comedies.
2. Nihil nimium cupio. I-desire nothing too-much.
nihil NI-mium CU-pio.
You already know all the words in this saying too.
The verb cupio is from the verb cupit, a 4th-conjugation verb. This is one of many sayings that you have seen about the dangers of desire, for example: Est servitus cupidinis durissima and Effugere cupiditatem regnum est vincere.
3. Nec cupio nec metuo. I-desire not nor do-I-fear.
nec CU-pio nec ME-tuo.
The verb metuo, "I fear," is from the verb metuit, a 3rd-conjugation verb. You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen the related noun, metus.
The idea is that if you don't desire anything (don't desire to get anything, don't desire to keep what you have), then you have nothing to fear! This is the motto
4. Moneo et munio. I-advise and I-defend
MO-neo et MU-nio.
The verb munio, "I defend," is from the verb munit, as in English "munitions" and "ammunition." This is another 4th-conjugation verb.
The verb moneo is from monet, a 2nd-conjugation verb.
This is the motto of the British Mining Institute, as you can see in this wooden plaque at the entrance to their headquarters in Newcastle-upon-Tyne:
5. Quo plus in vita dormio, vivo minus.
By-how-much more in life I sleep, I-live (that much) less.
quo plus in vita DOR-mio, vivo minus.
The verb dormio is from the verb dormit, a 4th-conjugation verb.
The verb vivo is from the verb vivit, a 3rd-conjugation verb.
The word quo means "by how much."
Of course, we do need to sleep; there is no getting around it! But it's sometimes frustrating to think about how we spend one-third of our lives... asleep! (Or we should.)
The saying appears in one of the Latin distichs of the neo-Latin poet John Owen.
After a week of 1st-person forms for the 3rd conjugation, I thought I'd use the quiz-slideshow this week to practice some more 3rd-conjugation forms: active forms with the it ending, passive forms in with the itur ending, plus imperatives that end in e and infinitives that end in ere.
Using the quiz-slideshow, you can check yourself by looking at the cat slide that follows the slide with the missing word(s). You can also begin at the end and work backwards, giving yourself a different kind of quiz: seeing the slide without English and trying to supply the English, checking your answer on the next slide, reviewing with the cat slide, and then seeing if you can fill in the blank.
Plus don't forget: on the slides that contain the English translation, the English is linked to the original blog post if you want some help in understanding the grammar of the saying.
Here is a link to the full-size quiz-show, and the show is embedded in the blog post here too:
If you want to do even more reviewing (you cannot review too much!), here are the vocabulary review slideshows from previous weeks.
And here is the Week 65 Crosswordfor you to download and print. Screenshots:
And... here's a random cat (with a new cat when you reload the page):
Can you believe this is already lesson number 200? That means there are almost 1000 Latin LOLcats too!
The focus for today's lesson is more practice with those 3rd-declension verbs in the 1st person: some end in -o and some end in -io. You'll see examples of both below!
To get started, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before, and you've seen all but two of the words in today's sayings before.
And here are today's proverbs:
1. Dum vivo, spero. While I-live, I-hope.
dum vivo, spero.
The verb vivo is the 1st-person form of the verb vivit.
You also have a 1st-conjugation verb here: spero, the 1st-person form of the verb sperat.
This saying reminds me of my personal favorite Latin saying: Spes ultima dea, "Hope is the last goddess." As long as you are alive, the goddess Hope might still come to your rescue, no matter what.
2. Contentus vivo parvo. I-live, content with-a-little.
con-TEN-tus vivo parvo.
The word parvo is the ablative form of parvum, an adjective being used as a noun here, completing the adjective contentus. Notice how that adjectival phrase wraps around the verb: contentus...parvo, "content with a little."
You've seen other sayings that praise the simple, modest life; for example: Ex parvo satis and Parva domus, parva cura.
3. Respicio sine luctu. I-look-back without grief.
re-SPI-cio sine luctu.
The verb respicio is the 1st-person form of the verb respicit.
The word luctu is the ablative form of the noun luctus, "grief." You haven't seen this noun before, but you have seen the verb that it comes from: lugeo. It's in the ablative case with the preposition sine.
The verb diligo, "I love, I cherish, I choose," is the 1st-person form of the verb diligo. This verb is the origin of English "diligent" and you can also see it in "predilection."
The word mediocritatem is the accusative form of mediocritas, a feminine noun, so the adjective is also feminine accusative: auream.
While "mediocrity" in English has negative connotations, in Latin mediocritas is very much a "happy medium," safely in the middle, avoiding extremes. You can read more about the Golden Mean at Wikipedia.
5. Facio de necessitate virtutem. I-make a-virtue from necessity.
FA-cio de necessi-TA-te vir-TU-tem.
The verb facio is the 1st-person form of the verb facit.
The word necessitate is the ablative form of the noun necessitas. It's in the ablative case because of the preposition de.
The word virtutem is the accusative form of the noun virtus. It's in the accusative case because it's the object of the verb.
This phrase appears in the writings of Saint Jerome. Compare the English saying "making a virtue of necessity." In other words, if you have to do something anyway, you can try to turn it to your benefit.
The focus for today's lesson is more 1st-person forms, this time for the 3rd conjugation. This conjugation is different from the others because there are two different forms that you can find for the 1st person: sometimes it is -o and sometimes it is -io. There is no special rule for this; you just learn the forms as you go. In today's sayings, you will see some -o verbs and some -io verbs. The infinitive for both of them is the same, -ere.
For example, vivo is an -o verb:
vivo: I live
vivere: to live
But sapio is an -io verb:
sapio: I am wise
sapere: I am wise
And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before, which is almost all of the verbs in today's sayings.
And here are today's proverbs:
1. In diem vivo. I-live for the-day.
in diem vivo.
The verb vivo is the 1st-person form of vivit.
The word diem is the accusative form of the noun dies. It's in the accusative case with the preposition in, which means "into" or "for" when it's with the accusative case.
2. Ultra aspicio. I-look beyond.
ultra as-PI-cio.
The verb aspicio is the 1st-person form of aspicit.
The word ultra, "beyond," is an adverb. You haven't seen this word before, but you've seen this related adjective: ultima.
4. Aurum in stercore quaero.
I'm-seeking gold in a-manure-pile.
aurum in STER-core quaero.
The verb quaero is the 1st-person form of quaerit.
The word aurum is the accusative form of aurum (remember: neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative and the accusative); it's the object of the verb.
The word stercore is the ablative form of the noun stercus. The preposition in with the ablative means "in."
You've seen a different version of this saying before: Aurum e stercore. You may or may not find gold in the proverbial shit, but even if you do, it's not a pleasant task.
The word feliciter, "happily," is an adverb. You haven't seen this word before, but you've seen the related noun: felicitas.
The word periculo is the ablative form of the noun periculum, and the adjective alieno is also in the ablative, agreeing with the noun periculo. The ablative phrase means "at another's peril" or "by means of someone else's danger."
In other words, it's much better to learn from other people's dangerous mistakes than to make those mistakes on your own.
Below is this week's catch-up post to help you review any lesson(s) you missed over the past two weeks of lessons and/or to work on whatever kind of practice is most useful to you as you review these new 1st-person forms for the 1st and 2nd conjugations:
And this is the slideshow with all the sayings from the week. You can read out loud, first with the English to remind you of the vocabulary... and then read out loud again with the cat!
I also made a printable crossword PDF as usual, focusing on the verb forms; screenshots below.
