How Many Latin Verb Endings Are There?

Question: How Many Latin Verb Endings Are There?

For Latin verbs there are four numbered conjugations that give you the root vowel. In addition to these vowels, in order to conjugate a Latin verb, you need to know the endings.

Answer:

The number of endings is a bit mind-boggling, although there are patterns that make it not-so hard. There are different endings for each of the:

Tenses:

1. present
2. imperfect
3. future
4. perfect
5. pluperfect
6. future perfect

Person:

1. 1st
2. 2nd
3. 3rd

Number:

1. singular
2. plural

Voices:

1. active
2. passive

Moods

1. indicative
2. imperative
3. subjunctive

Infinitives

Participles

Supine, and

Gerundive.

Before providing the number, which linguist, classical scholar, and author Nicholas Ostler kindly provides for us in his Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin, you should know that we're lucky with Latin because it lacks:

• dual number
• aorist tense
• middle voice and
• extra moods.

Ostler says there 106 possible endings for the verbs.