How Many Latin Verb Endings Are There?

Question: How Many Latin Verb Endings Are There?

For Latin verbs there are 4 numbered conjugations that give you the root vowel. In order to conjugate a Latin verb, in addition to these vowels you need to know the endings. Just how many Latin verb endings are there?

Answer: The number is a bit mind-boggling, although there are patterns that make it less than impossible. 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.