CHAPTER 34 "Deponent Verbs; Ablative with Special Deponents" DEPONENT VERBS There are many verbs in Latin which have almost no active forms but which nevertheless must be translated as if they were active. These verbs are called deponent, from "de + pono," because they have "set aside" their active forms. In short, a deponent verb is a verb which is passive in form but passive in meaning. There is a tendency for beginning students of Latin to assume that a deponent verb is so thoroughly exceptional that nothing they have learned about Latin verbs applies. This is a mistake. Deponent verbs are unusual only in this respect: they drop most of their active forms, and its passive forms must be translated as if they were active. Aside from this, deponent verbs follow the rules of inflection and conjugation to the letter. Imagine that the verb "laudo" had only passive forms. What would the dictionary entry look like? The first dictionary entry of any verb is always the first person singular, present indicative. If "laudo" had no active forms, then the first entry would be passive instead of active: "laudor" instead of "laudo." The second entry of any verb is the present infinitive from which you deduce the conjugation of the verb by dropping the infinitive ending. If "laudo" had no active forms, the present infinitive would be passive: "laudari" instead of "laudare." Although you're working only with passive forms, by dropping the ending infinitive ending "-ri," you could still tell that verb belongs to the first conjugation. The third entry of any verb is the third principal part, from which is derived the perfect system active. But because we're imagining that "laudo" has only passive forms, there would be no third principal part listed. The third principal part is used to produce the perfect system active, and there is no active voice for "laudor." The fourth entry of any verb is the fourth principal part, the perfect passive participle, which is used with the verb "sum" to form the perfect system passive. Hence the fourth entry of the "laudo," if it had no active forms, would still be "laudatus." Taken together, then, the dictionary entry of "laudo" with its active forms removed would look like this: laudor, laudari, -----, laudatus Write out the dictionary entries for the paradigm verbs of the other conjugation without their active forms. 2. moneo ________________________________________ 3. duco ________________________________________ 3i. capio ________________________________________ 4. audio ________________________________________ In each of these cases, you can still see to which conjugations each of these verbs belong even if they had no active forms. A deponent verb is a verb which in fact lacks most of its active forms, so the dictionary entry for it will have to rely only on its passive forms. Here is the dictionary entry for the deponent verb "to urge." "hortor, -ari, hortatus sum" >From the first entry you can tell the verb is deponent because the dictionary is giving you the passive first person singular instead of the active. The verb has no active voice. Looking at the second entry, you can tell that the verb belongs to the first conjugation, because "-ari" is what the passive infinitive of a first conjugation looks like. Therefore, the stem from which you'll build the present system of tenses is "horta-." The third entry is the perfect passive participle with a conjugated form of the verb "sum." Instead of listing a blank where the perfect active is normally listed in a non-deponent verb, the entry for a deponent verb skips over it and goes directly to the participal and adds "sum" to show that this is the perfect system. But the participle "hortatus" is entirely predictable, since first conjugation verbs form their perfect passive participle by adding "-tus" to the stem of the first principal part -- in this case "horta-." There are deponent verbs belonging to all four conjugations. Examine this list of deponent verbs and write down their conjugation. 1. egredior, -i, egressus sum __________ 2. sequor, -i, secutus sum __________ 3. patior, -i, passus sum __________ 4. experior, -iri, expertus sum __________ 5. fateor, -eri, fassus sum __________ 6. loquor, -i, locutus sum __________ 7. utor, -i, usus sum __________ 8. nascor, -i, natus sum __________ 9. morior, -i, mortuus sum __________ 10. proficiscor, -i, profectus sum __________ 11. conor, -ari, conatus sum __________ 12. arbitror, -ari, arbitratus sum __________ It is important not to forget that deponent verbs conjugate in ways that are entirely consistent with other verbs of their conjugation. The only difference is that deponent verbs have "set aside" their active finite forms and the remaining passive forms are translated as it they are active. Just to give you more confidence about this, let's spend some time conjugating deponent verbs. I. FIRST CONJUGATION DEPONENT VERB: arbitror, -ari abritratus sum (to think) A. PRESENT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd aribtraris _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st _______________ aribtrabimur _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ arbitrabamini 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ B. PRESENT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st arbitrer _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ arbitaretur 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ C. PERFECT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ arbitratus eris _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st arbitrati sumus _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ arbitrati erant D. PERFECT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ 1st arbitrati simus _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ arbitrati essent E. PARTICIPLES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ __________________ F. INFINITIVES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ G. IMPERATIVES SING. _______________ PLUR. _______________ II. SECOND CONJUGATION DEPONENT VERB: fateor, -eri, fassus sum (to confess) A. PRESENT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd fateris _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st _______________ fatebimur _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ fatebamini 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ B. PRESENT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st fatear _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ fateretur 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ C. PERFECT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ fassus eris _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st fassi sumus _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ fassi erant D. PERFECT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ 1st fassi simus _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ fassi essent E. PARTICIPLES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ __________________ F. INFINITIVES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ G. IMPERATIVES SING. _______________ PLUR. _______________ III. THIRD CONJUGATION DEPONENT VERB: utor, uti, usus sum (to use) A. PRESENT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd uteris uteris _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st _______________ utemur _______________ 2nd utimini _______________ utebamini 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ B. PRESENT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st utar _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ uteretur 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ C. PERFECT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ usus eris _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st usi sumus _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ usi erant D. PERFECT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ 1st usi simus _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ usi essent E. PARTICIPLES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ __________________ F. INFINITIVES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ G. IMPERATIVES SING. _______________ PLUR. _______________ IIIi. THIRD CONJUGATION I-STEM DEPONENT VERB: patior, pati, passus sum (to endure, permit) A. PRESENT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd pateris _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st _______________ patiemur _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ patiebamini 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ B. PRESENT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st patiar _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ pateretur 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ C. PERFECT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ passus eris _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st passi sumus _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ passi erant D. PERFECT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ 1st passi simus _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ passi essent E. PARTICIPLES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ ____________________ F. INFINITIVES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ G. IMPERATIVES SING. _______________ PLUR. _______________ IV. FOURTH CONJUGATION DEPONENT VERB: experior, -iri, expertus (to try) A. PRESENT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd experiris _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st _______________ experiemur _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ experiebamini 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ B. PRESENT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1st experiar _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ experiretur 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ C. PERFECT SYSTEM INDICATIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ expertus eris _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ _______________ 1st experti sumus _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ experti erant D. PERFECT SYSTEM SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT PLUPERFECT 1st _______________ _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ _______________ 1st experti simus _______________ 2nd _______________ _______________ 3rd _______________ experti essent E. PARTICIPLES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ __________________ F. INFINITIVES ACTIVE PASSIVE PRESENT ____________________ PERFECT ____________________ FUTURE ____________________ G. IMPERATIVES SING. _______________ PLUR. _______________ VOCABULARY PUZZLES utor, uti, usus sum The verb takes the ablative case to complete its meaning. "Usus sum multis libris" (I used many books.) Wheelocks remark that the ablative is really an ablative of means is pure speculation. audeo, -ere, ausus sum A handful of verbs are regular in the present system, but become deponent in perfect system. As you can see by this dictionary entry, the verb "audeo" skips over the perfect system active entirely and goes directly to the participle "ausus." This is telling you that in the perfect system this verb is deponent, hence "ausus sum" means "I dared." These verb are called semi-deponent. DRILLS Try a few easy drills before you turn to Wheelock's self-help tutorial. Translate the following. 1. loquitur ____________________ 2. sequemini ____________________ 3. secuti eramus ____________________ 4. usus ero ____________________ 5. naturus ____________________ 6. conabimini ____________________ 7. patitur ____________________ 8. secuturum esse ____________________ 9. morieris ____________________ 10. moreris ____________________ 01/10/93