4th Conjugation Latin Verbs: The Ultimate Guide
You’ve studied the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conjugations . . . so what next? It’s time to look at 4th conjugation Latin verbs!
The fourth conjugation is the last of the regular Latin verb groups. I know Latin verbs can seem unending, but you’re almost there.
Verbs of the 4th conjugation are characterized by the long vowel ī. In general, this conjugation is pretty straightforward.
The most confusing bit is telling 4th conjugation verbs and 3rd conjugation verbs apart, but don’t worry. I’ll explain everything in detail!
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What is a 4th conjugation verb in Latin?
The fourth conjugation is a category of Latin verbs that have a present stem ending in –ī-. Notice that the stem vowel is long.
This long I features prominently in the present tense, as we will see below. The I, shortened before a second vowel, is also a major feature of other tenses.
So you can think of the fourth conjugation as the “I” conjugation.
A Latin verb belongs to the fourth conjugation if its second principal part ends in -īre.
A good Latin dictionary will list each verb’s principal parts, so you can look up an unfamiliar verb to find out if it is 4th conjugation or not.
It is essential that you look at the second principal part to determine if a verb belongs to the 4th conjugation. This is because 4th conjugation and 3rd –iō verbs both have –iō in the first principal part.
But while 4th conjugation verbs have –īre in the second principal part, 3rd –iō verbs have –ere.
Speaking of principal parts . . .
Principal Parts of 4th Conjugation Verbs
Every Latin verb has principal parts, a set of forms that help us to use and understand the verb in question. Regular verbs have four principal parts, and 4th conjugation verbs are no exception.
Luckily, there are standard principal parts that many 4th conjugation verbs follow. Here they are:
| 1 | -iō |
| 2 | -īre |
| 3 | -īvī |
| 4 | -ītus |
Take, for example, the verb audiō, “hear”. Its principal parts are audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītus.
Other 4th conjugation verbs have irregular principal parts that simply have to be memorized. But at least there is some regularity, unlike in the 3rd conjugation.
Because so many 4th conjugation verbs do have regular principal parts, a short-hand has developed to indicate a regular verb. Instead of writing out all the forms of audiō, a dictionary or textbook may simply put “audiō, 4”.
This means that the principal parts of audiō follow the expected pattern.
NOTE: Regular 4th conjugation verbs may also have a shortened third principal part ending in –iī. This happens due to sound changes: –īvī > –īī > –iī. An example is audiī.
List of 4th Conjugation Latin Verbs
When you learn Latin vocabulary, it’s important to be smart about it. Focus on learning the most used words first: after all, these are the ones that will help you to read Latin most easily.
The DCC Latin Core Vocabulary List contains the 1000 words which most frequently appear in Latin texts. 15 of them are verbs belonging to the 4th conjugation.
I highly recommend that you memorize these verbs as soon as possible. Here is a handy list, organized by frequency (1-15).
Two of the verbs, orior and experior, are deponent verbs. That’s why their second principal parts end in –īrī.
I have put irregular principal parts in bold so you know to pay attention. Remember: you should always put all the principal parts on your Latin flashcards.
| Rank | Latin Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come, arrive |
| 2 | audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītus | hear |
| 3 | sciō, scīre, scīvī, scītus | know |
| 4 | sentiō, sentīre, sēnsī, sēnsus | feel, perceive |
| 5 | inveniō, invenīre, invēnī, inventus | find, discover |
| 6 | perveniō, pervenīre, pervēnī, perventus | arrive, reach |
| 7 | nesciō, nescīre, nescīvī, nescītus | not know, be ignorant |
| 8 | orior, orīrī, ortus sum | be born, rise |
| 9 | conveniō, convenīre, convēnī, conventus | come together, assemble |
| 10 | experior, experīrī, expertus sum | test, experience |
| 11 | reperiō, reperīre, repperī, repertus | find; find out, learn |
| 12 | aperiō, aperīre, aperuī, apertus | open |
| 13 | serviō, servīre, servīvī, servītus | serve, be enslaved (+ dative) |
| 14 | dormiō, dormīre, dormīvī, dormītus | sleep |
| 15 | adveniō, advenīre, advēnī, adventus | come to, arrive at |
How To Conjugate 4th Conjugation Latin Verbs
This section includes the full paradigm of the 4th conjugation verb sciō. All of its possible forms are included below, and there are a lot of them!
If you are a beginning Latin student, skip the parts that aren’t relevant to you. For instance, if you haven’t learned the passive voice yet, then you can ignore the “passive” column. Focus on the active voice, which is what you learn first.
You are about to see the conjugation of the verb sciō, scīre, scīvī, scītus. But remember: all 4th conjugation verbs use these same endings. The endings are in bold so you know what is common to all verbs.
For the tenses of the present system (present, future, and imperfect), remove the –īre from the verb’s second principal part and then add the appropriate 4th conjugation endings.
For tenses of the perfect system (perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect), remove the –ī from the verb’s third principal part and then add the appropriate tense endings.
Indicative Mood
Present Tense
Active translation: I know / I am knowing, you know / you are knowing, etc.
Passive translation: I am (being) known, you are (being) known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | sciō | scior |
| 2 sing. | scīs | scīris |
| 3 sing. | scit | scītur |
| 1 plur. | scīmus | scīmur |
| 2 plur. | scītis | scīminī |
| 3 plur. | sciunt | sciuntur |
Notice that the long I from the verb stem shows up in most of the forms. The stem vowel combines with the standard final personal signs to produce the distinctive 4th conjugation endings.
In the 1st person singular active, the 1st person marker –ō is added to the present stem, scī. The long I is then shortened before the following vowel (a standard Latin sound change). *Scīō becomes sciō.
Latin vowels always shorten before final T and before NT in any position. This is why the 3rd person singular *scīt becomes scit (short I) and the 3rd plural *scīunt becomes sciunt.
In the 2nd person singular, on the other hand, no sound changes occur. The 2nd person singular marker –s is added to scī-, and scīs “you know” results.
IMPORTANT: 3rd and 3rd –iō verbs have similar endings in the present tense, but the Is are all short.
Future Tense
Active translation: I will know, you will know, etc.
Passive translation: I will be known, you will be known, etc.
In the 4th conjugation, the future tense is distinguished from the present tense by a vowel change. While we saw long I in the present, the future features long E.
The stem vowel I still appears, right before the E. But since a long vowel shortens before another vowel, all of the Is are now short.
This means that the 4th conjugation future tense looks exactly like the 3rd –iō future tense.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | sciam | sciar |
| 2 sing. | sciēs | sciēris |
| 3 sing. | sciet | sciētur |
| 1 plur. | sciēmus | sciēmur |
| 2 plur. | sciētis | sciēminī |
| 3 plur. | scient | scientur |
Imperfect Tense
Active translation: I was knowing, you were knowing, etc.
Passive translation: I was being known, you were being known, etc.
As in the future tense, the long stem vowel (ī) shortens before ē. Once again, 3rd –iō verbs have identical forms.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | sciēbam | sciēbar |
| 2 sing. | sciēbās | sciēbāris |
| 3 sing. | sciēbat | sciēbātur |
| 1 plur. | sciēbāmus | sciēbāmur |
| 2 plur. | sciēbātis | sciēbāminī |
| 3 plur. | sciēbant | sciēbantur |
Note that there are archaic Latin forms of the imperfect that omit the ē and add bam, bās, etc. directly to the present stem. Thus scībam instead of sciēbam, scībās instead of sciēbās, etc.
Perfect Tense
Active translation: I knew / I have known, you knew / you have known, etc.
Passive translation: I was known / I have been known, you were known / you have been known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | scīvī | scītus, a, um sum |
| 2 sing. | scīvistī | scītus, a, um es |
| 3 sing. | scīvit | scītus, a, um est |
| 1 plur. | scīvimus | scītī, ae, a sumus |
| 2 plur. | scīvistis | scītī, ae, a estis |
| 3 plur. | scīvērunt / scīvēre | scītī, ae, a sunt |
As with all other Latin verbs, you form the passive of the perfect system by taking the perfect passive participle (the fourth principal part) and combining it with a form of the verb sum.
The participle can be either masculine, feminine, or neuter depending on the subject of the verb. This is because participles agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case, just like Latin adjectives.
NOTE FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS: So far I have taken scīvī as the third principal part of sciō, which gives us the perfect stem scīv-. But as I mentioned up above, regular 4th conjugation verbs have an alternate third principal part ending in –iī.
Sciō thus has another possible perfect stem: sci- (from sciī). The I at the end of this perfect stem causes some contractions in the perfect tense.
Sciistī becomes scīstī, sciit becomes scīt, sciimus becomes scīmus, and sciistis becomes scīstis.
Pluperfect Tense
Active translation: I had known, you had known, etc.
Passive translation: I had been known, you had been known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | scīveram | scītus, a, um eram |
| 2 sing. | scīverās | scītus, a, um erās |
| 3 sing. | scīverat | scītus, a, um erat |
| 1 plur. | scīverāmus | scītī, ae, a erāmus |
| 2 plur. | scīverātis | scītī, ae, a erātis |
| 3 plur. | scīverant | scītī, ae, a erant |
Future Perfect Tense
Active translation: I will have known, you will have known, etc.
Passive translation: I will have been known, you will have been known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | scīverō | scītus, a, um erō |
| 2 sing. | scīveris | scītus, a, um eris |
| 3 sing. | scīverit | scītus, a, um erit |
| 1 plur. | scīverimus | scītī, ae, a erimus |
| 2 plur. | scīveritis | scītī, ae, a eritis |
| 3 plur. | scīverint | scītī, ae, a erunt |
Imperative Mood
If you want to command someone in Latin, you use the imperative mood.
Imperatives can be in the present or future tenses, and they can be in either the 2nd person or the 3rd person. 2nd person present imperatives are by far the most common.
Here are the present imperatives:
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 2 sing. | scī know! | scīre be known! |
| 2 plur. | scīte (y’all) know! | scīminī (y’all) be known! |
Note that the stem vowel I remains long in all of these imperative forms. This allows you to distinguish 4th conjugation imperatives from 3rd and 3rd-iō imperatives (which have either E or short I).
Now let’s look at the much less common future imperatives:
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 2 sing. | scītō know! (you shall know) | scītor be known! (you shall be known) |
| 3 sing. | scītō he/she/it shall know | scītor he/she/it shall be known |
| 2 plur. | scītōte (y’all) know! (y’all shall know) | none |
| 3 plur. | sciuntō they shall know | sciuntor they shall be known |
Infinitives
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present | scīre to know | scīrī to be known |
| Perfect | scīvisse to have known | scītum esse to have been known |
| Future | scītūrum esse to be about to conquer | scītum īrī to be about to be known |
NOTE FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS: If you are using the short perfect stem of sciō, then the perfect infinitive sciisse contracts to scīsse.
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood is hard to translate out of context. I have provided sample translations, but there are many other possible options based on what is going on in any given sentence.
👉 Curious? Read my ultimate guide to the subjunctive!
Present Subjunctive
Active translation: I may know, you may know, etc.
Passive translation: I may be known, you may be known, etc.
The stem vowel ī is visible in its shortened form (i) throughout the present subjunctive.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | sciam | sciar |
| 2 sing. | sciās | sciāris |
| 3 sing. | sciat | sciātur |
| 1 plur. | sciāmus | sciāmur |
| 2 plur. | sciātis | sciāminī |
| 3 plur. | sciant | sciantur |
Imperfect Subjunctive
Active translation: I might know, you might know, etc.
Passive translation: I might be known, you might be known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | scīrem | scīrer |
| 2 sing. | scīrēs | scīrēris |
| 3 sing. | scīret | scīrētur |
| 1 plur. | scīrēmus | scīrēmur |
| 2 plur. | scīrētis | scīrēminī |
| 3 plur. | scīrent | scīrentur |
Perfect Subjunctive
Active translation: I may have known, you may have known, etc.
Passive translation: I may have been known, you may have been known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | scīverim | scītus, a, um sim |
| 2 sing. | scīverīs | scītus, a, um sīs |
| 3 sing. | scīverit | scītus, a, um sit |
| 1 plur. | scīverīmus | scītī, ae, a sīmus |
| 2 plur. | scīverītis | scītī, ae, a sītis |
| 3 plur. | scīverint | scītī, ae, a sint |
Pluperfect Subjunctive
Active translation: I might have known, you might have known, etc.
Passive translation: I might have been known, you might have been known, etc.
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1 sing. | scīvissem | scītus, a, um essem |
| 2 sing. | scīvissēs | scītus, a, um essēs |
| 3 sing. | scīvisset | scītus, a, um esset |
| 1 plur. | scīvissēmus | scītī, ae, a essēmus |
| 2 plur. | scīvissētis | scītī, ae, a essētis |
| 3 plur. | scīvissent | scītī, ae, a essent |
NOTE FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS: If you are using the shortened perfect stem of sciō, then the pluperfect subjunctive active undergoes regular contraction. Instead of sciissem, sciissēs, etc. we have scīssem, scīssēs, etc.
Participles, Gerunds, & Supines
Latin verbs also have adjectival and nominal forms. We will start with participles (verbal adjectives).
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present | sciēns “knowing” | none |
| Perfect | none | scītus, a, um “having been known” |
| Future | scītūrus, a, um “going to know” | sciendus, a, um “about to be known” |
Notice that you form the future active participle by additing –ūrus, a, um to the stem of the perfect passive participle. The perfect passive participle of sciō is scītus; scītus minus us equals scīt-, to which we then add –ūrus.
We also need to look at two types of verbal nouns, the gerund and the supine.
- Gerund: sciendī
- Supine: scītum
The gerund has no nominative case, which is why I have given the genitive above. It is identical to the neuter of the gerundive (the future passive participle).
The supine is only found in the accusative and in the ablative (scītū). The accusative is identical to the neuter accusative of the perfect participle passive.
FAQs about 4th Conjugation Latin Verbs
What is an example of a 4th conjugation verb?
Two classic examples of 4th conjugation Latin verbs are audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītus “hear” and veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventum “come, arrive”.
How do you tell if a Latin verb belongs to the 4th conjugation?
Look at the verb’s second principal part. If it ends in –īre, then the verb belongs to the 4th conjugation.
What is the 4th conjugation infinitive in Latin?
The fourth conjugation has six possible infinitives, just like all other Latin conjugations. The most important infinitive for Latin students is the present infinitive, which in the 4th conjugation always ends in –īre. Examples are venīre, sentīre, and scīre.
What are the 4th conjugation principal parts in Latin?
Regular 4th conjugation verbs have principal parts ending in –iō, īre, īvī, ītus. An example is audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītus “hear”.
Other 4th conjugation verbs, such as veniō, have irregular principal parts.
Final Thoughts on the Latin Fourth Conjugation
Congratulations: you now know the last of the regular Latin conjugations! This was a lot of information, so don’t worry if not everything made sense. You can bookmark this page and come back again to review.
The most important thing to remember is that 4th conjugation verbs have the stem vowel –ī-. This long I is present in almost every single tense, although it is often shortened before another vowel.
The more you practice, the more confident you will get with the 4th conjugation and with Latin verbs in general. Consistency is key!
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