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Romance verbs are the most inflected part of speech in the language family. In the transition from Latin to the Romance languages, verbs went through many phonological, syntactic, and semantic changes. Most of the distinctions present in classical Latin continued to be made, but synthetic forms were often replaced with more analytic ones. Other verb forms changed meaning, and new forms also appeared.
The following table presents a comparison of the conjugation of the regular verb cantare "to sing" in Classical Latin, and Vulgar Latin (reconstructed as Proto-Italo-Western Romance, with stress marked), and nine modern Romance languages. The conjugations below were given from their respective Wiktionary pages.
| Form | Classical Latin | Vulgar Latin | Ibero-Romance | Occitano-Romance | Gallo-Romance | Italo-Dalmatian | Eastern-Romance | Sardinian | Rhaeto-Romance | Gallo-Italic | Planned Languages | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portuguese | Galego | Asturian (Central) | Spanish | Aragonese | Catalan | Occitan (Lengadocian) | French (written) [a] | French (spoken) [a] | Italian | Sicilian | Neapolitan | Barese (Murgia) | Romanian | Sardinian (Logudorese) | Romansh (Grischun) | Friulian | Emilian (Frignano) [b] | Romagnol (Sammarinese) [b] | Ligurian [b] | Piedmontese | Occidental | Interlingua | Neolatino | |||||
| Infinitive | cantāre | *cantáre | cantar | cantar | cantar | cantar | cantar | cantar | cantar | chanter | /ʃɑ̃te/ | cantare | cantari | cantà | cande(j) | cânta | cantare | chantar | cjantâ | cantèr | cantè | cantâ | canté | cantar | cantar | cantare | ||
| Present participle [c] | cantandus | *cantándu | cantando | cantando | cantando | cantando | cantando | cantant | cantant | chantant | /ʃɑ̃tɑ̃/ | cantando [d] | cantannu | cantanno | candann | cântând | – | chantond | cjantant | cantànd | cantend | cantando | cantand | cantante | cantante | cantando | ||
| cantāns | *cantánte | cantante | cantante | cantante | cantante | cantant | – | – | – | – | cantante | – | – | candand | cantende | – | – | – | – | cantéint | cantante [e] | cantant | cantant | – | cantante | |||
| Past participle | cantātum | *cantátu | cantado | cantado | cantáu, cantao | cantado | cantato, cantau | cantat | cantat | chanté | /ʃɑ̃te/ | cantato | cantatu | cantato | candoit | cântat | cantadu | chantà | cjantât | cantê/cantà | cantéd | cantou | cantà | cantat | cantate | cantato | ||
| Indicative | Present | cantō cantās cantat cantāmus cantātis cantant | *cánto *cántas *cántat *cantámos *cantátes *cántant | canto cantas canta cantamos cantais cantam | canto cantas canta cantamos cantades cantan | canto cantes canta cantamos cantáis canten | canto cantas canta cantamos cantáis cantan | canto cantas canta cantam(os) cantaz cantan | canto cantes canta cantem canteu canten | canti cantas canta cantam cantatz cantan | chante chantes chante chantons chantez chantent | /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃tɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃te/ /ʃɑ̃t/ | canto canti canta cantiamo cantate cantano | cantu canti canta cantamu cantati càntanu | canto cante canta cantammo cantate cantano | candc cand cand candoim candoit candǝn | cânt cânți cântă cântăm cântați cântă | canto cantas cantat cantamus cantades cantant | chant chantas chanta chantain chantais chantan | cjanti cjantis cjante cjantìn cjantais cjantin | a cant t' cant al/la canta a cantámm a cantê i/al canten | a chent t chent e/la chenta a cantém a cantéd i/al chenta | canto ti canti o/a canta cantemmo cantæ cantan | canto cante canta cantuma cante canto | canta | canta | canto cantas canta cantamos cantates cantan | |
| Imperfect | cantābam cantābās cantābat cantābāmus cantābātis cantābant | *cantába *cantábas *cantábat *cantábamos *cantábates *cantábant | cantava cantavas cantava cantávamos cantáveis cantavam | cantaba cantabas cantaba cantabamos cantabades cantaban | cantaba cantabes cantaba cantábemos cantábeis cantaben | cantaba cantabas cantaba cantábamos cantabais cantaban | cantaba cantabas cantaba cantaban(os) cantábaz cantaban | cantava cantaves cantava cantàvem cantàveu cantaven | cantavi cantavas cantava cantàvem cantàvetz cantavan | chantais chantais chantait chantions chantiez chantaient | /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tje/ /ʃɑ̃tɛ/ | cantavo cantavi cantava cantavamo cantavate cantavano | cantavu cantavi cantava cantàvamu cantàvavu cantàvanu | cantavo cantave cantava cantàvemo cantàveve cantàvano | candaj candiǝv candaj candajm candiǝv candajn | cântam cântai cânta cântam cântați cântau | cantaia cantaias cantaiat cantaiamus cantaiades cantaiant | chantava chantavas chantava chantavan chantavas chantavan | cjantavi cjantavis cjantave cjantavin cjantavis cjantavin | a cantèva t' cantèv al/la cantèva a cantèven a cantèvi i/al canteven | a canteva t cantevi e/la canteva a cantimi a cantivi i/al canteva | cantava ti cantavi o/a cantava cantavimo cantavi cantavan | cantava cantave cantava cantavo cantave cantavo | cantat | cantava | cantava/cantavo cantavas cantava cantavamos cantavates cantavan | ||
| Preterite | cantāvī cantāvistī cantāvit cantāvimus cantāvistis cantāvērunt | *cantái *cantásti *cantáut *cantámos *cantástes *cantáront | cantei cantaste cantou cantámos cantastes cantaram | cantei cantaches cantou cantamos cantastes cantaron | canté cantesti cantó cantemos cantestis cantaron | canté cantaste cantó cantamos cantasteis cantaron | canté cantés cantó cantem(os) cantez cantoron | cantí / vaig cantar cantares / vas cantar cantà / va cantar cantàrem / vàrem cantar cantàreu / vàreu cantar cantaren / van cantar | cantèri cantères cantèt cantèrem cantèretz cantèron | chantai chantas chanta chantâmes chantâtes chantèrent [f] | /ʃɑ̃te/ /ʃɑ̃ta/ /ʃɑ̃ta/ /ʃɑ̃tam/ /ʃɑ̃tat/ /ʃɑ̃tɛʁ/ | cantai cantasti cantò cantammo cantaste cantarono | cantai cantasti cantau cantammu cantastivu cantàrunu | cantaie cantaste cantaie cantàiemo cantàsteve cantàreno | candabb candast candò candamm candast candorǝn | cântai cântași cântă cântarăm cântarăți cântară | cantesi cantesti cantesit cantemus cantezis canteint | – | cjantai cjantaris cjantà cjantarin cjantaris cjantarin | a canté t' cantéss al/la cantò a cantén a cantéssi i / al cantén | a cantò t cantassi e/la cantò a cantasme a cantassi i / al cantò | – | – | cantat | cantava | cantai cantaste cantau cantammos cantastes cantaron | ||
| Pluperfect | cantāveram cantāveras cantāverat cantāverāmus cantāverātis cantāverant | *cantára *cantáras *cantárat *cantáramos *cantárates *cantárant | cantara cantaras cantara cantáramos cantáreis cantaram [g] | cantara cantaras cantara cantaramos cantarades cantaran | cantara cantares cantara cantáramos cantarais cantaren | cantara cantaras cantara cantáramos cantarais cantaran [h] | – | – | – | – | – | – | cantirìa cantirissi cantirìa cantirìamu cantirìavu cantirìanu [i] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Future [j] | cantābō cantābis cantābit cantābimus cantābitis cantābunt | – | cantarei cantarás cantará cantaremos cantareis cantarão | cantarei cantarás cantará cantaremos cantaredes cantarán | cantaré cantarás cantará cantaremos cantaréis cantarán | cantaré | cantaré cantarás cantará cantarem(os) cantarez cantarán | cantaré cantaràs cantarà cantarem cantareu cantaran | cantarai cantaràs cantarà cantarem cantaretz cantaràn | chanterai chanteras chantera chanterons chanterez chanteront | /ʃɑ̃tʁe/ /ʃɑ̃tʁa/ /ʃɑ̃tʁa/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tʁe/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɔ̃/ | canterò canterai canterà canteremo canterete canteranno | cantirroggiu cantirrai cantirrà cantirremu cantirriti cantirrannu | cantarraggio cantarraie cantarrà cantarrammo cantarrate cantarranno | ghià cande(j) dà cande(j) và cande(j) mà cande(j) avit a cande(j) nà cande(j) | – | – | – | cjantarai cjantarâs cjantarà cjantarìn cjantarês cjantaran | a cantarò t' cantarê al/la cantarà a cantarámm a cantarî i/al cantarân | a cantarò t cantarè e/la cantarà a cantarém a cantarìd i/al cantarà | cantiò ti cantiæ o/a cantià cantiemo cantiei cantian | canterai canteras canterà canteruma cantereve canteran | va cantar | cantara/ va cantar | cantarao/cantarai cantaràs cantarà cantaremos cantaretes cantaràn | ||
| Conditional (Future in the past) [j] | – | – | cantaria cantarias cantaria cantaríamos cantaríeis cantariam | cantaría cantarías cantaría cantariamos cantariades cantarían | cantaría | cantaría cantarías cantaría cantaríamos cantaríais cantarían | cantaría cantarías cantaría cantarían(os) cantaríaz cantarían | cantaria cantaries cantaria cantaríem cantaríeu cantarien | cantariái cantariás cantariá cantariam cantariatz cantarián | chanterais chanterais chanterait chanterions chanteriez chanteraient | /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ /ʃɑ̃təʁjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃təʁje/ /ʃɑ̃tʁɛ/ | canterei canteresti canterebbe canteremmo cantereste canterebbero | cantirìa cantirissi cantirìa cantirìamu cantirìavu cantirìanu | cantarrìa cantarrisse cantarrìa cantarriamo cantarrisseve cantarrìano | candiss candiss candess candessǝm candiss candessǝr | – | – | – | cjantarès cjantaressis cjantarès cjantaressin cjantaressis cjantaressin | a cantarèv t' cantarèss al/la cantrèv a cantarèven a cantarèssi i/al cantarèven | a cantarìa t cantarés e/la cantarìa a cantarésmi a cantarésvi i/al cantarìa | cantieiva ti cantiësci o/a cantieiva cantiëscimo cantiësci cantieivan | canterìa canterìe canterìa canterìo canterìe canterìo | vell cantar | cantarea/ velle cantar | cantaría/cantarío/cantareva/cantarevo cantarías/cantarevas cantaría/cantareva cantariamos/cantarevamos cantariates/cantarevates cantarían/cantarevan | ||
| Future perfect | cantāverō cantāveris cantāverit cantāverimus cantāveritis cantāverint | *cantáre *cantáres *cantáret *cantáremos *cantáretes *cantárent | cantar cantares cantar cantarmos cantardes cantarem [k] | cantar cantares cantar cantarmos cantardes cantaren | cantar(e) cantares cantar(e) cantáremos cantáreis cantaren | cantare cantares cantare cantáremos cantareis cantaren [k] [e] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Subjunctive | Present | cantem cantēs cantet cantēmus cantētis cantent | *cánte *cántes *cántet *cantémos *cantétes *cántent | cante cantes cante cantemos canteis cantem | cante cantes cante cantemos cantedes canten | cante cantes cante cantemos cantéis canten | cante cantes cante cantemos cantéis canten | cante cantes cante cantem(os) cantez canten | canti cantis canti cantem canteu cantin | cante cantes cante cantem cantetz canten | chante chantes chante chantions chantiez chantent | /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃tjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tje/ /ʃɑ̃t/ | canti canti canti cantiamo cantiate cantino | cantu canti canta cantamu cantati càntanu | canto cante canta cantammo cantate cantano | candc cand cand candoim candoit candǝn | cânt cânți cânte cântăm cântați cânte | cante cantes cantet cantemus cantedes cantent | chantia chantias chantia chantian chantias chantian | cjanti cjantis cjanti cjantìn cjantais cjantin | a canta t' cant al/la canta a cantàmma a cantèdi i/al canten | a chenta t chenta e/la chenta a cantémma a cantévva i/al chenta | cante ti canti o/a cante cantemmo cantæ cantan | canta cante canta canto cante canto | canta | canta | cante cantes cante cantemos cantetes canten | |
| Perfect | cantāverim cantāveris cantāverit cantāverimus cantāveritis cantāverint | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Imperfect | cantārem cantārēs cantāret cantārēmus cantārētis cantārent | *cantáre *cantáres *cantáret *cantáremos *cantáretes *cantárent | cantar cantares cantar cantarmos cantardes cantarem [l] | cantar cantares cantar cantarmos cantardes cantaren | cantar(e) cantares cantar(e) cantáremos cantáreis cantaren | – | – | – | cantèssi cantèsses cantèsse cantèssem cantèssetz cantèsson | – | – | – | cantere canteres canteret canteremus canterezes canterent | – | – | cjantàs cjantassis cjantàs cjantassin cjantassis cjantassin | – | – | – | – | a cantéss t cantéss e/la cantéss a cantéssmi a cantéssvi i/al cantéss | – | – | cantat | cantava | – | ||
| Pluperfect [m] | cantāvissem cantāvissēs cantāvisset cantāvissēmus cantāvissētis cantāvissent | *cantásse *cantásses *cantásset *cantássemos *cantássetes *cantássent | cantasse cantasses cantasse cantássemos cantásseis cantassem | cantase cantases cantase cantasemos cantasedes cantasen | – | cantase cantases cantase cantásemos cantaseis cantasen | cantase cantases cantase cantasen(os) cantásez cantasen | cantés cantessis cantés cantéssim cantéssiu cantessin | – | chantasse chantasses chantât chantassions chantassiez chantassent [e] | /ʃɑ̃tas/ /ʃɑ̃tas/ /ʃɑ̃ta/ /ʃɑ̃tasjɔ̃/ /ʃɑ̃tasje/ /ʃɑ̃tas/ | cantassi cantassi cantasse cantassimo cantaste cantassero | cantassi cantassi cantassi cantàssimu cantàssivu cantàssiru | cantasse cantasse cantasse cantàssemo cantàsseve cantàsseno | candiss candiss candess candessǝm candiss candessǝr | cântasem cântaseși cântase cântaserăm cântaserăți cântaseră | – | chantass chantasses chantass chantassen chantasses chantassen [n] | – | a cantéssa t' cantéss al/la cantéssa a cantéssen a cantéssi i/al cantéssen | – | cantesse ti cantesci o/a cantesse cantescimo cantesci cantessan | canteissa canteisse canteissa canteisso canteisso canteisse canteisso | – | – | cantasse/cantasso cantasses cantasse cantàssemos cantàssetes cantassen | ||
| Imperative [o] | cantā cantāte | *cánta *cantáte | canta cantai | canta cantade | canta cantái | canta cantad | canta cantaz | canta canteu | canta cantatz | chante chantez | /ʃɑ̃t/ /ʃɑ̃te/ | canta cantate | canta cantati | canta cantate | cand candoit | cântă cântați | canta cantade | chanta chantai | cjante cjantait | canta cantê | chenta canted | canta cantæ | canta canté | canta | canta | canta cantate | ||
Note that the Vulgar Latin reconstructions are believed to have regularized word stress within each tense (except the present and imperative). Word-final ⟨e⟩ probably converged on /ə/. Many verb forms have undergone elisions, like the indicative pluperfect cantāveram > *cantára and the subjunctive imperfect cantāvissem > *cantásse.
In this section, "Vulgar Latin" is actually reconstructed as reconstructed Proto-Italo-Western Romance, most notably the shift from Classical Latin -i- and -u- to -e- /e/ and -o- /o/, as opposed to inherited /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ respectively. The developments include:
In the Proto-Romance grammatical tradition, the second and third conjugation are known as third conjugation, similarly to French.
Verbs in the first conjugation are in -āre (*-áre), later evolved to -are in Italian, -ar in most Romance languages and -er in French.
| Infinitive | *-áre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-ánte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-ándu | ||||||
| Supine | *-átu | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-o [a] | *-as [a] | *-at [a] | *-ámos | *-átes | *-ant [a] |
| Imperfect | *-ába | *-ábas | *-ábat | *-ábamos | *-ábates | *-ábant | |
| Preterite | *-áui | *-áusti | *-áut | *-ámos | *-ástes | *-áront | |
| Pluperfect | *-ára | *-áras | *-árat | *-áramos | *-árates | *-árant | |
| Future perfect | *-áro | *-áres | *-áret | *-áremos | *-áretes | *-árent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-e [a] | *-es [a] | *-et [a] | *-émos | *-étes | *-ent [a] |
| Imperfect | *-áre | *-áres | *-áret | *-arémos | *-arétes | *-árent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ásse | *-ásses | *-ásset | *-assémos | *-assétes | *-ássent | |
| Imperative | *-a [a] | *-áte | |||||
Verbs in the second conjugation are in -ēre (*-ére), later evolved to -ere in Italian, -er in most Romance languages and -oir in French (no "regular" -oir verbs). Another infinitive -ere has merged into this paradigm.
| Infinitive | *-ére | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-énte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-éndu | ||||||
| Supine | *-etu [a] | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-io [a] | *-es [a] | *-et [a] | *-émos | *-étes | *-ent [a] |
| Imperfect | *-éba | *-ébas | *-ébat | *-ébamos | *-ébates | *-ébant | |
| Preterite | *-í | *-ísti | *-ét | *-émos | *-éstes | *-éront | |
| Pluperfect | *-éra | *-éras | *-érat | *-éramos | *-érates | *-érant | |
| Future perfect | *-éro | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-ia [a] | *-ias [a] | *-iat [a] | *-iámos | *-iátes | *-iant [a] |
| Imperfect | *-ére | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ésse | *-ésses | *-ésset | *-essémos | *-essétes | *-éssent | |
| Imperative | *-é [a] | *-éte | |||||
Verbs in the third conjugation are in -ere (*-ere, caused stress in previous syllable), later merged with -ere (*-ere, causes stress in antepenultimate syllable), but -re in French and Catalan. The suffix -re in French are in the third group, also known as irregular verbs.
The -iō variant (*-io in Vulgar Latin) now defunct, later merged with the second conjugation; the paradigm now only exists in some descendants of the verb faciō.
| Infinitive | *-ere [a] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-énte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-éndu | ||||||
| Supine | *-etu [a] | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-o [a] | *-es [a] | *-et [a] | *-émos | *-étes | *-ont [a] |
| Imperfect | *-éba | *-ébas | *-ébat | *-ébamos | *-ébates | *-ébant | |
| Preterite | *-í | *-ísti | *-ét | *-émos | *-éstes | *-éront | |
| Pluperfect | *-éra | *-éras | *-érat | *-éramos | *-érates | *-érant | |
| Future perfect | *-éro | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-a [a] | *-as [a] | *-at [a] | *-ámos | *-átes | *-ant [a] |
| Imperfect | *-ére | *-éres | *-éret | *-éremos | *-éretes | *-érent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ésse | *-ésses | *-ésset | *-essémos | *-essétes | *-éssent | |
| Imperative | *-e [a] | *-éte | |||||
Verbs in the fourth conjugation are in -īre (*-íre), later evolved to -ire in Italian, and -ir in most Romance languages. This conjugation type are infixed with once-inchoative -īsc- → *-ísc- in some languages, but its placement varies.
| Infinitive | *-íre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *-iénte | ||||||
| Gerund | *-iéndo | ||||||
| Supine | *-íto | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *-io [a] | *-is [a] | *-it [a] | *-ímos | *-ítes | *-iont [a] |
| Imperfect | *-iéba | *-iébas | *-iébat | *-iébamos | *-iébates | *-iébant | |
| Preterite | *-i | *-ísti | *-it | *-ímos | *-ístes | *-íront | |
| Pluperfect | *-íra | *-íras | *-írat | *-íramos | *-írates | *-írant | |
| Future perfect | *-íro | *-íres | *-íret | *-íremos | *-íretes | *-írent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *-ia [a] | *-ias [a] | *-iat [a] | *-iamos | *-iates | *-iant [a] |
| Imperfect | *-íre | *-íres | *-íret | *-íremos | *-íretes | *-írent | |
| Pluperfect | *-ísse | *-ísses | *-ísset | *-íssemos | *-íssetes | *-íssent | |
| Imperative | *-i [a] | *-íte | |||||
In Italian, Catalan, and Romanian, the infix -isc-; -esc-, -eix- (Catalan), and -ăsc- (Romanian) is placed on once-stressed indicative and subjunctive present forms (the first-, second-, third-singular and third plural present tenses), and stressed imperatives. In French, the infix -iss- is placed on all indicative present forms, the indicative imperfect, the subjunctive present, and plural imperatives.
While there are few non-infixed -īre verbs (also known are pure -īre verbs), in French the infixed verbs are the only regular verbs, otherwise irregular.
While the nominal morphology in Romance languages is primarily agglutinative, the verbal morphology is fusional. The verbs are highly inflected for numbers (singular and plural), persons (first-, second-, and third-person), moods (indicative, conditional, subjunctive, and imperative), tenses (present, past, future), and aspects (imperfective and perfective).
Because of the complexities in Romance conjugation, certain languages have a separate article regarding these conjugations:
While there are 4 regular infinitives in Classical Latin, namely -āre, -ēre, -ere, and -īre, some of these infinitive were merged. In many Romance languages including Spanish and Portuguese, the main infinitives are -ar, -er, and -ir, with addition of -ôr (Portuguese only) which only exists in the verb pôr , traditionally considered as -er verbs. While in Italian, the infinitives are -are, -ere, -ire. The infinitives -er and -ere (Italian) resulted from the merge of Latin infinitives -ēre and -ere. In French, the infinitives are -er, -oir, -re, -ir, but verbs with -oir and -re are in the third group, also known as irregular verbs.
Latin deponent verbs like sequor and nascor (infinitive sequī, nascī) changed to active counterparts *séquo and *násco (infinitive *séquere, *nascere), as in Portuguese seguir , Spanish seguir , and Italian seguire ; and Portuguese nascer , Spanish nacer , and French naître .
| Hard | Soft | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Back vowels | Front vowels | Back vowels | Front vowels |
| c- | quV- | z- | c- |
| g- | guV- | j- | g- |
| gu- | güV- | ||
In many Romance languages, verb stems ending in "soft" (i.e. historically palatalised) c and g have purely orthographic variation to indicate that the soft pronunciation is intended before back vowels. Thus in Spanish lanz-ar /lanˈθaɾ/ "to throw" has a first person singular indicative form lanc-e /ˈlanθe/ "that I throw" where both c and z represent the phoneme /θ/ (/s/ in most American varieties) in different situations. Likewise there is French mang-er /mɑ̃ˈʒe/ "to eat", commenc-er /kɔmɑ̃ˈse/ "to begin", first person plural present indicative nous mange-ons /nu mɑ̃ˈʒɔ̃/ and nous commenç-ons /nu kɔmɑ̃ˈsɔ̃/.
Conversely, there may be forms with a "hard" (historically un-palatalised) c and g throughout, as with toc-ar /toˈkaɾ/ "to touch", toqu-é /toˈke/ "I touched". A third type in Spanish is the small group of verbs with stems ending in /gw/, as averigu-ar /abeɾiˈgwaɾ/ "to find out", averigü-é "I found out". Such alternations are purely orthographic quirks, not true irregularities.
While the passive voice became completely periphrastic in Romance, the active voice has been morphologically preserved to a greater or lesser extent. The tables below compare the conjugation of the Latin verbs sum and stō in the active voice with that of the Romance copulae, their descendants. For simplicity, only the first person singular is listed for finite forms. Note that certain forms in Romance languages come from the suppletive sources sedeo (to be seated) instead of sum, e.g. subjunctive present: sedea > sia, sea, seja... (medieval Galician-Portuguese, for instance, had double forms in the whole conjugation: sou/sejo, era/sia, fui/sevi, fora/severa, fosse/sevesse...)
| Form | Latin | Italian | French1 | Spanish | Portuguese | Logudorese | Catalan | Sicilian | Romansh | Romanian | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative | Present | sum | stō | sono | sto | suis | – | soy | estoy | sou | estou | so | isto | sóc | estic | sugnu | staiu | sun | sunt | |
| Imperfect | eram | stābam | ero | stavo | – | étais | era | estaba | era | estava | essia | istaia | era | estava | era | stava | era | eram | ||
| Preterite | fuī | stetī | fui | stetti | fus | – | fui | estuve | fui | estive | essesi | istesi | fui | estiguí | fui | stesi | – | fui, fusei | ||
| Pluperfect | fueram | steteram | – | – | – | – | fuera | estuviera | fora | estivera | – | – | fóra | estigués | fora | – | – | – | ||
| Future2 | erō | stābō | sarò | starò | serai | – | seré | estaré | serei | estarei | – | – | seré | estaré | – | – | – | – | ||
| Subjunctive | Present | sim | stem | sia | stia | sois | – | sea | esté | seja | esteja | sia | iste | sigui, siga | estigui, estiga | – | – | saja | să fiu | |
| Perfect3 | fuerim | steterim | – | – | – | – | fuere | estuviere | for | estiver | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Imperfect | essem | stārem | – | – | – | – | – | – | ser | estar | essere | istere | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Pluperfect | fuissem | stetissem | fossi | stessi | fusse | – | fuese | estuviese | fosse | estivesse | – | – | fos | estigués | fussi | stassi | fiss | fusesem | ||
| Infinitive | esse | stāre | essere | stare | être | – | ser | estar | ser | estar | essere | istare | ser, ésser | estar | siri | stari | esser | fire, a fi | ||
| Supine | – | stātum | – | stato | – | été | sido | estado | sido | estado | essidu | istadu | estat, sigut, sét | estat | statu | statu | stà | fost | ||
| Gerund | – | standum | essendo | stando | – | étant | siendo | estando | sendo | estando | essende | istande | sent, essent | estant | sennu | stannu | essend, siond | fiind | ||
This is the Vulgar Latin conjugation of the verb *avére:
| Infinitive | *avére | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present participle | *avénte | ||||||
| Gerund | *avéndu | ||||||
| Supine | *áutu | ||||||
| 1st singular | 2nd singular | 3rd singular | 1st plural | 2nd plural | 3rd plural | ||
| Indicative | Present | *áio | *áus | *áut | *avémos | *avétes | *áunt |
| Imperfect | *avéba | *avébas | *avébat | *avébamos | *avébates | *avébant | |
| Preterite | *áui | *avésti | *áut | *avémos | *avéstes | *áuront | |
| Pluperfect | *avéra | *avéras | *avérat | *avéramos | *avérates | *avérant | |
| Future | *averáio | *averáious | *averáiout | *averavémos | *averavétes | *averáunt | |
| Conditional | *averavéba | *averavéba | *averavébat | *averavébamos | *averavébates | *averavébant | |
| Future perfect | *avéro | *avéres | *avéret | *avéremos | *avéretes | *avérent | |
| Subjunctive | Present | *áia | *áias | *áiat | *aiámos | *aiátes | *áiant |
| Imperfect | *avére | *avéres | *avéret | *avéremos | *avéretes | *avérent | |
| Pluperfect | *avésse | *avésses | *avésset | *avessémos | *avessétes | *avéssent | |
| Imperative | *áu | *avéte | |||||
Notice that these forms sometimes also have an inconsistent form, as the table above more resembling with that of French.
In spite of the remarkable continuity of form, several Latin tenses have changed meaning, especially subjunctives.
The Latin imperfect subjunctive underwent a change in syntactic status, becoming a personal infinitive in Portuguese and Galician. [1] An alternative hypothesis traces the personal infinitive back to the Latin infinitive, not to a conjugated verb form. [2]
In many cases, the empty cells in the tables above exist as distinct compound verbs in the modern languages. Thus, the main tense and mood distinctions in classical Latin are still made in most modern Romance languages, though some are now expressed through compound rather than simple verbs. Some examples, from Romanian:
New forms also developed, such as the conditional, which in most Romance languages started out as a periphrasis, but later became a simple tense. In Romanian, the conditional is still periphrastic: aș fi, ai fi, ar fi, am fi, ați fi, ar fi.