Accipio: To Receive | Latin Grammar

Accipiō means “receive,” “accept,” “welcome,” “hear,” or “understand.” Its principal parts are accipiō, accipere, accēpī, acceptum. It belongs to the third-iō class and to the capiō family: present accipi-, perfect accēp-, and supine accept-.

The prefix is historically ad- “toward,” but its final d assimilates to the following c, producing acc-, while the root vowel of capiō weakens from a to i in the present stem. The perfect and supine therefore show accēp- and accept-, not invented forms in adcap- or accap-.

The object determines what reception means. One can receive a letter, welcome a guest, suffer a wound, hear news, or interpret words in a certain way.

Active Indicative and Subjunctive

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	accipiō	accipis	accipit	accipimus	accipitis	accipiunt
Imperfect	accipiēbam	accipiēbās	accipiēbat	accipiēbāmus	accipiēbātis	accipiēbant
Future	accipiam	accipiēs	accipiet	accipiēmus	accipiētis	accipient
Perfect	accēpī	accēpistī	accēpit	accēpimus	accēpistis	accēpērunt / accēpēre
Pluperfect	accēperam	accēperās	accēperat	accēperāmus	accēperātis	accēperant
Future perfect	accēperō	accēperis	accēperit	accēperimus	accēperitis	accēperint

Subjunctive tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	accipiam	accipiās	accipiat	accipiāmus	accipiātis	accipiant
Imperfect	acciperem	acciperēs	acciperet	acciperēmus	acciperētis	acciperent
Perfect	accēperim	accēperīs	accēperit	accēperīmus	accēperītis	accēperint
Pluperfect	accēpissem	accēpissēs	accēpisset	accēpissēmus	accēpissētis	accēpissent

Puer ā patre dōnum accipit.

The boy receives a gift from his father.

Hospes omnēs benignē accipiēbat.

The host used to welcome everyone kindly.

Crās responsum tuum accipiam.

Tomorrow I shall receive your answer.

Hodiē litterās ab amīcō accēpī.

Today I received a letter from a friend.

First-person accipiam is future indicative or present subjunctive. Independent future context or a subjunctive-triggering clause settles the mood.

Passive Voice

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	accipior	acciperis	accipitur	accipimur	accipiminī	accipiuntur
Imperfect	accipiēbar	accipiēbāris	accipiēbātur	accipiēbāmur	accipiēbāminī	accipiēbantur
Future	accipiar	accipiēris	accipiētur	accipiēmur	accipiēminī	accipientur
Present subjunctive	accipiar	accipiāris	accipiātur	accipiāmur	accipiāminī	accipiantur
Imperfect subjunctive	acciperer	acciperēris	acciperētur	acciperēmur	acciperēminī	acciperentur

Perfect passive uses acceptus, -a, -um plus sum: acceptus est, accepta erat, acceptī erunt; acceptus sit, accepta esset.

Lēgātī magnō honōre accipiuntur.

The envoys are being received with great honor.

Condiciō ab utrāque parte accepta est.

The condition was accepted by both sides.

The source commonly uses ā/ab + ablative when it is a person: epistulam ab amīcō accēpī. The personal agent in the passive uses the same surface phrase, but voice determines its role.

Commands and Non-Finite Forms

Present active imperatives are accipe, accipite. The future active has accipitō (second- or third-person singular), accipitōte (second-person plural), and accipiuntō (third-person plural). Passive commands are accipere, accipiminī in the present and accipitor (second- or third-person singular), accipiuntor (third-person plural) in the future. The future and passive commands are (formal/archaic or contextually rare).

Accipe hoc dōnum in signum amīcitiae.

Accept this gift as a sign of friendship.

Category	Active	Passive
Present infinitive	accipere	accipī
Perfect infinitive	accēpisse	acceptum esse
Future infinitive	acceptūrum esse	acceptum īrī
Participles	accipiēns; acceptūrus	acceptus; accipiendus
Gerund	accipiendī, accipiendō, accipiendum, accipiendō	—
Supines	acceptum, acceptū	—

Dīxit sē pecūniam nōn accēpisse.

He said that he had not accepted the money.

Haec condiciō nōbīs accipienda est.

We must accept this condition.

Receiving Things, People, and Information

With a physical object, accipiō describes receipt or acceptance. With a person, an adverb often describes the welcome: bene, laetē, honōrificē accipere. With an event or message, it can mean “hear, learn, understand.”

Ex nūntiō accēpimus hostēs discessisse.

We learned from the messenger that the enemy had departed.

Here accusative hostēs is the subject of perfect infinitive discessisse. The content is an accusative-and-infinitive statement; ex nūntiō identifies the source.

Verba tua aliter accēpī atque tū voluistī.

I understood your words differently from what you intended.

Common collocations include vulnus accipere “receive/suffer a wound,” clādem accipere “suffer defeat,” in fidem accipere “take under protection,” and nōmen accipere “receive a name.” Translation should follow the whole phrase.

Aspect, Source, and Agency

Imperfect accipiēbat can describe repeated reception or a welcome in progress; perfect accēpit presents the receipt as completed. This contrast matters when English uses “received” for both.

Cotīdiē querēllās accipiēbat; tandem ad ūnam respondit.

Every day he would receive complaints; at last he answered one.

Lēgātōs diū accipiēbat, deinde dōna eōrum accēpit.

He was receiving the envoys for a long time, then accepted their gifts.

The source and agent require different analysis. Active epistulam ab amīcō accēpī uses ab amīcō for the source from whom the letter came. Passive epistula ab amīcō accepta est can mean “the letter was accepted by a friend,” where the same phrase is an agent. Voice and semantics—not the preposition alone—identify the role.

The dative may mark the person for whom something is received or taken under protection, but it is not automatically the source. To express “receive from,” use ā/ab, ex, or contextually another separation phrase.

Acceptance versus Mere Receipt

Receipt does not always imply approval. Latin can contrast accipere as physical reception with accepting a proposal or duty. Objects such as condiciōnem, cōnsilium, and mūnus favor the evaluative sense “accept.”

Epistulam accēpit, sed condiciōnēs in eā scrīptās nōn accēpit.

He received the letter but did not accept the conditions written in it.

This distinction is contextual, not morphological. Both verbs are accēpit; the objects choose the interpretation.

Accipiō versus Neighboring Verbs

Accipiō views something as coming to the receiver. Capiō emphasizes seizure or gaining control; recipiō taking back or receiving into a place; suscipiō taking up a duty or burden.

Epistulam accēpī, fugitīvum cēpī, cūram suscēpī.

I received a letter, captured a fugitive, and undertook a responsibility.

These verbs share -cipiō/-cēpī/-ceptum patterns, but prefixes have become lexical. For simple capiō, see capiō: to take.

Parsing Diagnostic

Identify accipi-, accēp-, or accept-. Then inspect the object: a person suggests welcome, a wound suggests suffering, and a statement suggests learning. In passive forms, make the received thing or person nominative and ensure participial agreement.

Common Mistakes

Treating the verb as fourth conjugation

❌ Dōnum accipīre volō.

Incorrect — the active infinitive is accipere.

✅ Dōnum accipere volō.

I want to accept the gift.

Inventing the perfect

❌ Litterās accipīvī.

Incorrect — the perfect stem is accēp-.

✅ Litterās accēpī.

I received the letter.

Missing i in the plural

❌ Hospitēs dōna accipunt.

Incorrect — third-io verbs use accipiunt.

✅ Hospitēs dōna accipiunt.

The guests receive gifts.

Translating every occurrence as physical receipt

⚠️ Ex epistulā accēpī eum venīre.

Do not force the physical sense ‘receive’ here: accēpī introduces information and means ‘I learned.’

✅ Ex epistulā accēpī eum venīre.

I learned from the letter that he was coming.

Key Takeaways

Memorize accipiō, accipere, accēpī, acceptum.
Third-iō morphology combines accipiunt/accipiēbat with infinitive accipere.
Objects extend “receive” to welcome, suffer, hear, and interpret.
The verb has full active, passive, and non-finite systems.
Related capiō compounds share stems but have distinct lexical meanings.

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