Capiō means “take,” “seize,” “capture,” “choose,” or “receive.” Its principal parts are capiō, capere, cēpī, captum. It belongs to the third-iō class: some present forms show -i-, the imperfect and future show -iē-/-ie-, but the infinitive is capere, not fourth-conjugation capīre.
The direct object and collocation select the sense. Urbem capere is “capture a city,” cōnsilium capere “adopt a plan,” and somnum capere “get some sleep.”
Active Indicative and Subjunctive
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | capiō | capis | capit | capimus | capitis | capiunt |
| Imperfect | capiēbam | capiēbās | capiēbat | capiēbāmus | capiēbātis | capiēbant |
| Future | capiam | capiēs | capiet | capiēmus | capiētis | capient |
| Perfect | cēpī | cēpistī | cēpit | cēpimus | cēpistis | cēpērunt / cēpēre |
| Pluperfect | cēperam | cēperās | cēperat | cēperāmus | cēperātis | cēperant |
| Future perfect | cēperō | cēperis | cēperit | cēperimus | cēperitis | cēperint |
| Subjunctive tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | capiam | capiās | capiat | capiāmus | capiātis | capiant |
| Imperfect | caperem | caperēs | caperet | caperēmus | caperētis | caperent |
| Perfect | cēperim | cēperīs | cēperit | cēperīmus | cēperītis | cēperint |
| Pluperfect | cēpissem | cēpissēs | cēpisset | cēpissēmus | cēpissētis | cēpissent |
Piscātor piscem magnō rētī capit.
The fisherman catches a fish with a large net.
Mīlitēs collem altum capiēbant.
The soldiers were occupying a high hill.
Crās novum cōnsilium capiēmus.
Tomorrow we shall adopt a new plan.
Exercitus oppidum sine morā cēpit.
The army captured the town without delay.
Future indicative and present subjunctive share capiam. An independent statement about tomorrow is future; ut, nē, a wish, or an indirect question can select subjunctive.
Passive Voice
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | capior | caperis | capitur | capimur | capiminī | capiuntur |
| Imperfect | capiēbar | capiēbāris | capiēbātur | capiēbāmur | capiēbāminī | capiēbantur |
| Future | capiar | capiēris | capiētur | capiēmur | capiēminī | capientur |
| Present subjunctive | capiar | capiāris | capiātur | capiāmur | capiāminī | capiantur |
| Imperfect subjunctive | caperer | caperēris | caperētur | caperēmur | caperēminī | caperentur |
The perfect passive system uses captus, -a, -um plus the appropriate form of sum: perfect indicative captus sum, pluperfect captus eram, future perfect captus erō; perfect subjunctive captus sim, pluperfect captus essem. Change the participle for the subject’s gender and number and conjugate the auxiliary for person.
Urbs ab hostibus capitur.
The city is being captured by the enemy.
Duae nāvēs in portū captae sunt.
Two ships were seized in the harbor.
The participle agrees with the receiver; the personal agent uses ā/ab + ablative, while an instrument such as rētī is a bare ablative.
Commands and Non-Finite Forms
Present active imperatives are cape, capite. The (formal/archaic) active future imperative has capitō (second or third person singular), capitōte (second plural), and capiuntō (third plural). Present passive capere, capiminī and future passive capitor, capiuntor exist but are rare.
Cape hunc librum et primam pāginam lege.
Take this book and read the first page.
| Category | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present infinitive | capere | capī |
| Perfect infinitive | cēpisse | captum esse |
| Future infinitive | captūrum esse | captum īrī |
| Participles | capiēns; captūrus | captus; capiendus |
| Gerund | capiendī, capiendō, capiendum, capiendō | — |
| Supines | captum, captū | — |
In future passive captum īrī, captum is the invariant supine, not a participle agreeing with the subject. The construction is rare; recognizing it matters more than producing it in elementary prose.
Dūx dīxit sē urbem captūrum esse.
The commander said that he would capture the city.
Occāsiō sine morā capienda est.
The opportunity must be seized without delay.
Objects and Idioms
The core idea is gaining control of something, physically or mentally. That motivates a wide set of collocations:
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| urbem / hostem capere | capture a city/enemy |
| cōnsilium capere | adopt a plan |
| somnum capere | get some sleep |
| initium capere | make a beginning, begin |
| fugam capere | take flight |
| locum capere | occupy/take up space |
Post longum iter tandem somnum cēpimus.
After the long journey, we finally got some sleep.
Orātiō ab hāc quaestiōne initium capit.
The speech begins with this question.
Context prevents wooden translation. Cōnsilium capere is not normally “capture a plan,” and fugam capere is not “take a flight” in the modern travel sense.
Choosing among “Take” Verbs
English “take” covers several relations that Latin separates. Capiō emphasizes seizing or gaining control; accipiō emphasizes receiving what comes to someone; sumō emphasizes taking up or selecting; tollō emphasizes lifting or removing; dūcō emphasizes taking or leading a person somewhere. The object and direction determine the natural verb.
| Latin | Natural meaning |
|---|---|
| hostem capere | capture an enemy |
| epistulam accipere | receive a letter |
| pecūniam ex arcā sūmere | take money from a chest |
| saxum tollere | lift/remove a stone |
| puerum domum dūcere | take/lead a boy home |
Mīles hostem cēpit; deinde praemium ā duce accēpit.
The soldier captured an enemy; then he received a reward from the commander.
This distinction is lexical rather than a single case rule. All these verbs can take an accusative object, so case alone cannot choose the correct Latin verb.
Aspect and Capacity
Imperfect capiēbat depicts seizure in progress, repeated catching, or an object occupying space; perfect cēpit presents control as achieved. With a place as subject, capit can mean “holds, has room for.”
Haec aula centum hominēs capit, sed herī plūrēs cēpit.
This hall holds one hundred people, but yesterday it accommodated more.
The second use is bounded by herī. With mental nouns, the perfect can mark a decision: cōnsilium cēpit “he adopted a plan.” Translate the resulting event, not a word-for-word “took.”
Post longam deliberātiōnem cōnsilium audāx cēpērunt.
After long deliberation, they adopted a bold plan.
Compounds
Compounds keep third-iō morphology but often assimilate prefixes and change the perfect/supine stem:
| Verb | Perfect/supine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| accipiō | accēpī, acceptum | receive, accept |
| concipiō | concēpī, conceptum | conceive, formulate |
| dēcipiō | dēcēpī, deceptum | deceive |
| excipiō | excēpī, exceptum | receive, intercept, except |
| incipiō | incēpī (often coepī), inceptum | begin |
| recipiō | recēpī, receptum | take back, receive |
| suscipiō | suscēpī, susceptum | undertake, take up |
Hospes nōs benignē accēpit et cūram itineris suscēpit.
The host received us kindly and undertook responsibility for the journey.
The inherited compound perfect incēpī is genuine. Classical prose, especially Cicero, nevertheless often uses defective coepī for completed “began,” while retaining incipiō in the present system. Treat this as a usage preference, not as proof that incēpī is impossible. See the separate accipiō reference for the most frequent compound.
Parsing Diagnostic
Identify capi-, cēp-, or capt- and then read the object. For compounds, strip the prefix only as a recognition aid; do not assume the combined meaning remains literal. Dēcipiō means “deceive,” not simply “take down.”
Common Mistakes
Treating capiō as fourth conjugation
❌ Volō hunc librum capīre.
Incorrect — the active infinitive is capere.
✅ Volō hunc librum capere.
I want to take this book.
Inventing a regular perfect
❌ Mīlitēs collem capīvērunt.
Incorrect — the perfect stem is cēp-.
✅ Mīlitēs collem cēpērunt.
The soldiers captured the hill.
Missing the i in the third-person plural
❌ Piscātōrēs piscēs capunt.
Incorrect — third-iō verbs use capiunt.
✅ Piscātōrēs piscēs capiunt.
The fishermen catch fish.
Regularizing a compound
❌ Opus facere incipīvī et celeriter fīnīvī.
Incorrect — incipīvī invents a fourth-conjugation perfect.
✅ Opus facere coepī et celeriter fīnīvī.
I began to do the task and finished it quickly; incēpī is also attested, though coepī is especially usual in Classical prose.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize capiō, capere, cēpī, captum and its third-iō present pattern.
- The direct object selects meanings from physical seizure to adopting a plan or beginning.
- The verb has full active, passive, and non-finite systems.
- Compounds frequently lexicalize and may alter or replace the expected perfect.
- Parse the stem before choosing an English gloss.
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Start learning Latin →Related Topics
- Venio: To ComeA2 — A complete reference for veniō, including its fourth-conjugation forms, impersonal passive, motion syntax, and compounds.
- Accipio: To ReceiveA2 — A complete reference for accipiō, including its third-iō forms, passive, information complements, idioms, and capiō-family relatives.