Cōnor means “try,” “attempt,” or “endeavor.” Its principal parts are cōnor, cōnārī, cōnātus sum. It is a first-conjugation deponent: passive-looking endings carry active meaning, and perfect cōnātus sum means “I tried / have attempted.”
The attempted action normally appears as a complementary infinitive. Crucially, cōnor asserts effort or intention, not success.
Complete Indicative
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | cōnor | cōnāris | cōnātur | cōnāmur | cōnāminī | cōnantur |
| Imperfect | cōnābar | cōnābāris | cōnābātur | cōnābāmur | cōnābāminī | cōnābantur |
| Future | cōnābor | cōnāberis | cōnābitur | cōnābimur | cōnābiminī | cōnābuntur |
| Perfect | cōnātus sum | cōnātus es | cōnātus est | cōnātī sumus | cōnātī estis | cōnātī sunt |
| Pluperfect | cōnātus eram | cōnātus erās | cōnātus erat | cōnātī erāmus | cōnātī erātis | cōnātī erant |
| Future perfect | cōnātus erō | cōnātus eris | cōnātus erit | cōnātī erimus | cōnātī eritis | cōnātī erunt |
The perfect participle agrees: Lūcia cōnāta est, fēminae cōnātae sunt.
Portam aperīre cōnor.
I am trying to open the gate.
Mīlitēs flūmen trānsīre cōnābantur.
The soldiers were trying to cross the river.
Crās cum iūdice loquī cōnābor.
Tomorrow I shall try to speak with the judge.
Lūcia amīcam adiuvāre cōnāta est.
Lucia tried to help her friend.
Complete Subjunctive
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | cōner | cōnēris | cōnētur | cōnēmur | cōnēminī | cōnentur |
| Imperfect | cōnārer | cōnārēris | cōnārētur | cōnārēmur | cōnārēminī | cōnārentur |
| Perfect | cōnātus sim | cōnātus sīs | cōnātus sit | cōnātī sīmus | cōnātī sītis | cōnātī sint |
| Pluperfect | cōnātus essem | cōnātus essēs | cōnātus esset | cōnātī essēmus | cōnātī essētis | cōnātī essent |
Rogat ut iterum cōnēmur.
He asks us to try again.
Sī portam aperīre cōnātus essēs, clāvem invēnissēs.
If you had tried to open the gate, you would have found the key.
Imperatives and Non-Finite Forms
Present imperatives are cōnāre and cōnāminī. The future imperative has cōnātor for the second or third person singular and cōnantor for the third person plural; these forms belong chiefly to formal or archaizing directions.
Cōnāre rem sine īrā explicāre.
Try to explain the matter without anger.
| Category | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Present infinitive | cōnārī — to try |
| Perfect infinitive | cōnātus, -a, -um esse — to have tried |
| Future infinitive | cōnātūrus, -a, -um esse — to be about to try |
| Present participle | cōnāns — trying |
| Perfect participle | cōnātus — having tried |
| Future participle | cōnātūrus — about to try |
| Gerund | cōnandī, cōnandō, cōnandum, cōnandō |
| Gerundive | cōnandus, -a, -um; personal with an undertaking, otherwise cōnandum est |
| Supines | cōnātum, cōnātū — morphologically regular, but rare |
The perfect participle has active meaning. When cōnor introduces an infinitive, gerundive obligation is naturally impersonal: iterum cōnandum est “one must try again.” Since cōnor can also govern an accusative undertaking, a personal gerundive is possible too: haec cōnanda sunt “these things must be attempted.”
Hoc cōnātus, tamen nihil perfēcit.
Having attempted this, he nevertheless accomplished nothing.
Nōbīs iterum cōnandum est.
We must try again.
Complementary Infinitive
The subject of cōnor is normally also the understood subject of the infinitive: cōnor venīre means “I try [for me] to come.” No accusative subject is inserted.
Puer sōlus saxum movēre cōnātur.
The boy is trying to move the stone by himself.
The infinitive can itself be deponent: loquī cōnor “I try to speak,” proficīscī cōnātur “he tries to set out.” Its passive-looking form remains active because its own lemma is deponent. See complementary infinitives.
Attempt Does Not Entail Success
Perfect cōnātus est completes the attempt as an event; it does not state that the goal was achieved. Latin can make the outcome explicit with sed, tandem, or a separate result verb.
Portam aperīre cōnātus est, sed clāvis frācta est.
He tried to open the gate, but the key broke.
Portam aperīre cōnātus est atque tandem aperuit.
He tried to open the gate and finally opened it.
Imperfect cōnābātur presents the attempt as ongoing or repeated; perfect cōnātus est bounds it. Neither alone specifies the result.
Objects and Lexical Family
A noun phrase can name the undertaking: magnum facinus cōnārī “attempt a great deed,” but an infinitive is the most productive complement for an action. The verb has no broad high-frequency system of Classical compounds; noun cōnātus “attempt, effort” and cōnāmen (later/technical) belong to its derivational family.
Manner, Persistence, and Abandoned Attempts
Adverbs and aspect show how the effort unfolds. Frūstrā cōnārī means “try in vain”; iterum cōnārī “try again”; vehementer cōnārī “make a vigorous attempt.” An imperfect can show repeated or continuing effort, while a perfect can mark a single bounded attempt.
Frūstrā pontem reficere cōnātī sumus.
We tried in vain to repair the bridge.
Singulīs diēbus breviter loquī cōnābātur.
Each day he tried to speak briefly.
To say that someone stopped trying, Latin adds a separate verb: cōnārī dēsiit. To say that an attempt succeeded, it adds an achievement such as perfēcit or potuit. This explicit separation makes narratives more precise than an English “managed to,” which already includes success.
Post multōs errōrēs cōnārī dēsiit.
After many mistakes he stopped trying.
No Ordinary Finite Passive
Since cōnor is deponent, cōnātur already means “tries”; it cannot be reassigned the ordinary passive meaning “is attempted.” Latin can choose an ordinary transitive verb when the undertaking must be the subject, as in opus temptātur “the task is attempted.” Its own gerundive supplies passive obligation: use impersonal cōnandum est with an attempted infinitive, but personal haec cōnanda sunt when an accusative undertaking has become the subject.
Parsing Diagnostic
Identify cōnā- or participial cōnāt-, then verify deponency before translating. Check participial agreement in the perfect. If an infinitive follows, read it as the attempted action with the same understood subject. Finally keep effort and outcome separate.
Common Mistakes
Inventing active forms
❌ Portam aperīre cōnō.
Incorrect — cōnor is deponent.
✅ Portam aperīre cōnor.
I try to open the gate.
Regularizing the perfect
❌ Lūcia cōnāvit.
Incorrect — the perfect is cōnāta est.
✅ Lūcia cōnāta est.
Lucia tried.
Inserting an accusative subject
❌ Cōnor mē venīre.
Incorrect for simple ‘I try to come’ — the infinitive shares the subject of cōnor.
✅ Cōnor venīre.
I try to come.
Assuming success
❌ Portam aperīre cōnātus est.
Incorrectly taken to guarantee ‘he opened the gate.’
✅ Portam aperīre cōnātus est, sed nōn aperuit.
He tried to open the gate, but did not open it.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize cōnor, cōnārī, cōnātus sum.
- The attempted action normally appears as a complementary infinitive with the same subject.
- Perfect cōnātus is active in meaning and agrees with the subject.
- An attempt, even in the perfect, does not entail success.
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