Gerō means “bear,” “carry,” “wear,” “display,” “conduct,” or “perform.” Its principal parts are gerō, gerere, gessī, gestum. The present stem ger-, perfect stem gess-, and supine stem gest- show different consonants and must be learned together.
The direct object determines the translation. A person can arma gerere “bear arms,” vestem gerere “wear a garment,” magistrātum gerere “hold office,” bellum gerere “wage war,” or sē bene gerere “conduct himself well.” English distributes these meanings among several verbs; Latin sees them as forms of bearing or carrying on.
Active Indicative
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | gerō | geris | gerit | gerimus | geritis | gerunt |
| Imperfect | gerēbam | gerēbās | gerēbat | gerēbāmus | gerēbātis | gerēbant |
| Future | geram | gerēs | geret | gerēmus | gerētis | gerent |
| Perfect | gessī | gessistī | gessit | gessimus | gessistis | gessērunt / gessēre |
| Pluperfect | gesseram | gesserās | gesserat | gesserāmus | gesserātis | gesserant |
| Future perfect | gesserō | gesseris | gesserit | gesserimus | gesseritis | gesserint |
Mīles gladium ad latus gerit.
The soldier wears a sword at his side.
Cōnsul bellum in Āfricā gerēbat.
The consul was conducting a war in Africa.
Crās magistrātum novum gerēs.
Tomorrow you will hold a new office.
Lēgātus rem difficillimam bene gessit.
The envoy handled a very difficult matter well.
Imperfect gerēbat presents an office, war, garment, or activity as ongoing. Perfect gessit presents performance or conduct as a completed whole. With a public office, neither tense by itself tells how successfully the role was fulfilled; evaluative words such as bene or malē supply that judgment.
Active Subjunctive
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | geram | gerās | gerat | gerāmus | gerātis | gerant |
| Imperfect | gererem | gererēs | gereret | gererēmus | gererētis | gererent |
| Perfect | gesserim | gesserīs | gesserit | gesserīmus | gesserītis | gesserint |
| Pluperfect | gessissem | gessissēs | gessisset | gessissēmus | gessissētis | gessissent |
Cūrā ut tē in iūdiciō dignē gerās.
Take care to conduct yourself honorably in court.
Senātus quaesīvit quōmodo bellum gestum esset.
The senate asked how the war had been conducted.
Present geram can be future indicative or present subjunctive. The governing construction settles the analysis. In the second example, perfect passive subjunctive gestum esset agrees with neuter bellum and belongs to an indirect question.
Present-System Passive
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | geror | gereris | geritur | gerimur | geriminī | geruntur |
| Imperfect | gerēbar | gerēbāris | gerēbātur | gerēbāmur | gerēbāminī | gerēbantur |
| Future | gerar | gerēris | gerētur | gerēmur | gerēminī | gerentur |
| Present subjunctive | gerar | gerāris | gerātur | gerāmur | gerāminī | gerantur |
| Imperfect subjunctive | gererer | gererēris | gererētur | gererēmur | gererēminī | gererentur |
Bellum procul ab Italiā geritur.
The war is being waged far from Italy.
Dum haec Rōmae gerēbantur, hostēs appropinquāvērunt.
While these events were taking place at Rome, the enemy approached.
Passive rēs geritur can mean “the affair is conducted” or simply “the event takes place.” Plural rēs gestae means “deeds, achievements, events” (formal/historical). Translation must follow the construction rather than force English “carry.”
Perfect-System Passive
The perfect passive uses gestus, -a, -um plus sum. The participle agrees with what was borne, worn, performed, or conducted.
| Form | Parsing | Typical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gestus est | perfect indicative | he/it was borne or conducted |
| gestus erat | pluperfect indicative | he/it had been borne or conducted |
| gestus erit | future perfect indicative | he/it will have been borne or conducted |
| gestus sit | perfect subjunctive | he/it may have been borne or conducted |
| gestus esset | pluperfect subjunctive | he/it would have been borne or conducted |
Duo bella eōdem tempore gesta sunt.
Two wars were waged at the same time.
Commands and Non-Finite Forms
Present imperatives are gere, gerite; passive gerere, geriminī. The (formal/archaic) future imperative has active geritō (second or third person singular), geritōte (second plural), and geruntō (third plural), with passive geritor (second or third singular) and geruntor (third plural).
| Category | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present infinitive | gerere | gerī |
| Perfect infinitive | gessisse | gestum esse |
| Future infinitive | gestūrum esse | gestum īrī (rare) |
| Participles | gerēns; gestūrus | gestus; gerendus |
| Gerund | gerendī, gerendō, gerendum, gerendō | — |
| Supines | gestum, gestū | — |
Dīxit sē magistrātum integrē gessisse.
He said that he had held office with integrity.
Negō hoc bellum sine sociīs gerī posse.
I deny that this war can be waged without allies.
Haec negōtia nōbīs gerenda sunt.
We must conduct these affairs.
In the gerundive construction, the business becomes nominative and the responsible person is dative. Future gestūrus is active and expresses intention: bellum gestūrus erat means “he was about to wage war.”
Bearing, Wearing, and Displaying
With physical objects, gerō often means bear or wear something as a continuing attachment: arms, clothing, an ornament, a wound, or an identifying mark. Ferō more often focuses carrying something from one place toward another; portō emphasizes transport. The boundary is semantic, not an absolute mechanical rule. Compare the full paradigm and suppletive stems on the ferō reference page.
Omnēs candidam vestem gerēbant.
Everyone was wearing a white garment.
Names and titles can also be “borne”: nōmen gerere means bear a name. This is not the same as uttering or writing that name.
Conducting Affairs, Office, and War
With abstract objects, gerō describes carrying out sustained responsibilities. Rem pūblicam gerere means “administer the state”; magistrātum gerere means “hold office”; bellum gerere means “wage war.” The opposing party commonly appears with cum plus ablative or adversus plus accusative.
Rōmānī cum fīnitīmīs bellum gerēbant.
The Romans were waging war against their neighbors.
Agō overlaps in the broad area of doing and conducting but has its own idioms: agere cum aliquō negotiate with someone, causam agere plead a case. Learn the noun–verb combination rather than translating English “conduct” automatically.
Reflexive sē gerere: Behave
With a reflexive pronoun, sē gerere means conduct oneself or behave. An adverb commonly evaluates the behavior: bene, fortiter, superbē sē gerere. The reflexive agrees with the subject in reference but remains accusative as the object of gerō.
Discipulī in perīculō fortiter sē gessērunt.
The students conducted themselves bravely in danger.
English uses an intransitive “behave”; Latin retains the transitive structure “carry oneself.” Omitting sē changes or leaves incomplete the intended construction.
Compounds
Common compounds preserve the -gess-/-gest- alternation: congerō, congessī, congestum “heap together”; dīgerō, dīgessī, dīgestum “separate, arrange, digest”; ēgerō, ēgessī, ēgestum “carry out”; ingerō, ingessī, ingestum “bring in, inflict”; suggerō, suggessī, suggestum “place beneath, supply, suggest.” Their meanings are lexical, not mere sums of prefix plus “carry.”
Servī frūmentum in horreum congessērunt.
The workers heaped the grain into the storehouse.
Parsing Diagnostic
Identify ger-, gess-, or gest-. Determine voice, then locate the thing borne or activity conducted. Check for reflexive sē, and identify any participant introduced by cum or adversus. Finally choose a sense from the object: clothing is worn, office is held, war is waged, affairs are managed, and oneself is conducted.
Common Mistakes
Inventing a regular perfect
❌ Cōnsul bellum gerīvit.
Incorrect — the perfect stem is gess-.
✅ Cōnsul bellum gessit.
The consul waged war.
Inventing the perfect participle
❌ Bellum geritum est.
Incorrect — the perfect participle is gestum.
✅ Bellum gestum est.
The war was waged.
Making the enemy a direct object of bellum gerere
❌ Rōmānī hostēs bellum gerunt.
Incorrect for ‘the Romans wage war against the enemy’; bellum is already the direct object.
✅ Rōmānī cum hostibus bellum gerunt.
The Romans wage war against the enemy.
Omitting the reflexive in “behave”
❌ Puer bene gerit.
Incorrect for ‘the boy behaves well’ — the idiom is reflexive.
✅ Puer bene sē gerit.
The boy behaves well.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize gerō, gerere, gessī, gestum.
- Let the direct object choose among bear, wear, hold, wage, manage, and perform.
- Sē gerere is the transitive Latin structure behind English intransitive “behave.”
- Compounds preserve the irregular stem family but develop specialized meanings.
Now practice Latin
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Latin →Related Topics
- Caedo: To Cut or KillA2 — A complete reference for caedō, including its reduplicated perfect, full active and passive system, cutting and killing senses, instruments, and compounds.
- Traho: To DragA2 — A complete reference for trahō, including its three stems, active and passive paradigms, non-finite forms, idioms, and compounds.