Vereor means “fear,” “be apprehensive,” “stand in awe of,” or “respect.” Its principal parts are vereor, verērī, veritus sum. It is a second-conjugation deponent: passive-looking forms carry active meaning, and veritus sum means “I feared / was reluctant.”
Its most important syntax is the fear clause. Latin uses nē for the event feared will happen and ut for the feared failure of something to happen—almost the reverse of what English-speaking learners expect.
Complete Indicative
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | vereor | verēris | verētur | verēmur | verēminī | verentur |
| Imperfect | verēbar | verēbāris | verēbātur | verēbāmur | verēbāminī | verēbantur |
| Future | verēbor | verēberis | verēbitur | verēbimur | verēbiminī | verēbuntur |
| Perfect | veritus sum | veritus es | veritus est | veritī sumus | veritī estis | veritī sunt |
| Pluperfect | veritus eram | veritus erās | veritus erat | veritī erāmus | veritī erātis | veritī erant |
| Future perfect | veritus erō | veritus eris | veritus erit | veritī erimus | veritī eritis | veritī erunt |
Tempestātem vereor.
I fear the storm.
Cōnsul īram populī verēbātur.
The consul feared the people’s anger.
Nōn verēbor vērum dīcere.
I shall not be afraid to tell the truth.
Lūcia iūdicem verita est.
Lucia feared / respected the judge.
The final translation depends on context: fear and respectful awe are neighboring meanings, not two different paradigms.
Complete Subjunctive
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | verear | vereāris | vereātur | vereāmur | vereāminī | vereantur |
| Imperfect | verērer | verērēris | verērētur | verērēmur | verērēminī | verērentur |
| Perfect | veritus sim | veritus sīs | veritus sit | veritī sīmus | veritī sītis | veritī sint |
| Pluperfect | veritus essem | veritus essēs | veritus esset | veritī essēmus | veritī essētis | veritī essent |
Nihil est quod vereāmur.
There is nothing for us to fear.
Sī deōs verērētur, sacrilegium nōn faceret.
If he revered the gods, he would not commit sacrilege.
Imperatives and Non-Finite Forms
Present imperatives are verēre and verēminī. The future imperative has verētor for the second or third person singular and verentor for the third person plural; these forms are formal or archaizing.
| Category | Form and meaning |
|---|---|
| Present infinitive | verērī — to fear / revere |
| Perfect infinitive | veritus, -a, -um esse — to have feared |
| Future infinitive | veritūrus, -a, -um esse — to be about to fear |
| Present participle | verēns — fearing, respectful; uncommon in historical prose |
| Perfect participle | veritus — having feared |
| Future participle | veritūrus — about to fear |
| Gerund | verendī, verendō, verendum, verendō |
| Gerundive | verendus, -a, -um — to be feared / revered |
| Supines | veritum, veritū — morphologically regular, but rare |
Perfect veritus has active meaning, while gerundive verendus has genuine passive force. The independent adjectival sense “awe-inspiring, venerable” is especially poetic and post-Augustan; the ordinary grammatical periphrastic still transparently expresses obligation.
Perīculum veritus, domī mānsit.
Fearing the danger, he remained at home.
Haec potestās omnibus verenda est.
This power must be feared by everyone.
Direct Objects and Reluctance
A person, object, event, or consequence feared is accusative: hostem, poenam, īram verērī. The verb can also take an infinitive with the sense “fear/hesitate to do.” The same subject controls both verbs.
Testis respondēre veritus est.
The witness was afraid to answer.
No accusative subject is needed in this complementary-infinitive pattern. Compare a full fear clause, which has its own expressed or understood subject.
The accusative is the productive object case. A genitive occurs chiefly in early Latin, while a dative meaning “fear for” and dē plus ablative are very rare; these are reading notes, not interchangeable prose options.
Fear That Something Will Happen: Nē
Use nē plus subjunctive when the feared event is unwanted but possible.
Vereor nē nāvis in tempestāte pereat.
I fear that the ship may be lost in the storm.
Verēbāmur nē hostēs urbem oppugnārent.
We feared that the enemy might attack the city.
The subjunctive presents the content of apprehension. Primary vereor normally takes primary sequence; past verēbāmur normally takes secondary sequence.
Fear That Something Will Not Happen: Ut
Use ut (sometimes nē nōn) when the feared outcome is failure or nonoccurrence.
Vereor ut medicus tempore veniat.
I fear that the doctor may not come in time.
English translates this with “not,” although Latin ut itself is positive. The speaker wants the doctor to come but doubts it. See fear clauses with nē and ut.
Veritus sum nē auxilium nōn satis celeriter venīret.
I feared that help might not come quickly enough.
Here nē ... nōn makes the negative content explicit. Both it and compact ut are Classical; after a negated governing verb such as nōn vereor, Latin particularly favors nē nōn rather than mechanically switching to ut. Always determine what outcome the speaker wants before choosing the particle.
Vereor can also introduce an anxious indirect question or relative clause, as in vereor quid faciat “I am apprehensive about what he is doing.” Such clauses use their own interrogative or relative word, so the nē/ut polarity rule does not apply to them.
Vereor, Timeō, and Metuō
All can introduce fear clauses. Timeō and metuō often foreground ordinary fear; vereor readily includes apprehension colored by respect, scruple, or reluctance. The overlap is substantial, so context and collocation matter more than an absolute English gloss.
Compound and Lexical Family
Revereor, reverērī, reveritus sum means “stand in awe of, revere,” but its distribution is chiefly ante-Classical and post-Augustan rather than a normal Ciceronian alternative. In mainstream Classical prose, simple vereor already covers respectful awe; veneror can express religious or honorific reverence. Adjectives verendus and verēcundus develop “venerable” and “modest/respectful” senses.
Fīlius patrem reverētur.
The son reveres his father (an early or post-Augustan use of revereor).
Discipulī magistrum propter sapientiam verentur.
The students respect the teacher for his wisdom.
Negation and the Speaker’s Attitude
Nōn vereor denies fear or reluctance: nōn vereor respondēre “I am not afraid to answer.” Inside a fear clause, however, negation belongs to the feared content and must be read together with nē or ut. This scope difference is why translating one word at a time causes errors.
Nōn vereor nē mē reprehendās.
I am not afraid that you may criticize me.
Vereor nē testis nōn vērum dīcat.
I fear that the witness may not tell the truth.
Respectful vereor can also explain restraint: the subject refrains from action out of regard for a person, law, or institution. This sense is especially natural in moral, political, and forensic prose (formal), where English may prefer “respect” or “have scruples about.”
Lēgēs vereor neque vim adhibēbō.
I respect the laws and shall not use force.
Parsing Diagnostic
Identify verē- or verit- and verify deponency. If there is an accusative, test it as the feared/respected object. If a subjunctive clause follows, decide from the desired real-world outcome whether nē means feared occurrence or ut feared nonoccurrence. Check agreement in perfect forms.
Common Mistakes
Inventing active forms
❌ Tempestātem vereō.
Incorrect — vereor is deponent.
✅ Tempestātem vereor.
I fear the storm.
Regularizing the perfect
❌ Lūcia iūdicem veruit.
Incorrect — the perfect is verita est.
✅ Lūcia iūdicem verita est.
Lucia feared the judge.
Reversing fear-clause polarity
❌ Vereor ut hostēs veniant.
Incorrect for ‘I fear that the enemy may come’ — ut fears nonoccurrence.
✅ Vereor nē hostēs veniant.
I fear that the enemy may come.
Forgetting perfect agreement
❌ Fēminae perīculum veritus sunt.
Incorrect — feminine plural subjects require veritae.
✅ Fēminae perīculum veritae sunt.
The women feared the danger.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize vereor, verērī, veritus sum.
- Direct objects are accusative; an infinitive can express reluctance to act.
- Nē introduces a feared occurrence; ut a feared failure to occur.
- Perfect veritus is active in meaning; gerundive verendus is passive.
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