Voco: To Call | Latin Grammar

Vocō means “call,” “summon,” “invite,” or “name.” Its principal parts are vocō, vocāre, vocāvī, vocātum. It is a regular first-conjugation verb, but its syntax changes with meaning: one summons an accusative person, while “call X Y” uses an accusative object and an agreeing predicate.

Active Indicative

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	vocō	vocās	vocat	vocāmus	vocātis	vocant
Imperfect	vocābam	vocābās	vocābat	vocābāmus	vocābātis	vocābant
Future	vocābō	vocābis	vocābit	vocābimus	vocābitis	vocābunt
Perfect	vocāvī	vocāvistī	vocāvit	vocāvimus	vocāvistis	vocāvērunt / vocāvēre
Pluperfect	vocāveram	vocāverās	vocāverat	vocāverāmus	vocāverātis	vocāverant
Future perfect	vocāverō	vocāveris	vocāverit	vocāverimus	vocāveritis	vocāverint

Māter puerum vocat.

The mother calls the boy.

Servum saepe vocābāmus.

We often used to summon the slave.

Crās medicum vocābō.

Tomorrow I shall call the doctor.

Cōnsul senātōrēs in cūriam vocāvit.

The consul summoned the senators into the senate house.

Active Subjunctive

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	vocem	vocēs	vocet	vocēmus	vocētis	vocent
Imperfect	vocārem	vocārēs	vocāret	vocārēmus	vocārētis	vocārent
Perfect	vocāverim	vocāverīs	vocāverit	vocāverīmus	vocāverītis	vocāverint
Pluperfect	vocāvissem	vocāvissēs	vocāvisset	vocāvissēmus	vocāvissētis	vocāvissent

Rogat ut medicum vocēmus.

He asks us to call the doctor.

Sī mē vocāvissēs, vēnissem.

If you had called me, I would have come.

Passive Voice

Tense	1st sg.	2nd sg.	3rd sg.	1st pl.	2nd pl.	3rd pl.
Present	vocor	vocāris	vocātur	vocāmur	vocāminī	vocantur
Imperfect	vocābar	vocābāris	vocābātur	vocābāmur	vocābāminī	vocābantur
Future	vocābor	vocāberis	vocābitur	vocābimur	vocābiminī	vocābuntur
Present subjunctive	vocer	vocēris	vocētur	vocēmur	vocēminī	vocentur
Imperfect subjunctive	vocārer	vocārēris	vocārētur	vocārēmur	vocārēminī	vocārentur

Perfect passive uses vocātus, -a, -um with sum: vocātus est, vocāta erat, vocātī erunt; vocātus sit, vocāta esset.

Medicus ā familiā vocātur.

The doctor is called by the family.

Lūcia ad cēnam vocāta est.

Lucia was invited to dinner.

Imperatives and Non-Finite Forms

Present commands are vocā, vocāte; passive vocāre, vocāminī. The (formal/archaic) future imperative has active vocātō (2nd/3rd singular), vocātōte (2nd plural), vocantō (3rd plural), and passive vocātor (2nd/3rd singular), vocantor (3rd plural).

Vocā medicum statim.

Call the doctor immediately.

Category	Active	Passive
Present infinitive	vocāre	vocārī
Perfect infinitive	vocāvisse	vocātum esse
Future infinitive	vocātūrum esse	vocātum īrī
Participles	vocāns; vocātūrus	vocātus; vocandus
Gerund	vocandī, vocandō, vocandum, vocandō	—
Supines	vocātum, vocātū	—

In the compact infinitive forms above, vocātum esse and vocātūrum esse stand for participles that agree with their accusative subject: for example, eam vocātam esse and eōs vocātūrōs esse. By contrast, future passive vocātum īrī contains the indeclinable accusative supine vocātum.

Dīxit sē medicum vocāvisse.

He said that he had called the doctor.

Testēs statim vocandī sunt.

The witnesses must be summoned immediately.

Summoning, Inviting, and Calling Out

An accusative identifies the person called. A goal phrase specifies where or for what occasion: ad sē vocāre “summon to oneself,” in cūriam vocāre “summon into the senate house,” ad cēnam vocāre “invite to dinner.”

Pater amīcōs ad cēnam vocāvit.

The father invited his friends to dinner.

Calling out a name can use the person’s name as the content, but ordinary direct address is vocative and does not itself require vocō: Mārce! “Marcus!”

Naming and Predicate Agreement

With “call/name X Y,” both X and its predicate are accusative in the active: eum amīcum vocant “they call him a friend.” In the passive, both become nominative: is amīcus vocātur.

Cīvēs eum patrem patriae vocant.

The citizens call him father of the country.

Haec urbs caput prōvinciae vocātur.

This city is called the capital of the province.

The agreement reveals the construction before translation. See verbs taking two accusatives.

Compounds

Common compounds specialize the direction of calling: advocō “call to one’s aid,” convocō “call together,” ēvocō “call out/summon forth,” invocō “call upon,” and revocō “call back, recall.” All remain regular first-conjugation verbs with -vocāv- and -vocāt-.

Cōnsul senātum convocāvit.

The consul called the senate together.

Dux mīlitēs fugientēs revocāvit.

The commander called back the fleeing soldiers.

Aspect and the Result of Calling

Imperfect vocābat can portray repeated calls or a summons in progress; perfect vocāvit presents the act of calling as complete. Neither tense guarantees that the person came. Latin states the response separately.

Medicōs diū vocābant, sed nēmō audiēbat.

They kept calling for doctors, but no one heard.

Medicum vocāvit, atque ille statim vēnit.

She called the doctor, and he came immediately.

This distinction is especially useful with English “send for,” which often bundles a summons and expected response. Medicum vocāre supplies the summons; arrival requires venīre or another motion verb.

Names, Titles, and Reported Labels

The predicate after naming can be a proper name, title, description, or evaluative label. It agrees with the named object in case, number, and where relevant gender. A speaker can report a label without endorsing it.

Parentēs puellam Tulliam vocāvērunt.

The parents named the girl Tullia.

Aliī eum sapientem vocant, aliī stultum.

Some call him wise, others foolish.

In the passive, Tullia vocātur can mean “she is called Tullia” or “she is summoned,” so context and any predicate distinguish naming from calling to appear. The question quid vocātur? asks what something is called; quis vocātur? asks who is being summoned or named.

Voice, Distance, and Response

When vocō means call out to someone, an adverb or phrase can describe distance or manner: magnā vōce vocāre “call in a loud voice,” procul vocāre “call from afar.” The verb reports the call, not successful hearing.

Puer patrem magnā vōce vocāvit, sed ille procul aberat.

The boy called his father loudly, but he was far away.

For “shout,” Latin may prefer clāmō; for “say/tell,” dīcō. Choosing by the communicative event prevents overusing English “call” as though it had one Latin equivalent.

Parsing Diagnostic

Identify vocā-, vocāv-, or vocāt- and determine voice. Then ask whether the verb means summon, invite, call aloud, or name. With naming, locate object and agreeing predicate; in the passive, expect both in the nominative. A prefixed form supplies a lexical direction.

Common Mistakes

Making the summoned person dative

❌ Medicō vocō.

Incorrect — the person called is accusative.

✅ Medicum vocō.

I call the doctor.

Leaving the predicate nominative

❌ Lūciam amīca vocō.

Incorrect — the predicate agrees with Lūciam in the accusative.

✅ Lūciam amīcam vocō.

I call Lucia a friend.

Keeping accusatives in the passive

❌ Eum amīcum vocātur.

Incorrect — a personal passive requires nominatives.

✅ Is amīcus vocātur.

He is called a friend.

Inventing an irregular perfect

❌ Medicum vocuī.

Incorrect — the perfect is vocāvī.

✅ Medicum vocāvī.

I called the doctor.

Key Takeaways

Memorize vocō, vocāre, vocāvī, vocātum.
The summoned or invited person is accusative; goal phrases add destination or occasion.
Naming uses object plus agreeing predicate, both accusative in the active and nominative in the passive.
Compounds preserve the regular stems while specifying the direction of calling.

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