First-Conjugation Present Indicative

The first conjugation contains verbs whose present active infinitive ends in -āre, such as amāre “to love,” laudāre “to praise,” and vocāre “to call.” Its long stem vowel ā makes the conjugation especially easy to recognize, though sound changes shorten or absorb that vowel in a few forms.

This page covers the present indicative in both voices. The present can describe an action happening now, a habit, a general truth, or—especially in narrative—a vividly presented past event. Latin uses one present tense where English often chooses between “does” and “is doing.”

For a broader map before the full paradigm, see The Four Conjugations; the second conjugation is treated next under Second-Conjugation Present Indicative.

Finding the present stem

Use the second principal part. Remove active infinitive -re from amāre to obtain present stem amā-. Then add the present endings. This same stem family builds many other present-system forms, but the endings on this page specifically mark the indicative present.

The first principal part is also useful because it displays the contracted first-person singular: underlying amā- plus -ō appears as amō, not amāō. Principal parts prevent you from mechanically producing a form that Latin sound history does not allow.

Present indicative active

The macrons record vowel quantity, not stress or decoration. The stem’s long ā remains visible in amās, amāmus, and amātis, while regular phonological shortening gives amat and amant. In an authentic edition without macrons, all are printed with plain a; the morphology is unchanged.

Latin normally omits subject pronouns because -ō, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, and -nt identify person and number. An expressed ego, tū, nōs, or vōs adds contrast or emphasis rather than merely completing the grammar.

The pronouns make “I” and “you” contrastive. Without that contrast, labōrō and ambulās are complete clauses by themselves.

Present indicative passive

The same stem combines with passive endings. The first-person singular again undergoes contraction, and the third singular and plural show regular shortening.

Alternative second-person singular amāre is normal Classical Latin. Because the same written form can resemble an infinitive or passive imperative, syntax matters. Beginners may produce amāris consistently; they must still recognize amāre in prose and poetry.

The personal agent in the first sentence uses ā plus ablative populō. The second expresses the circumstance or means with an ablative phrase, not a personal agent construction. Passive lavantur makes nominative fenestrae the subject.

What the Latin present can mean

The indicative present is broader than the English simple present. It can describe an event in progress, a repeated habit, a general truth, or a vivid narrative event.

This is habitual. Nothing in the forms forces “are working” or “are hurrying right now.” Time expressions and discourse context choose the natural English aspect.

Only clāmant belongs to the first conjugation, but the sequence demonstrates the (literary) historical present: Latin present forms make a past narrative vivid, while idiomatic English commonly uses past tense.

The exceptional first-conjugation verb dō

Dō, dare, dedī, datum “give” is traditionally assigned to the first conjugation because of its formation, but its a is short in most forms. Compare regular amās, amātis with dās, datis; the ā is long only where regular Latin sound rules lengthen it, notably dās and the singular imperative dā.

There is no clean semantic reason for this quantity pattern. It is an inherited lexical irregularity, so learn dō, dare as a special member rather than silently changing it to dāre.

Parsing and production checklist

To parse portātis, find -tis (second-person plural active), recognize present stem portā-, and note the absence of another tense or mood marker: present indicative active of portō. To produce “you all are being called,” choose passive voice, second-person plural -minī, and present stem vocā- → vocāminī.

Do not begin from the English distinction between “call” and “are calling”: Latin present vocātis can express either. Begin from participants and grammatical categories, then select the Latin form.

Common Mistakes

1. Preserving the stem vowel in the contracted first person

2. Confusing active and passive endings

3. Assuming present always means English “is doing”

4. Treating dō as completely regular in vowel quantity

Key Takeaways

First-conjugation verbs reveal their class through -āre. Remove -re to find the present stem, then add active or passive present endings, allowing for contraction in amō/amor and regular shortening in forms such as amat, amant, and amantur. Translate the Latin present according to context, and memorize dō, dare as the important quantity exception.