Second-conjugation deponents have a present infinitive in -ērī: vereor, verērī, veritus sum “fear, respect”; polliceor, pollicērī, pollicitus sum “promise”; mereor, merērī, meritus sum “earn, deserve.” Their present stem contains long ē, while their endings are the same passive/deponent endings used by other deponents.
The system is regular enough to predict from principal parts, but perfect stems remain lexical: fateor, fatērī has fassus sum, not a guessed fatitus sum. Learn the whole dictionary entry, then keep formation and complement structure separate. Compare the neighboring First-Conjugation Deponents to see exactly which stem vowels change. All unmarked uses below are (neutral Classical).
Present indicative: vereor
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | vereor | I fear / respect |
| 2nd singular | verēris / verēre | you fear / respect |
| 3rd singular | verētur | he/she fears / respects |
| 1st plural | verēmur | we fear / respect |
| 2nd plural | verēminī | you all fear / respect |
| 3rd plural | verentur | they fear / respect |
The stem vowel is long in verēris, verētur, verēmur, and verēminī, but short before -nt- in verentur. The same phonological pattern appears in the active second conjugation. Alternative second singular verēre is finite when a subject and indicative context require it, but it can also be the singular imperative “fear!”
Vereor tempestātem, itaque nāvem hodie nōn solvam.
I fear a storm, so I shall not set sail today.
Cīvēs eum iūdicem verentur quod incorruptus est.
The citizens respect that judge because he is incorruptible.
Nōbīs pācem pollicēminī; quandō arma pōnētis?
You promise us peace; when will you lay down your weapons?
Vereor can mean emotional fear or respectful awe. Polliceor commonly takes a dative of the person promised and an accusative, infinitive, or clause for what is promised. Mereor can take an accusative such as praemium merētur “he deserves a reward.” The passive-looking endings do not make these complements agents.
Imperfect and future indicative
Like active second-conjugation verbs, these deponents use -bā- for the imperfect and -bi-/-bu- for the future.
| Person | Imperfect | Future |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | verēbar | verēbor |
| 2nd singular | verēbāris | verēberis |
| 3rd singular | verēbātur | verēbitur |
| 1st plural | verēbāmur | verēbimur |
| 2nd plural | verēbāminī | verēbiminī |
| 3rd plural | verēbantur | verēbuntur |
Mercātorēs latrōnēs verēbantur, quod via per silvam dūcēbat.
The merchants feared robbers because the road led through a forest.
Sī officium bene fēceris, laudem merēberis.
If you perform your duty well, you will deserve praise.
The imperfect depicts an ongoing state of fear; the future merēberis predicts a future deserving. English may use “will earn,” but the Latin form is built from merē- plus future deponent endings, not from an English tense label.
Present and imperfect subjunctive
The second-conjugation present subjunctive uses -eā-: verear, vereāris, vereātur, vereāmur, vereāminī, vereantur. The imperfect attaches endings to the full infinitive: verērer, verērēris, verērētur, verērēmur, verērēminī, verērentur.
| Person | Present subjunctive | Imperfect subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | verear | verērer |
| 2nd singular | vereāris | verērēris |
| 3rd singular | vereātur | verērētur |
| 1st plural | vereāmur | verērēmur |
| 2nd plural | vereāminī | verērēminī |
| 3rd plural | vereantur | verērentur |
Nē vereāris quid aliī dīcant; vēritātem dīc.
Do not fear what others may say; tell the truth.
Imperātor postulāvit ut lēgātī idem omnibus pollicērentur.
The commander demanded that the envoys promise the same thing to everyone.
The first example has a negative command with the present subjunctive; the second follows a past main verb and therefore uses imperfect pollicērentur. English “promise” does not indicate that tense relationship.
The perfect-system indicative
The participle veritus, -a, -um agrees with the subject. Add present sum for the perfect, imperfect eram for the pluperfect, and future erō for the future perfect.
| Person | Perfect | Pluperfect | Future perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | veritus sum | veritus eram | veritus erō |
| 2nd singular | veritus es | veritus erās | veritus eris |
| 3rd singular | veritus est | veritus erat | veritus erit |
| 1st plural | veritī sumus | veritī erāmus | veritī erimus |
| 2nd plural | veritī estis | veritī erātis | veritī eritis |
| 3rd plural | veritī sunt | veritī erant | veritī erunt |
Fēmina perīculum nōn verita est, sed sōla in aedēs intrāvit.
The woman did not fear the danger but entered the house alone.
Nōbīs auxilium pollicitī erant, sed nēmō vēnit.
They had promised us help, but no one came.
Cum praemium meritus eris, id libenter accipiēs.
When you have earned the reward, you will gladly accept it.
Notice the lexical perfects: pollicitus has -licit-, and fateor “confess” has fassus. Principal parts are a predictive system only after the lexical stem has been learned.
Perfect and pluperfect subjunctive
The perfect subjunctive is veritus sim, sīs, sit, sīmus, sītis, sint. The pluperfect is veritus essem, essēs, esset, essēmus, essētis, essent. Change veritus for gender and number.
Dubito num ille vēritātem fassus sit.
I doubt whether he has confessed the truth.
Sī hoc mihi pollicita essēs, tē exspectāvissem.
If you had promised me this, I would have waited for you.
In the first, the indirect question/doubt governs fassus sit; in the second, the past unreal condition governs pollicita essēs. Translating either merely as an English simple past loses the mood distinction.
Infinitives, commands, and participles
The present infinitive is verērī, the perfect infinitive veritum esse, and the future infinitive veritūrum esse, with the participles agreeing with their accusative subjects in indirect statement. The present imperative is singular verēre, plural verēminī. Future imperatives in singular -tor and third-person plural -ntor are (formal/archaic). Later grammarians supplied a second-person plural in -minor, but that form has no secure Classical attestation.
| Form | Latin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| present participle | verēns | fearing / respecting |
| perfect participle | veritus | having feared |
| future participle | veritūrus | about to fear |
| gerundive | verendus | to be feared / worthy of awe |
Verēre deōs, sed nōlī falsōs vātēs timēre.
Revere the gods, but do not fear false prophets.
Hostem veritus, nūntius per aliam viam cucurrit.
Having feared the enemy, the messenger ran by another road.
The gerundive verendus is genuinely passive and often develops the adjectival sense “awe-inspiring, venerable.” Perfect veritus is active in meaning. The two forms are therefore not interchangeable.
Fear clauses with nē and ut
Vereor may govern an accusative object, an infinitive, or a fear clause. In a fear clause, nē means that the feared event may happen, while ut (or nē nōn) means that the feared event may not happen. This reversal from ordinary purpose clauses reflects the implicit wish behind fear: “may it not happen.”
Vereor nē amīcus serō veniat.
I fear that my friend may come late.
Vereor ut satis temporis habeāmus.
I fear that we may not have enough time.
This is difficult and partly idiomatic; memorize the viewpoint rather than translating the conjunction in isolation.
Common Mistakes
1. Using first-conjugation morphology
❌ Hostem verātur.
Incorrect; vereor is second conjugation.
✅ Hostem verētur.
He fears the enemy.
2. Inventing an active perfect
❌ Auxilium pollicuī.
Incorrect; use the listed deponent perfect pollicitus sum.
✅ Auxilium pollicitus sum.
I promised help.
3. Ignoring gender agreement
❌ Cornēlia perīculum veritus est.
Incorrect; the participle must be feminine.
✅ Cornēlia perīculum verita est.
Cornelia feared the danger.
4. Translating deponent endings as passive
❌ Praemium merētur. — ‘He is earned by the reward.’
Incorrect; mereor is deponent and praemium is its object.
✅ Praemium merētur.
He deserves the reward.
5. Reversing a fear clause
❌ Vereor ut veniat. — ‘I fear that he will come.’
Incorrect; ut after a verb of fearing signals fear that something will not happen.
✅ Vereor nē veniat.
I fear that he may come.
Key Takeaways
Second-conjugation deponents preserve ē in verērī, verētur, verēbar, and verēbor; their present subjunctive uses -eā- and their imperfect subjunctive preserves the infinitive. Their perfect system uses an agreeing lexical participle—veritus, pollicitus, meritus, fassus—plus sum. Learn each verb's principal parts and complements, especially vereor with accusatives and fear clauses.
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- First-Conjugation DeponentsB1 — Conjugate first-conjugation deponents such as hortor and cōnor across the present and perfect systems.
- Third-Conjugation DeponentsB1 — Form and parse third-conjugation deponents from their principal parts without mistaking passive-looking endings for passive meaning.