Second-Conjugation Present Indicative | Latin Grammar

Second-conjugation verbs have a present active infinitive in -ēre, with a long ē: monēre “to advise,” habēre “to have,” and vidēre “to see.” That quantity matters. The visually similar -ere of the third conjugation has a short e and produces a different present paradigm.

This page covers the present indicative in both active and passive voice. In ordinary Classical prose these forms are stylistically unmarked. The tense can describe what is happening now, what regularly happens, or what is generally true; in (literary) narrative it can also present a past event vividly.

Find the stem from the infinitive

Latin dictionaries give principal parts because the English meaning does not tell you how a verb inflects. Start from the second principal part, the present active infinitive, and remove -re:

Principal parts	Infinitive	Present stem	Meaning
moneō, monēre, monuī, monitum	monēre	monē-	advise, warn
habeō, habēre, habuī, habitum	habēre	habē-	have, hold
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsum	vidēre	vidē-	see
teneō, tenēre, tenuī, tentum	tenēre	tenē-	hold, keep

The first-person singular ends in -eō, but it is the infinitive’s -ēre that securely identifies the class. Compare second-conjugation moneō, monēre with third-conjugation regō, regere. A learner who begins from “warn” or “rule” has no basis for choosing a stem; principal parts supply it.

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Macrons distinguish morphology, not merely pronunciation practice. Monēre has long ē and belongs here; regere has short e and follows the third conjugation. Unmacronized editions print both endings as -ere, so learn the principal parts with quantity.

Present indicative active

Add the active personal endings to monē-. Regular phonology shortens the stem vowel before final -t and before -nt, so good pedagogical macronization writes monet and monent, not monēt and monēnt.

Person	Form	Structure	Possible English
1st singular	moneō	monē- + -ō	I advise / am advising
2nd singular	monēs	monē- + -s	you advise / are advising
3rd singular	monet	monē- + -t	he/she advises
1st plural	monēmus	monē- + -mus	we advise / are advising
2nd plural	monētis	monē- + -tis	you all advise
3rd plural	monent	monē- + -nt	they advise / are advising

Tē moneō: via noctū nōn tuta est.

I warn you: the road is not safe at night.

Quid per fenestram vidēs?

What do you see through the window?

Māter epistulam tenet, sed eam nōn legit.

Mother is holding the letter, but she is not reading it.

Hodiē domī manēmus, quod pluit.

We are staying at home today because it is raining.

The endings already identify the subject, so Latin does not need an expressed pronoun merely to say “I” or “we.” Nōs manēmus is possible when nōs is contrastive: “we are staying, whatever others do.” See Person and Number Endings for the full system.

Present indicative passive

The present stem also takes passive endings. The second-person singular has two Classical forms, monēris and monēre. The latter is normal but can look like the active infinitive; sentence structure must decide its analysis.

Person	Form	Structure	Basic English
1st singular	moneor	monē- + -or	I am advised
2nd singular	monēris / monēre	monē- + -ris/-re	you are advised
3rd singular	monētur	monē- + -tur	he/she is advised
1st plural	monēmur	monē- + -mur	we are advised
2nd plural	monēminī	monē- + -minī	you all are advised
3rd plural	monentur	monē- + -ntur	they are advised

Ā magistrō monēmur, sed cōnsilium nōn audīmus.

We are warned by the teacher, but we do not heed the advice.

Clāvis in arcā tenētur.

The key is kept in the chest.

Haec signa procul videntur.

These signals are seen from far away.

In clāvis tenētur, the nominative clāvis receives the action and the verb agrees with it as third-person singular. An expressed personal agent uses ā/ab plus the ablative, as in ā magistrō. That is a question of role, not English word order.

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Parse the ending before translating. In monēmur, -mur says “first-person plural passive”; only then should you choose natural English such as “we are warned” or, in context, “people warn us.”

One Latin present, several English choices

English distinguishes “I see” from “I am seeing” morphologically. Latin normally does not: videō can represent a present state or an action in progress. Adverbs and context determine the translation.

Use	Latin	Natural translation
current situation	Nunc amīcum videō.	I see my friend now.
habit	Cotīdiē amīcam videt.	She sees her friend every day.
continuing state	Domum habent.	They own a house.
historical present (literary)	Hostis locum tenet.	The enemy held the position.

Nunc fīliam videō; herī eam nōn vīdī.

Now I see my daughter; yesterday I did not see her.

The minimal contrast is structural: videō is present-system, whereas vīdī comes from the perfect stem given by the third principal part. English translation follows the Latin form plus context, not the other way around.

Parsing and producing a form

To parse habētis, first isolate -tis: second-person plural, active. The remaining habē- matches habēre, and there is no past or future marker. The result is present indicative active: “you all have/are holding.”

To produce “they are being warned,” begin with grammatical choices: present, indicative, passive, third-person plural. Take monē- and add -ntur, applying regular shortening before -ntur: monentur. Do not translate “are being” as a separate Latin auxiliary; the synthetic passive ending carries that information.

Common Mistakes

1. Treating long -ēre like third-conjugation short -ere

❌ Nōs amīcum monimus.

Incorrect for ‘we warn our friend’ — monēre is second conjugation, not third.

✅ Nōs amīcum monēmus.

We warn our friend.

2. Keeping a long vowel where Latin shortens it

❌ Pater fīlium monēt.

Incorrect quantity in the third-person singular present.

✅ Pater fīlium monet.

The father warns his son.

3. Building the form from an English progressive

❌ Puella est vidēns amīcam.

Incorrect as a mechanical rendering of ‘the girl is seeing her friend.’

✅ Puella amīcam videt.

The girl sees her friend / is seeing her friend.

4. Using an active ending for a passive meaning

❌ Captīvus ā custōde tenet.

Incorrect for ‘the prisoner is held by the guard’ — tenet is active.

✅ Captīvus ā custōde tenētur.

The prisoner is held by the guard.

Key Takeaways

The infinitive in long -ēre identifies the second conjugation and yields a present stem in -ē-. Add active or passive person-number endings, remembering shortening in forms such as monet, monent, and monentur. Because Latin’s present covers both English simple and progressive meanings, parse the Latin morphology first and let context choose the translation.

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