Lesson 5

Home
Babel Text
Etymologies
Irregular Verbs
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
English-Romana
Romana-English
Texts

This is the last lesson in verbs. It basically deals with the subjunctive mood, the conditional mood, the passive voice, reflexive verbs, and the gerundive (present participle).

Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood is used when something might happen. In Romana, the subjunctive is indicated by a change in the endings of the verb. This change is often a simple vowel shift compared to the indicative present.

Endings for -are verbs:
em, ei, e, emo, ete, en
Endings for -ere verbs:
am, ai, a, amo, ate, an
Endings for -ire verbs:
iam, iai, ia, iamo, iate, ian

Sample phrase: "Este possibile che ardate ogi." = It's possible that you burn today.

Sample phrase: "Vivi che edai." = You live to eat.

I will not go into detail on when to use the subjunctive, I assume you're familiar with it.

Note that che can be used exactly as ut in Latin or to in English to create subjunctive clauses.

Conditional

This is when something would happen.

Endings for -are verbs:
arem, arei, aria, aremo, arete, aren
Endings for -ere verbs:
erem, erei, eria, eremo, erete, eren
Endings for -ire verbs:
irem, irei, iria, iremo, irete, iren

Sample phrase: "Si avevamo sate argento, vaderemo achelo ." = If only we had enough money, we would go there.

Conditional is used when "would" would be used in English. In Romana, conditional is also imperfect subjunctive.

Example of a conditional clause:
"Si eram un urso, serem un urso fabulante!"
"If I were a bear, I would be a talking bear!"
Notice the use of the imperfect subjunctive here instead of present subjunctive.

The past conditional is formed by the conditional of "avere" plus the past participle. The "si" clause takes the pluperfect indicative.

Example:
"Si fussem un urso, averem fosto un urso fabulante!"
"If I had been a bear, I would've been a talking bear!"

Subjunctive of Essere

Present

Io sim, tu sei, el/ela sia. Noi siemo, voi siete, eli/ele sin.

Conditional

Io serem, tu serei, el/ela seria. Noi seremo, voi serete, eli/ele seren.

In all other tenses, subjunctive is done by putting the auxiliary verb into subjunctive.

Example of composed subjunctive:
"Este possibile che noi avamo veduto la casa." = It's possible that we have seen the house.

Passive Voice

The passive voice is when you use in English "to be" plus a past participle. Such as "to be loved", "to be made". It is no different in Romana. You use "essere" plus the past participle to express the passive voice.

A passive voice sentence: "Eram amato de toto mundo." = "I was loved by everybody."

Reflexive Verbs

The reflexive pronoun goes before the verb.

Here are the reflexive pronouns:
Me, te, se (all 3rd persons), ne, ve

Here's a reflexive verb, "se comportare" conjugated:

Io me comporto           Noi ne comportamo
Tu te comporti             Voi ve comportate
El/ela se comporta       Eli/ele se comportan

Very few verbs are only reflexive. You basically have to see if it makes sense or not. For example "se vedere" would work, if you want to say "to see oneself", such as in a mirror. Any verb that works in English with "oneself", works in Romana as a reflexive verb. For instance, in the above conjugation, 'se comportare' literally means 'to behave oneself'.

Present Participle

The present participle is useful in some clauses. In English, it often ends in "ing". In Romana, here's how to form the gerund.

  1. Remove the -re from the infinitive.
  2. Add 'ndo'. If there's an 'i' preceding the 'ndo', it becomes 'e'.

Note that participles can also be adjectives. However, as an adjective, present participle's ending changes from 'ndo' to 'nte'.

A sample phrase: "Vedendo il lupo, fugii." = "Seeing the wolf, I fled."

Example: "La casa este ardente." = "The house is on fire."

Practice

Conjugate these verbs in all tenses.

  1. Lavare (to wash)
  2. Audire (to hear)
  3. Ascultare (to listen)
  4. Cantare (to sing)
  5. Intrare (to enter)
  6. Essire (to exit)
  7. Natare (to swim)
  8. Nascere (to give birth)
  9. Lavorare (to work)
  10. Espetare (to wait for)

This ends the extensive unit on verbs. Next lessons will focus on pronouns of all sorts.

Next Lesson >