Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs in Latin are those verbs that do not follow the regular conjugation patterns.
These verbs often have unique forms in different tenses, moods, and voices that must be memorised.

Examples of Irregular Verbs

Esse (‘to be’): This verb is highly irregular, with distinct forms across tenses and moods. For example, the present tense forms are sum, es, est, sumus, estis, sunt.
Fero (‘to carry’): Another irregular verb with unique forms such as fero, fers, fert, ferimus, fertis, ferunt in the present tense.
Volo (‘to want’), Nolo (‘to not want’) and Malo (‘to prefer’): These verbs are irregular and share similar conjugation patterns, for instance, their present tense forms are volo, vis, vult, volumus, vultis, volunt; nolo, non vis, non vult, nolumus, non vultis, nolunt; and malo, mavis, mavult, malumus, mavultis, malunt respectively.

Irregular Verb Conjugations

One common feature of irregular verbs is inconsistent vowel changes within and across conjugation patterns.
They often appear differently in each conjugation, hence, students should focus on remembering the forms for each verb separately.
In Latin, many irregular verbs have forms that are similar to regular verb conjugation forms. These similarities are especially noticeable in the imperfect and future tenses.

Usage of Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are not confined to a specific usage, their meanings vary as in regular verbs.
They can be used in any context depending on the meaning of the verb, for example esse can be used to express existence, possession, or identity.
Recognise and understand different forms of irregular verbs as they commonly occur in Latin literature and texts.

Remember: Practice makes perfect. Repeatedly conjugating irregular verbs will help to understand their patterns more clearly and aid in swift recognition when reading or translating.