12.13 The Eight Basic Conjugations

  • At this stage of your quest, you are getting hit with a lot of new concept and terms
  • Remember the lesson points are where you get INTRODUCED to the material; the activities are where you will LEARN the material
  • Be patient and soak it in
  1. The Perfect conjugation describes completed action, whether in the past, present, or future
    • Most often, we translate this as English past tense - “She went”
    • Verbs that describe a state of being as well an action that is completed in the future will be in the Perfect conjugation
    • Parsing code: P
  2. The Imperfect conjugation describes an incomplete action, whether in the past, present, or future
    • Most often, we translate this as English future tense - “She will go”
    • Verbs that describe an incomplete process or incomplete action, even if that action is in the past, will tend to be in the Imperfect conjugation
    • Parsing code: I
  3. The Imperative 2nd person Volitional - a command: “Go!”
    • Parsing code: M
  4. The Cohortative 1st Person Volitional - wish, purpose: “I should go”100.
    • Parsing code: C
  5. The Jussive 3rd Person Volitional - conjugation is similar to the Imperative - “He should go.”
    • Parsing code: J
  6. The Infinitive Construct Verbal Noun - “to go”, or a verbal noun as in, “going”
    • Parsing code: ∞
  7. The Infinitive Absolute Verbal Noun - special uses, less common and has no direct equivalent in English
    • Parsing code: A
  8. The Participle - Verbal adjective - “runner,” “one who runs”
    • Parsing code: Pt

Vav prefix

  • Some grammars identify other forms, each with a Vav prefix, as additional conjugations/tenses, such as the “Perfect + Vav” and the “Imperfect Vav Consecutive” (sometimes called “Vav Conversive”)
  • We will discuss these forms further in Lesson 17

  1. Some grammars classify “Corhortative” and “Jussive” as “Verb Moods” and the remaining as “Verb Tenses.”↩︎