Verb endings: why amo is a whole sentence

Amo is a complete Latin sentence. One word, two syllables, subject and verb both present: I love. The -o on the end is the I. In the present tense every Latin verb ends in one of six such endings, and each one names who is acting.

These six run through most of the active tenses with only small adjustments: the first person is sometimes -m instead of -o (sum, I am), and the perfect has a set of its own. One table, years of use.

Why there are no pronouns

Because the ending has already done that job:

• Dico. - I say.
• Dicimus. - We say.
• Dicunt. - They say.

123

1. 1Legit.
2. 2Coquit.
3. 3Currit.

Legit, she reads; coquit, he cooks; currit, he runs. The -t says he or she, so Latin needs no pronoun: the picture shows who.

Ego (I), tu (you) and nos (we) all exist. A Roman used them for contrast, not for basic information:

• Ego dico, tu taces. - I am the one speaking; you are keeping quiet.

Put the pronoun in by default and you have written the clearest sign of a beginner's Latin. If you would not stress the word in English, leave it out in Latin.

Spanish and Italian inherited this habit directly: Spanish hablo and Italian parlo are each a complete sentence, I speak. French wore its endings down until parle, parles and parlent sound alike, and its pronoun became compulsory.

Why dictionaries cite dico, not dicere

Every Latin dictionary lists a verb by its first person singular, I say, with the infinitive beside it:

This course follows the convention, so the vocabulary you learn here matches every other Latin resource. Learn the infinitive with the headword, though: amo and dico end the same way, and only amare and dicere show that they belong to different families.