Grammatical conjugation
Grammatical conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from one basic form. Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, mood, voice, or some other language-specific factor or factors. When a verb is used to function as the action done by a subject, the verb must be conjugated in most languages.
For example, here's a sample conjugation of the English verb to be and its Latin and French equivalents, esse and être. Except for the infinitive, which is given in the present form, all the verbs listed are in the present indicative active.
to be / esse / être
| Form / Person |
English |
Latin |
French |
| Infinitive |
to be |
esse |
être |
| 1st singular |
I am |
sum |
je suis |
| 2nd singular |
you are |
es |
tu es |
| 3rd singular |
he, she, or it is |
est |
il/elle est |
| 1st plural |
we are |
sumus |
nous sommes |
| 2nd plural |
you are |
estis |
vous êtes |
| 3rd plural |
they are |
sunt |
ils/elles sont |
The grammatical conjugation of an irregular verb forms a model for a genre of joke called the self-serving conjugation. This satirizes the fashion in which violations of the Categorical Imperative may be cloaked in verbal obfuscation. For example: I delegate effectively, you play politics, he is in violation of his service level agreement.
Referenced By
Conjugate | Cymraeg | Eastern Armenian | Finnish language grammar | Inflection | Inflexion | SwedishLanguage | Swedish (language) | Swedish language | Welsh (language) | Welsh Language | Western Armenian
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