The irregular fourth conjugation verb eō, īre, iī, itum, to go, is fully conjugated below; the verb is as common in Latin as “go” is in English, and so the conjugation should be learned thoroughly.
In the present system of eō there are two major difficulties:
(1)The normal stem, ī-, as derived from the present infinitive, becomes e- before a, o, and u; e.g., eō, eunt, eam. Give particular attention to the present indicative and the present subjunctive above. A similar change from ī- to e- is seen in all forms of the present participle, except the nominative singular, and in the gerund (a form whose use is explained in Ch. 39).
(2)The future of this fourth conjugation verb has the tense sign and endings of a first or second conjugation verb.
The perfect system is formed regularly except that ii- before s usually contracts to ī-; e.g., īstī, īsse. Forms with -v-, such as īvī, are rare and do not appear in this book.
Only the active forms are here presented; the rare impersonal passive (e.g., ītur, ībātur) and the future and perfect passive participles (eundum, itum) do not appear in this book. Transitive compounds such as adeō, to approach, commonly have passive endings (e.g., adeor, adībātur, etc.), but those forms likewise are not employed in this book.
You have already learned how to use the proper prepositions and cases in the regular place constructions, but they are repeated here for review and for contrast with the special rules for the names of cities, towns, and small islands and for domus, humus, and rūs.
Regular constructions: prepositions + proper case.
(1) Place where: in or sub + ablative.
In illā urbe vīsus est, he was seen in that city.
Nihil sub sōle est novum, there is nothing new under the sun.
(2) Place to which: in, ad, or sub + accusative.
In illam urbem ībit, he will go into that city.
Sub hastam hostis occidit, he fell under the enemy’s spear.
(3) Place from which: ab, dē, or ex + ablative.
Ex illā urbe iit, he went out of that city.
II. With the actual names of cities, towns, and small islands, as well as the three nouns domus, humus, and rūs, no prepositions were employed in Latin, though they usually must be supplied in English translation (cp., however, Eng. “he ran home” for “he ran to his home”).
(1) For place where with these particular words a special case was used in Latin, the “locative.” The locative is identical to the genitive for the singular of first and second declension nouns; elsewhere the locative is usually identical to the ablative.
Vīsus est Rōmae, Ephesī, Athēnī, et Carthāgine.
He was seen at Rome, Ephesus, Athens, and Carthage.
(2) Place to which: accusative without a preposition.
bit Rōmam, Ephesum, Athēnās, et Carthāginem.
He will go to Rome, Ephesus, Athens, and Carthage.
(3) Place from which: ablative without a preposition.
Iit Rōmā, Ephesō, Athēnīs, et Carthāgine.
He went from Rome, Ephesus, Athens, and Carthage.
Domus, as seen in the vocabulary below, is a slightly irregular feminine noun, having some second declension endings and some fourth. In place constructions the commonest forms are as follows:
| domī (locative), at home | Domī vīsus est, he was seen at home. |
| domum (acc.), home (= to home) | Domum ībit, he will go home. |
| domō (abl.), from home | Domō iit, he went from home. |
The locative of humus, a feminine second declension noun, follows the rule: humī, on the ground. The locative of rūs is either rūrī or rūre, in the country.
(1) You are already familiar with the ablative of time when or within which (Ch. 15); no preposition is used in Latin, but in English translation you must supply in, within, at, on, etc., depending on the particular noun:
Eōdem diē iit, he went on the same day.
Paucīs hōrīs domum ībit, he will go home in a few hours.
(2) Newly introduced here is the accusative of duration of time, which indicates, not the time at or within which an action occurs, but for how long a period of time the action occurs. No preposition is employed in Latin; in English translation, the preposition for is sometimes used, sometimes omitted. The construction also commonly occurs with nātus to indicate a person’s age.
Multōs annōs vīxit, he lived (for) many years.
Paucās hōrās domī manēbit, he will stay at home (for) a few hours.
Quīnque et vīgintī annōs nātus, imperātor factus est, At the age of 25 (lit., having been born for 25 years), he became commander.
Ath
nae, -
rum, f. pl., Athens (cp. athenaeum)
dómus, -ūs (-ī), f., house, home; dómī, at home; dómum, (to) home; dómō, from home (domain, domicile, domestic, domesticate, dome, major-domo; cp. dominus, domina, Ch. 40)
húmus, -ī, f., ground, earth; soil (humus, exhume, inhume, inhumation, posthumous; cp. humiliate, humility, from humilis, -e, on the earth, down-to-earth, humble)
íter, itíneris, n., journey; route, road (itinerant, itinerary; cp. eō below)
rūs, rúris, n., the country, countryside (rustic, rusticity; cp. rūsticor, rūsticus, rural)
Syrācúsae, -árum, f. pl., Syracuse
ábsēns, gen. abséntis, absent, away (absence, absentee, absenteeism, in absentia; from absum, abesse)
grátus, -a, -um, pleasing, agreeable; grateful (grace, gracious, grateful, gratitude, gratify, gratis, gratuitous, gratuity, ingrate, ingratiate, agree, congratulate; cp. grātiās agō)
id
neus, -a, -um, suitable, fit, appropriate
immótus, -a, -um, unmoved; unchanged; unrelenting (immotile; cp. moveō)
fórīs, adv., out of doors, outside (foreclose, foreign, forest, forfeit)
éō, re, íī, ítum, to go (ambition, circuit, concomitant, exit, initial, initiate, initiative, obituary, perish, preterit, sedition, transient, transit, transition, transitive, transitory: many of these derive from the several compounds of eō, including the seven listed below)
ábeō, -re, -iī, -itum, to go away, depart, leave
ádeō, -re, -iī, -itum, to go to, approach
éxeō, -re, -iī, -itum, to go out, exit
íneō, -re, -iī, -itum, to go in, enter
óbeō, -re, -iī, -itum, to go up against, meet; die
péreō, -re, -iī, -itum, to pass away, be destroyed, perish
rédeō, -re, -iī, -itum, to go back, return
interfíciō, -fícere, -fécī, -féctum, to kill, murder
lícet, licre, lícuit, impersonal,1 it is permitted, one may; commonly with an infinitive as subject and a dative for the person permitted to act, e.g., licet tibi abīre, you may leave, lit., it is permitted for you to leave (license, licentious, illicit, leisure, viz. = vidēlicet, sc. = scīlicet)
peregrnor, peregrīnárī, peregrīn
s sum, to travel abroad, wander (peregrine, peregrinate, pilgrim, pilgrimage; from per + ager)
requiéscō, -quiscere, -quivī, -quiétum, to rest (requiescat, requiem)
sóleō, solre, sólitus sum, to be accustomed (insolent, obsolete)
Dehinc petet ā frātre meō et sorōre ut occāsiōnem carpant et in urbem quam celerrimē ineant.
Nisi domum hāc aestāte redīssēs, in longō itinere Athēnās fortasse peregrīnātī essēmus, et nōs ibi oblectāvissēmus.
Nē levēs quidem timōrēs ferre poterātis; rūrī, igitur, nōn in urbe semper vīvēbātis.
Haec locūtī, lēctōribus et lēctrīcibus persuādēbunt nē opēs cupī-dinēsque praemiīs bonae vītae antepōnant.
Multōs annōs eōs cīvitātī servīre coēgit, sed animōs numquam contudit.
At nōs, ipsī multa mala passī, cōnātī sumus eīs īrātīs persuādēre ut servōs vinculīs līberārent et nē cui nocērent.
Sī quis vult aliōs iuvāre, cūret utad eōs adeat plēnus sapientiae.
Philosophī cōtīdiē requīrēbant utrum illī discipulī nātūrae pārērent.
Contemnāmus omnia perīcula, ea ex pectoribus exigāmus, et fateāmur haec difficillima Rōmae suscipienda esse.
Omnēs solent mīrārī ea pulcherrima quae Athēnīs vident.
Nisi māvīs morī, exī Syrācūsīs, sequere alium ducem, et accēde Athēnās.
Fémina candida ante speculum immōta stetit, sed sē spectāre recūsāvit et animōs recreāre nōn potuit.
Paucās hōras duodecim puerī puellaeque humī sedēbant, ut magistra, subrīdēns et eōs serēnāns, plūrimās fābulās nārrābat.
Sī sapiēs et tibi imperāre poteris, fiēs grātior iūstiorque, parcēs miserīs ac amīcōs fovēbis.
They commanded that this be done in Rome for three days.
Unless he goes to Syracuse within five days, his father’s fear will become greater.
He thought that his brother would perhaps not go away from home that summer.
Nobody may speak freely in that country, as we all know.
Mortālia facta perībunt. (*Horace.)
Noctēs atque diēs patet ātrī iānua Dītis. (*Virgil.—āter, ātra, ātrum, dark, gloomy.—Dīs, Dītis, Dis, another name for Pluto, god of the dead.)
Annī eunt mōre modōque fluentis aquae. Numquam hōra quae praeteriit potest redīre; ūtāmur aetāte. (Ovid.—praeterīre, to go by, pass.)
Heu, obiī! Quid ego ēgī! Fīlius nōn rediit ā cēnā hāc nocte. (Terence.)
Frāter meus ōrat nē abeās domō. (Terence.)
Dīcit patrem ab urbe abīsse sed frātrem esse domī. (Terence.)
Tertiā hōrā forīs ībam Sacrā Viā, ut meus mōs est. (Horace.—Sacrā Viā, abl. of means or way by which; the Sacred Way was the main street through the Roman Forum.)
Dēnique Dāmoclēs, cum sīc beātus esse nōn posset, ōrāvit Dionysium tyrannum ut abīre ā cēnā licēret. (Cicero.)
Eō tempore, Syrācūsīs captīs, Mārcellus multa Rōmam mīsit; Syrācūsīs autem multa atque pulcherrima relīquit. (Cicero.)
Diēs multōs in eā nāve fuī; ita adversā tempestāte ūsī sumus. (Terence.)
Īram populī ferre nōn poterō, sī in exsilium ieris. (Cicero.)
Caesare interfectō, Brūtus Rōmā Athēnās fūgit. (Cicero.)
Ipse Rōmam redīrem, sī satis cōnsiliī dē hāc rē habērem. (Cicero.)
Nēmō est tam senex ut nōn putet sē ūnum annum posse vīvere. (Cicero.)
Dum nōs fāta sinunt, oculōs satiēmus amōre; nox tibi longa venit, nec reditūra diēs. (*Propertius.—sinō, -ere, to allow.—reditūra, sc. est, fut. act. periphrastic for redībit; diēs is sometimes fem.)
Candidius nihil est tē, Caeciliāne. Notāvī:
sī quandō ex nostrīs disticha pauca legō,
prōtinus aut Mārsī recitās aut scrīpta Catullī.
Hoc mihi dās, tamquam dēteriōra legās,
ut collāta magis placeant mea? Crēdimus istud:
mālo tamen recitēs, Caeciliāne, tua!
(*Martial 2.71; meter: elegiac couplet.—notāre, to note, notice.—with nostrīs, sc. libellīs.—disticha (a Gk. acc. ending), couplets, verses.—Domitius Marsus, like Catullus, was a popular Latin poet.—scrīptum, -ī, writing, written works.—hoc…dās, i.e., as a favor.—tamquam here introduces an imagined comparison, something like a condition, hence the verb is subj.—dēteriōra, sc. scrīpta, worse poetry.—collāta, with mea, compared, in comparison.—mālo [ut] recitēs; the conj. is often omitted in a jussive noun clause.)
“Īnscrīptiō quoque vidē dīligenter sī haec satis idōnea tibi vidētur: ‘C. Pompeius Trimalchiō Maecēnātiānus hīc requiēscit. Huic sēvirātus absentī dēcrētus est. Cum posset in omnibus decuriīs Rōmae esse, tamen nōluit. Pius, fortis, fidēlis, ex parvō crēvit; sestertium relīquit trecentiēs, nec umquam philosophum audīvit. Valē. Et tu.’” Haec ut dīxit Trimalchiō, flēre coepit ūbertim. Flēbat et Fortūnāta; flēbat et Habinnas; tōta dēnique familia, tamquam in fūnus rogāta, lāmentātiōne triclīnium implēvit.
(*Petronius, Satyricon 71-72; the boorish, nouveau-riche host Trimalchio asks his dinner-guests their opinion of his proposed epitaph.—īnscrīptiō, -ōnis; the more usual order would be quoque vidē dīligenter sī haec īnscrīptiō…. —C. = Gaius.—Maecēnātiānus: Trimalchio, an ex-slave, takes this name to associate himself with the famous Maecenas, a powerful and wealthy associate of Augustus.—Huic … absentī, i.e., in absentia from Rome.—sēvirātus, -ūs, the post of sēvir Augustālis, a member of the six-man commission that supervised the cult of the emperor.—decūria, -ae, club; these were groups of ten men organized for both business and social purposes.—pius, -a, -um, devoted, dedicated.—ex parvō, i.e., from humble beginnings.—sestertium … trecentiēs, 30 million sesterces, a VERY hefty sum!—nec … audīvit, i.e., he “never even went to college!”—Et tū, sc. valē; epitaphs typically represented such “conversations”: the deceased wishes the passerby “Farewell,” and the passerby, reading the inscription, replies, “And you (likewise farewell).”—Haec ut = Ut haec.—flēre, to weep.—ūbertim, adv., profusely.—et = etiam.—Fortunata (“Lucky”) and Habinnas were Trimalchio’s wife and a guest.—fūnus, -neris, n., funeral.—lamentātiō, -ōnis.—triclīnium, -iī, dining room.—impleō, -plēre, -plēvī, -plētum, to fill.)
Licinius, servus Aesōpī nostrī, Rōmā Athēnās fūgit. Is Athēnīs apud Patrōnem prō līberō virō fuit. Deinde in Asiam abiit. Posteā Platō, quīdam quī Athēnīs solet esse multum et quī tum Athēnīs fuerat cum Licinius Athēnās vēnisset, litterīs Aesōpī dē Liciniō acceptīs, hunc Ephesī comprehendit et in custōdiam trādidit. Petō ā tē, frāter, ut Ephesō exiēns servum Rōmam tēcum redūcās. Aesōpus enim ita īrāscitur propter servī scelus ut nihil eī grātius possit esse quam recuperātiō fugitīvī. Valē.
(Cicero, Epistulae ad Quīntum Frātrem 1.2.14; Marcus Cicero wrote this letter to his brother Quintus, who was at the time governor of Asia.—S. = salūtem dīcit, says greetings.—Licinius, -ī.—Aesōpus, -ī, the leading tragic actor of Rome.—Patrō, -trōnis.—prō, as a.—Plato, an Epicurean from Sardis.—multum, adv.—Ephesus, -ī, a city in Asia Minor.—re-dūcō.—īrāscor, īrāscī, īrātus sum, to be angry; cp. īra and īrātus.—recuperātiō, -ōnis, recovery. — fugitīvus, -ī.)
Vidēlicet, namely, derives from vidēre licet, lit., it is permitted to see, i.e., it is plain to see. In medieval manuscripts this long word was often contracted to vi-et, and one abbreviation for et resembled a z; hence the abbreviation viz. From another compound of licet is the much more common abbreviation sc. for scīlicet, namely, clearly (from scīre licet, you may understand), which we use as an instruction to supply some word or idea that has been omitted from a text but is readily understood (see the example above in the notes on “Trimalchio”).
7. Another famous street in Rome was Via Lāta. On the analogy of Sacra Via how is Via Lāta (lātus, -a, -um, broad) to be translated? “Thanks”: note, notation, notary.—script; from the fourth principal part of scrībō.—deteriorate, deterioration.—collate, collation. “Trimalchio”: funereal.—lament, lamentable. “Mārcus“: irascible.—“Recover” and “recuperate” are cognates, both derived from recuperāre, to regain.)
Salvēte! These familiar words and phrases from eō are certainly going to interest you (notice how colloquial Eng. employs “go” as an auxiliary verb to indicate futurity, and cp. Latin’s use of īrī in those rare future passive infinitive forms): exit and exeunt omnēs are stage directions; to “perish” is to be “thoroughly gone” (from per + eō), i.e., to make one’s final “exit” from life’s stage, an exodus often marked by obiit on old tombstones or by the abbreviation O.S.P. for obiit sine prōle (he/she died without offspring, from prōlēs, prōlis, f., the source of “proletariate”); pereant quī ante nōs nostra dīxērunt is a proverbial curse on folks who had all our best ideas before we had them ourselves (!); iter (lit. a going) is related to eō and also to the adv. obiter, which gives us obiter dictum, something said along the way (or “in passing”), and likewise obiter scrīptum; Monty Python fans will recall the Rōmānī, īte domum routine from the “Life of Brian”; and finally aut bibat aut abeat, let him either drink or go away, is an old Roman toast and the motto of our local tavern!
Et cētera: grātus is related to grātia, favor, kindness, gratitude, thanks, as in grātiās agere, to give thanks, Deī grātiā, by the grace of God, and also Eng. “gratis,” something done “for thanks” (grātīs), i.e., without a fee. R.I.P., also found on tombstones (though not Trimalchio’s!), stands for requiēscat in pāce (remember the jussive subj.?); rūs in urbe, a phrase from Martial, refers to a city park or garden or some other rustic setting or view that reminds one of the countryside. Well, enough for today: nunc domum eāmus!
