Level 3; deponent verbs (3)

Below are a list of common deponent verbs; take some time to memorise these and bear in mind that they are not passive. The perfect active participle can be misleading i.e. secūtus sum = I followed, not I was followed.

conor, conārī, cōnātus sum [1/dep]: try

hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum [1/dep]: encourage

miror, mirāri, mīrātus sum [1/dep]: wonder; be amazed

minor, minārī, minātus sum [1/dep]: threaten

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polliceor, pollicērī, pollicitus sum [2/dep]: promise

vereor, vererī, veritus sum [2/dep]: fear; be afraid

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īrāscor, īrāscī, īrātus sum [3/dep]: be angry

loquor, loquī, locūtus sum [3/dep]: speak

nascor, nascī, nātus sum [3/dep]: be born

proficiscor, proficisci, profectus sum [3/dep]: set out

sequor, sequī, secūtus sum [3/dep]: follow

utor, utī, ūsus sum [3/dep]: use

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aggredior, aggredī, aggressūs sum [3-iō/dep]: attack

congredior, congredī, congressus sum [3-iō/dep]: meet; come together

egredior, egredī, ēgressus sum [3-iō/dep]:     go out; disembark

progredior, progredī, prōgressus sum [3-iō/dep]: advance; go forward

morior, morī, mortuus sum [3-iō/dep]: die

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mentior, mentīrī, mentitus sum [4/dep]: lie

orior, orīrī, ortūs sum  [4/dep]: arise

[2] Image: examples of deponent verbs in simple sentences.

Sōl in oriente oritur. │ The sun rises in the east.

Caesar ē castrīs proficīscitur. │ Caesar sets out from the camp.

Nautae ē nāvī ēgrediuntur. │ The sailors disembark from the ship.

Domum revertor. │ I return home.

Ōrātor magnā vōce loquitur. │ The orator speaks in a loud voice.

Caesar cōpiās suās hortātur. │ Caesar encourages his troops.

Pulchritūdinem puellae mīrāmur. │ We admire the girl’s beauty.

Mīles gladiō ūtitur. │ The soldier uses a sword.

NON SEQUITUR: The English expression ‘non sequitur’ from Latin sequor means a statement that does not logically follow from what has been said before: “Since you are a good person, I, therefore, am a good person.”

DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIĀ MORĪ: The infinitive of the deponent verb morior (die) in the poet Horace’s often quoted and disputed line: ‘It is sweet and proper to die for one’s country.’ The line is most famous in Wilfred Owen’s anti-war poem which bears the line both as its title and as its damning conclusion. 

Here are a few lines from the Mediaeval song ‘In taberna quando sumus’ describing the fate of those who gamble; morantur is a deponent verb, whereas the other verbs in bold are passive:

Sed in ludo qui morantur │ But those who linger in the game [= who don’t stop playing]

ex his quidam denudantur │ Some of them are stripped bare

quidam ibi vestiuntur, │ Some are dressed there [= some win clothes]

quidam saccis induuntur. │  Some are dressed in sacks.

Ibi nullus timet mortem │ Nobody fears death there

sed pro Baccho mittunt sortem │ But they throw the dice in the name of Bacchus.