Sunday, March 01, 2009

Remembering the Present Subjunctive

In a recent Latinteach discussion, teachers shared the following memory tricks for remember the signature vowels used for the present subjunctive (E, EA, A, and IA):

  • shE wEArs A dIAmond...
  • hE hEArs A pIAno...
  • wE fEAr All lIArs...
  • wE fEAr A lIAr... (used in Wheelock's Latin)
  • lEt's bEAt thAt gIAnt... (used in Latin for Americans)
  • lEt's EAt cAvIAr...
  • wE EAt cAvIAr...
  • wE fEAr A trIAl...
  • wE bEAt All lIArs...
  • hE chEAts A lIAr...
  • wE bEAt A frIAr...
  • shE rEAds A dIAry
  • shE wEArs A tIAra...
  • clEm StEAms ClAms in SIAm ...
  • wE bEAt A gIAnt lIAr...(All the rest take into account the 3rd-io conjugation.)
  • shE wEArs A dIAmond tIAra...
  • shE wEArs A gIAnt dIAmond...
  • lEt's bEAt thAt gIAnt gIAnt... (And these two are hortatory subjunctive sentences.)
  • lEt's bEAt A lIAr, frIAr...