Grammar: Passive Verb Forms

In Latin, there are two basic verb systems: the present system (includes present, future, and imperfect) and the perfect system (the perfect, future perfect, and pluperfect).

When you are dealing with passive verb forms, there is a huge difference between the present system and the perfect system:

Present passive verbs are synthetic. That means the present passive verbs are expressed as a single word: the stem and the ending are combined and you have just one word.

Perfect passive verbs are analytic. That means the perfect passive verbs are expressed as a combination of the perfect passive participle and a form of the verb to be.

Use the chart below to compare the present and perfect forms of the verb amo, -are.