Perfects in -si

Level 3

An s joins the stem, and sometimes it changes the letter before it.

How It Works

Present	Perfect	English	What happens
duco	duxi	I led	c and s make x
scribo	scripsi	I wrote	b and s make ps
mitto	misi	I sent	tt drops, s added
dico	dixi	I said	c and s make x
rideo	risi	I laughed	d drops, s added

Rideo is a second conjugation verb, yet its perfect is risi. Learn the third dictionary form with each verb, because the family alone does not tell you the perfect.

More verbs with -s-: rego gives rexi (I ruled), vivo gives vixi (I lived) and maneo gives mansi (I stayed).

Examples (5)

Marcus epistulam scripsit.
Marcus wrote a letter.
Scripsit is scribo with -s- and the b becomes p.
Caesar milites duxit.
Caesar led the soldiers.
Duxit is duco with the c and s joined as x.
Puer risit.
The boy laughed.
Risit is the perfect of rideo.
Magister puerum in scholam misit.
The teacher sent the boy to school.
Misit is the perfect of mitto. In scholam is in plus the accusative: into school.
Dixit Dominus Domino meo.
The Lord said to my Lord.
The first line of Psalm 109. Dixit is the perfect of dico, and Domino is the form that means to the Lord.

Common Mistakes

Adding -v- to a verb whose perfect has -s-.
Marcus epistulam scribivit.
Marcus epistulam scripsit.
Scribo makes its perfect with -s-: scripsi, scripsit.
Adding -u- to a verb whose perfect has -s-.
Caesar milites ducuit.
Caesar milites duxit.
The c and s of the stem join as x: duxit.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Perfects in -siLevel 3

Learn This First

These perfects use the same endings on a stem that ends in -s, so the -vi and -ui perfects come first.

Perfects in -vi and -ui
Know the -vi and -ui perfects, because the -si perfects take the same endings on a different stem: amavi, scripsi.
Level 3

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