Ballad of the Latin Verbs: A Song for Teaching 1st Conjugation Verb Endings

This song includes the names of the children in your class, so depending on how many kids you have and how many syllables their names have, you may have to switch things around a little. You can always repeat names or add Latin endings to their names. That is permitted.

The tune is from an Irish tune called Fox Hunter's Jig but I play it in A. The first chord is like A major except you take your finger off the B string and play that open. My favorite recording of it is by Cherish the Ladies, Ballad of the Foxhunter. Cherish the Ladies lyrics are a W.B. Yeats poem, but mine are kind of an anthem for our Latin Club. This is the first song we learned, to go along with Chapter 1 in Primer Level A of Latin for Children from Classical Academic Press.

Ballad of Latin Verbs

Link to the video on YouTube.

Amo amas amat, amamis amatis amant
Do das dat, damis, datis, dant
Narro, narras narrat, narramis narratis narrant
Intro, intras intrat, intramis intratis intrant

Shira, conjugate!
Ben, make the nouns decline!
Adjective endings are our food,
Verb tense our wine!

Brayton, the ablative
tells where and when and how
Stephen the genetive
can classify a noun

Erro erras errat, erramis erratis errant
Specto, spectas, spectat, spectamis, spectatis, spectant
Sto stas stat, stamis statis stant
Paro paras parat, paramis paratis parant

Martina conjugate!
Nicholas decline!
Benny and Sarah
Let your vocabulary shine!

Dative tells us just for whom
the verb is done
Acccustive tells us who
the verb is done upon.

She Will Be Latin: A Song for Teaching Noun Declensions

She Will Be Latin

Words by Lydia Netzer
Grammar by Classical Academic Press
Music by Maroon 5

Link to the video on YouTube.


First declension nouns are mostly girls
-a -ae -ae -am -a -ae -arum -is -as -is
The word for fatherland is patria
Tell me how that’s feminine please?

Mensa mensae mensae mensam mensa
Mensae mensarum mensis mensas mensis yeah!
Via viae viae viam via
Viae viarum viis vias viis

Fewer words, more endings
That’s how Latin is lending
Our derivative blendings
So our English is bending

Second declension nouns are men now
-us –i -o -um -o –i –orum -is -os -is
There’s a lupus in my ludus
Do not sit him next to me

Ludus ludi ludo ludum ludo
Ludi ludorum ludis ludos ludis
Hortus horti horto hortum horto
Horti hortorum hortis hortos hortis

Fewer words, more endings
That’s how Latin is lending
Our derivative blendings
So our English is bending

Second declension neuter nouns
-um –i -o -um -o -a –orum -is -a -is
Thanks for the donum in the forum but
Did it have to be your helmet grease?

Donum doni dono donum dono
Dona donorum donis dona donis
Astrum astri astro astrum astro
Astra astrorum astris astra astris

What's the Deal with Sentences? A Song for Learning Latin Sentence Patterns

In our Latin Club, we use the Latin for Children curriculum from Classical Academic Press. In level A, the children learn chants for sentence patterns that they can use to start translating and easily creating Latin sentences. Here's a song I wrote about the sentence patterns to help the kids remember them, and just for fun!

Here's the link to the video on YouTube.

What’s the Deal with Sentences?

What’s the deal with Pattern A?
What does SNV mean?
Like “Sweep no vents” or “See no views” Or “Steal no victories”?
SN stands for “Subject noun”
And V for action verb.
So SNV is pattern A
Now you’ve heard the word.

So “Vir intrat” and “Vir Mutat” and then “Viri pugnant”
“Magister clamat” and then “Magister ambulat”

What’s the deal with Pattern B?
SN LV PRN?
A linking verb like sum, “to be”
Connects two nouns together
The subject and the predicate
Are linked and then equated
I’m a girl(boy) and you’re a boy(girl),
With pattern B we state it.

So “Filii sunt amicae” and “Marcus est amicus”
“Dominus est socius” and “Servus est filius”

What’s the deal with Pattern C?
SN LV PrA?
It’s just the same as Pattern B
Except for one small way
In the predicate we see
An adjective is waiting
To be linked with the subject noun,
In Pattern C relating.

So “Vir est bonus” “Vir est malus” “Viri sunt ignoti”
“Magistra est antiqua” “Discipuli sunt novi”

Enjoy! Here's the video: