Latin 2 Quiz: Identifying Voice
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Identifying VoiceQuestion 1 of 14

Milites a duce suo mittuntur.

They send their leader away.
The leader sends them away.
They are sent by their leader.
They were sent by the leader.
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Latin 2 Quiz

Latin 2 Quiz: Identifying Voice

Practice Identifying Voice in Latin 2 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Identifying Voice, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Latin 2.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Milites a duce suo mittuntur.

  1. They send their leader away.
  2. The leader sends them away.
  3. They are sent by their leader. (correct answer)
  4. They were sent by the leader.
Explanation: The verb mittuntur is present passive: 'they are sent.' The phrase a duce suo means 'by their leader,' so the sentence means 'They are sent by their leader.' The tempting error is 'They were sent by the leader,' because a past passive sounds natural, but mittuntur is present, not past.

Question 2

Pons frangebatur.

  1. The bridge was breaking apart.
  2. The bridge was broken apart.
  3. The bridge was being broken. (correct answer)
  4. The bridge was breaking down.
Explanation: Frangebatur is the imperfect passive of frangere, so the action is ongoing in the past and the bridge is receiving it: the bridge was being broken. The tempting reading "was breaking apart" wrongly treats the passive verb as if it were active or intransitive, but the Latin form is clearly passive.

Question 3

Puer a matre laudatus est.

  1. The boy did praise Mother.
  2. The boy is praised by Mother.
  3. The boy has praised Mother.
  4. The boy was praised by Mother. (correct answer)
Explanation: The verb laudatus est is a perfect passive form: laudatus (praised) plus est (was) means 'was praised,' and a matre means 'by Mother.' So the boy received the action. The tempting mistake is 'is praised,' but that would be present passive laudatur; the participle with est is past.

Question 4

Cives regem secuti sunt.

  1. Citizens were followed by him.
  2. Citizens followed the king. (correct answer)
  3. The king was followed by them.
  4. Citizens had followed him.
Explanation: Cives is the subject (citizens), regem is the direct object (the king), and secuti sunt is a deponent verb meaning followed, active in meaning. So the citizens performed the action on the king. The tempting wrong choice is "Citizens were followed by him": it wrongly treats secuti sunt as passive and invents a "him" that is not in the Latin.

Question 5

Cupimus laudari.

  1. We want to be praised. (correct answer)
  2. We do want to praise.
  3. We wanted to praise.
  4. We want to have praised.
Explanation: Cupimus means "we want" (present tense), and laudari is the passive infinitive "to be praised." So the phrase means "We want to be praised." The tempting error is taking laudari as active "to praise," which would give "we want to praise" instead.

Question 6

Epistula a magistro scripta est et discipulis tradita est.

Which of the following best describes the voice and construction of scripta est in the passage, and what is the correct translation of the full first clause?

  1. Active voice; the perfect active indicative form indicates the master wrote the letter himself, so the clause means 'the master has written the letter and handed it to the students.'
  2. Passive voice; the perfect passive indicative is formed with the perfect passive participle scripta plus est, so the clause means 'the letter was written by the master.' (correct answer)
  3. Passive voice; the imperfect passive indicative is formed with the present participle scripta plus est, so the clause means 'the letter was being written by the master.'
  4. Active voice; scripta is a nominative perfect participle modifying epistula as a predicate adjective, so the clause means 'the letter, having been written, belonged to the master.'
Explanation: When you encounter a Latin verb form ending in -ta est, -tus est, or -tum est, your first instinct should be to check for the perfect passive construction: a perfect passive participle agreeing with the subject in gender, number, and case, combined with a form of esse. In scripta est, scripta is the perfect passive participle of scribo, agreeing with epistula (feminine nominative singular). Paired with est (third person singular present of esse), this forms the perfect passive indicative, meaning "was written" or "has been written." The agent, a magistro, uses the ablative of agent construction (a + ablative), telling you by whom the action was done. The full clause therefore means "The letter was written by the master" — confirming answer B. Answer A misidentifies the voice as active and invents a meaning not supported by the Latin. An active perfect form of scribo would be scripsit, not scripta est. Answer C correctly identifies the passive voice but mislabels the tense as imperfect and misidentifies scripta as a present participle — the present participle of scribo is scribens, and the imperfect passive would use scribebatur. Answer D is doubly wrong: it calls the voice active and misreads scripta as a predicate adjective meaning possession, which distorts both the grammar and the meaning entirely. A useful study tip: memorize the perfect passive formula — perfect passive participle + sum/es/est/sumus/estis/sunt — and always check subject agreement. The participle's ending is your first clue that the verb is passive, not active.

Question 7

Verba prudentis semper audiuntur; stulti autem numquam audiuntur.

Both audiuntur forms appear in the passage. A student claims the second audiuntur must be active because stulti (the fools) are the ones doing the listening. Evaluate the student's grammatical reasoning and identify the correct voice and translation for the second audiuntur.

  1. The student is correct; audiuntur shifts to active voice in the second clause because stulti is the subject performing an action, making 'the fools never hear' the correct translation.
  2. The student is incorrect; audiuntur is passive in both clauses because the ending -untur consistently marks the 3rd-person plural passive, so 'fools are never heard' is the correct translation of the second clause. (correct answer)
  3. The student is partially correct; audiuntur is deponent in the second clause only, because negation (numquam) triggers a shift to active meaning, giving 'fools never listen.'
  4. The student is incorrect; audiuntur is passive in the second clause, but the absence of an ablative agent phrase means the subject must be performing the action, so 'fools never hear' is the correct translation.
Explanation: When you see a Latin verb ending in -untur, your first instinct should be to check voice through the ending itself — not through what the subject "feels like" it's doing. This question tests whether you understand that Latin verbal endings are the authoritative signal of voice, not the logic of who seems to be acting. The ending -untur is unambiguously the 3rd-person plural present passive in Latin. It doesn't change based on context, negation, or the nature of the subject. In both clauses, audiuntur carries this same ending, so both mean "are heard." The passage therefore reads: "The words of a wise person are always heard; but fools are never heard." This makes B the correct answer — the ending governs voice consistently across both clauses, and the meaning contrasts who receives attention, not who listens. A is wrong because it assumes the subject's role as a "doer" can override the verbal ending. Latin doesn't work this way — the ending is the final word on voice, not the subject's semantic role. C introduces the concept of deponent verbs, which are verbs that look passive but carry active meaning — however, audio is not a deponent verb, and negation (numquam) never triggers a switch in grammatical voice. D is a tempting trap: it correctly identifies the passive voice but then misreads the consequence of a missing ablative of agent. An absent agent phrase simply means the agent is unstated — it does not convert the verb to active meaning. Study tip: Always identify voice by the ending first. Subject semantics can mislead you; -tur/-ntur = passive, full stop.

Question 8

Which of the following correctly identifies the voice of the underlined verb and provides an accurate translation? Consider: Dux copias in proelium duxit.

  1. Passive voice; duxit is the 3rd-person singular perfect passive indicative because the -it ending can mark passive forms in the perfect system, so the sentence means 'The general was led into battle by the troops.'
  2. Active voice; duxit is the 3rd-person singular perfect active indicative because the -it ending marks the perfect active, and the direct object copias confirms the subject is performing the action, so the sentence means 'The general led the troops into battle.' (correct answer)
  3. Active voice; duxit is the 3rd-person singular present active indicative because duc- is the present stem of duco, so the sentence means 'The general leads the troops into battle.'
  4. Passive voice; duxit is the 3rd-person singular perfect passive indicative because duco is a deponent verb whose perfect passive form carries an active meaning, so the sentence means 'The general led the troops into battle.'
Explanation: When you see a question asking you to identify verb voice and translate a Latin sentence, your first move should be to analyze the verb ending and look for contextual clues like direct objects. The verb duxit comes from duco, ducere, duxi, ductum ("to lead"). The perfect active stem is dux-, and adding -it gives you the 3rd-person singular perfect active indicative — meaning "he/she/it led." In the sentence Dux copias in proelium duxit, dux (general) is the nominative subject performing the action, and copias (troops) is the accusative direct object receiving it. A verb with a direct object is active by definition, since passive verbs cannot take direct objects in Latin. This confirms B as correct: active voice, perfect active, meaning "The general led the troops into battle." Choice A is wrong on two counts: -it never signals a perfect passive form. The perfect passive is formed with the perfect passive participle plus a form of esse (e.g., ductus est). The translation is also backwards — dux is the subject, not copias. Choice C misidentifies the tense; duc- can look like a present stem, but the actual present form would be ducit, not duxit. The -x- in dux-it is the telltale sign of the perfect stem. Choice D incorrectly labels duco as deponent. Deponent verbs have passive forms but active meanings — duco is a fully regular active verb and is not deponent. Your study tip: memorize your principal parts (duco, ducere, duxi, ductum) — the third principal part always reveals the perfect active stem, which is your key to spotting perfect tense forms instantly.

Question 9

A student must translate the sentence Pons ab hostibus deletur and must first correctly identify the voice of deletur. Which analysis and translation is accurate?

  1. Deletur is 3rd-person singular present passive indicative; the ending -tur marks passive voice, and ab hostibus is the ablative of agent, so the sentence means 'The bridge is being destroyed by the enemies.' (correct answer)
  2. Deletur is 3rd-person singular present active indicative; the prefix de- signals that the subject is acting upon itself, so the sentence means 'The bridge destroys itself from the enemies.'
  3. Deletur is 3rd-person singular present passive indicative; the ending -tur marks passive voice, but ab hostibus is an ablative of means rather than an agent, so the sentence means 'The bridge is destroyed by means of the enemies.'
  4. Deletur is 3rd-person singular present active indicative; pons is the subject performing the destruction, and ab hostibus is a prepositional phrase indicating location, so the sentence means 'The bridge destroys near the enemies.'
Explanation: When translating a Latin sentence, your first job is to identify verb voice — active (subject acts) or passive (subject receives the action). The key marker for passive voice in Latin is the personal ending, not prefixes or prepositions. The ending -tur is the 3rd-person singular present passive ending. So deletur (from deleo, to destroy) means "is being destroyed" — the subject pons (bridge) is receiving the action, not performing it. Once you've confirmed passive voice, the phrase ab hostibus fits perfectly: ab + ablative is the standard construction for ablative of agent, identifying who performs the action in a passive sentence. Hostibus is the ablative plural of hostis (enemy). Put it together and you get "The bridge is being destroyed by the enemies" — that's answer A, which is fully correct. Answer B is wrong on two counts: -tur never signals active voice, and the prefix de- indicates direction or intensification, not reflexive action. There is no grammatical basis for "destroys itself." Answer C correctly identifies -tur as passive but then misclassifies ab hostibus as an ablative of means. Ablative of means uses no preposition (e.g., gladio, "by a sword"), while ablative of agent requires a/ab + a person or living agent — enemies are living agents, so agent is correct. Answer D repeats B's error about active voice and invents a locative meaning for ab that simply doesn't exist here. Your study tip: memorize the passive personal endings (-r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -mini, -ntur) and remember that a/ab + ablative with a living noun always signals ablative of agent in a passive construction.

Question 10

Pueri a magistra docentur et carmina recitare iubentur.

Which statement correctly analyzes the voice of both finite verbs in the passage and provides an accurate complete translation?

  1. Docentur is present passive and iubentur is present passive; both have the ending -ntur, and the boys are the receivers of both actions, so the sentence means 'The boys are taught by the teacher and are ordered to recite songs.' (correct answer)
  2. Docentur is present passive and iubentur is present active; -ntur marks passive in docentur but active in iubentur because iubeo takes an infinitive complement, shifting the main verb to active voice, so the sentence means 'The boys are taught by the teacher and order the songs to be recited.'
  3. Docentur is present active and iubentur is present passive; the teacher (magistra) is the real actor in the sentence, making docentur active from the teacher's perspective, while iubentur is passive because no agent is expressed, so the sentence means 'The boys teach the teacher and are ordered to recite.'
  4. Both verbs are present passive, but iubentur carries a reflexive nuance because of the infinitive recitare, making the boys both the receivers of the order and the performers of the recitation; thus the sentence means 'The boys are taught by the teacher and teach themselves to recite songs.'
Explanation: When you see a question asking about verb voice in Latin, your first move should be to identify the personal endings and any passive markers. The key signal here is the third-person plural passive ending -ntur: any verb carrying this ending is present passive, full stop. Both docentur (from doceo, "to teach") and iubentur (from iubeo, "to order") end in -ntur, placing them firmly in the present passive. The subject pueri ("boys") is the receiver of both actions — being taught and being ordered. The agent performing the teaching is expressed by a magistra ("by the teacher"), which is the classic ablative of agent construction with a passive verb. The infinitive recitare ("to recite") is not a finite verb; it simply completes the meaning of iubentur, telling us what the boys are ordered to do. This makes choice A correct: "The boys are taught by the teacher and are ordered to recite songs." Choice B incorrectly claims that taking an infinitive complement somehow changes iubentur to active voice — it doesn't. The infinitive is a complement, not a voice-shifter. Choice C misreads docentur as active by reasoning from the teacher's perspective, but verb voice is determined by form, not by who is conceptually doing the action. Choice D invents a "reflexive nuance" for iubentur that has no grammatical basis in Latin morphology, and the resulting translation is nonsensical. Study tip: In Latin, voice is always determined by the verb's own ending — if you see -ntur, it's passive, regardless of what infinitives or other elements surround it.

Question 11

Porta clausa est et custodes positi sunt ante muros.

A student translates clausa est as 'she is closed' (present passive) and positi sunt as 'they are placed' (present passive). Evaluate both translations by identifying the correct tense and voice of each verb form.

  1. Both translations are correct in voice but wrong in tense; clausa est and positi sunt are both imperfect passive because est and sunt can function as imperfect auxiliaries in compound tenses, so 'was being closed' and 'were being placed' are more accurate.
  2. Both translations are correct in tense and voice; clausa est and positi sunt are present passive because the auxiliary est/sunt is in the present tense, which determines the tense of the entire compound construction as present rather than perfect.
  3. The first translation is correct: clausa est is present passive ('is closed'), but positi sunt is perfect passive because the plural participle positi with sunt shifts the tense to perfect, so 'the guards were placed' is correct only for the second verb.
  4. Both translations are incorrect in tense; clausa est and positi sunt are both perfect passive indicative — compound forms of perfect passive participle + present of esse — so the correct translations are 'the gate was closed/has been closed' and 'the guards were placed/have been placed.' (correct answer)
Explanation: When you see a compound verb form in Latin — a participle paired with a form of esse — your first instinct should be to identify which system you're dealing with: present passive or perfect passive. These look deceptively similar but are formed differently and mean different things. The perfect passive indicative is built from the perfect passive participle (4th principal part) + present tense of esse. So clausa est = clausa (perfect passive participle of claudō) + est (present of esse), giving you "the gate was closed / has been closed." Likewise, positi sunt = positi (perfect passive participle of pōnō) + sunt, giving you "the guards were placed / have been placed." Both are perfect passive indicative — answer D is correct. The trap the question is designed to set is assuming that because est and sunt are present-tense forms of esse, the entire construction must be present tense. That logic sounds reasonable but ignores how Latin builds its perfect passive: it uses the present of esse as an auxiliary, but the tense of the whole construction is perfect, not present. The true present passive would use a single synthetic form: clauditur ("is being closed") or ponuntur ("are being placed"). Answer A is wrong because est/sunt do not function as imperfect auxiliaries here — the imperfect passive would use erat/erant (clausa erat). Answer B is wrong for the reason described above: the auxiliary's tense does not override the system. Answer C is wrong because it applies inconsistent logic — both verbs follow the exact same construction. Your study tip: memorize that perfect passive = PPP + present of esse. Seeing est or sunt after a participle signals perfect, not present.

Question 12

Rex captus est et in carcerem missus est.

Identify the voice of captus est and missus est, and select the translation that correctly renders both verbs while also accounting for the role of rex in each clause.

  1. 'The king captured and sent into prison': both verbs are active perfect indicative; rex is the subject performing both actions, and captus and missus are nominative active participles.
  2. 'The king, having captured, was sent into prison': captus est is perfect active indicative with rex as agent, while missus est is perfect passive indicative with rex as the receiver of the second action.
  3. 'The king was captured and was sent into prison': both verbs are perfect passive indicative; rex is the subject receiving both actions, and captus and missus are perfect passive participles agreeing with rex in gender, number, and case. (correct answer)
  4. 'The captured king sent himself into prison': captus is an attributive adjective modifying rex in active voice, while missus est is a deponent perfect form meaning he sent himself, making rex the active subject of the second clause.
Explanation: When you see a verb form like captus est or missus est in Latin, your first instinct should be to check whether it's a perfect passive construction: a perfect passive participle paired with a form of esse. This pattern — participle + est/sunt/eram, etc. — is one of the most important structures in Latin, and it always signals passive voice in the perfect tense. In the sentence Rex captus est et in carcerem missus est, both captus est and missus est follow exactly this pattern. Captus and missus are perfect passive participles, both nominative masculine singular, agreeing with rex in gender, number, and case. Rex is the grammatical subject of both clauses — but crucially, as a passive subject, he is receiving the actions, not performing them. The correct translation is "The king was captured and was sent into prison," making C the right answer. Answer A fails because captus est and missus est are not active forms — the est is not a linking verb here, and the participles are passive, not active. Answer B creates an inconsistent split, treating captus est as active while missus est is passive; this ignores that both constructions are structurally identical. Answer D invents a reflexive meaning for missus est that simply doesn't exist in Latin grammar — deponent verbs have passive forms with active meaning, but mitto is not deponent. Study tip: Memorize this rule — perfect passive participle + esse = perfect passive. Whenever you spot this combo, translate it as "was [verb-ed," and identify the nominative noun as the subject receiving the action.

Question 13

Which of the following Latin verbs is deponent, and what is the critical implication for identifying and translating its voice?

  1. Amare (to love): it is deponent because it belongs to the first conjugation, which frequently drops active endings in classical Latin, so its passive forms should be translated as active in all tenses.
  2. Audire (to hear): it is deponent because fourth-conjugation verbs with -ire infinitives use passive personal endings to express active meanings, making all -ire verbs function as deponents in formal Latin.
  3. Capere (to take): it is deponent because its perfect passive participle captus is used in active perfect constructions, meaning passive endings in the perfect tense signal active voice for this verb only.
  4. Loqui (to speak): it is deponent because it appears only in passive forms throughout its entire paradigm (loquor, loqueris, loquitur, etc.) yet carries an active meaning, so a student who sees passive endings must translate it actively as 'to speak.' (correct answer)
Explanation: When you encounter a question about deponent verbs, the core concept to grasp is this: deponent verbs are "passive in form, active in meaning." They look passive throughout their entire conjugation, but you must translate them as active. This distinction is what the question is really testing. Loqui is the textbook example of a deponent verb. Notice its forms: loquor (I speak), loqueris (you speak), loquitur (he speaks) — every single one uses passive personal endings, yet every one means something active. The infinitive itself, loqui, is passive in form (a present passive infinitive) but means "to speak," not "to be spoken." A student who mechanically translates passive endings as passive voice would completely misread this verb. Answer D captures both defining features of deponents: passive morphology across the entire paradigm and an active translation. Answer A is wrong because amare is a perfectly standard first-conjugation active verb. First-conjugation membership has nothing to do with being deponent, and amare retains full active endings normally. Answer B is wrong because fourth-conjugation -ire verbs are not categorically deponent — audire (to hear) is a completely regular active verb. Calling all -ire verbs deponent is a fabricated rule with no basis in Latin grammar. Answer C is wrong because capere is a standard third-conjugation (-iō) active verb. The fact that its perfect passive participle captus appears in passive constructions is entirely normal, not a sign of deponency. Your study tip: memorize deponents as vocabulary items with their principal parts — if the first principal part ends in -or rather than -ō, that's your signal you're dealing with a deponent.

Question 14

Which of the following Latin sentences contains a passive verb, and which translation correctly reflects that passive meaning?

  1. Puella flores portat — 'The girl carries flowers'; the verb portat is passive because the subject performs no deliberate action.
  2. Puer a magistro laudatur — 'The boy praises the master'; the verb laudatur is passive and the a + ablative phrase identifies who is doing the praising.
  3. Puer a magistro laudatur — 'The boy is praised by the master'; the verb laudatur is passive and the a + ablative phrase identifies the agent performing the action. (correct answer)
  4. Puella flores portantur — 'The girl carries flowers'; the verb portantur is passive because the plural subject agrees with the plural object flores.
Explanation: When you encounter a question about passive voice in Latin, focus on two things: the verb ending and any agent phrase that appears. The passive voice means the subject is receiving the action rather than performing it, and it uses distinct endings (-tur, -ntur, -tur, etc.) that differ from active forms. In option C, laudatur is a third-person singular present passive form (from laudare), meaning "is praised." The subject puer (the boy) is receiving the praise, not giving it. The phrase a magistro (by the master) uses a/ab + ablative, which is the standard construction for expressing the agent — the person actually performing the action. This makes C the correct answer: "The boy is praised by the master" accurately captures both the passive verb and the agent phrase. Option A fails on multiple counts: portat is an active form ("carries"), not passive, and the claim that a subject performing "no deliberate action" makes a verb passive is simply wrong — passivity is determined by grammar, not intent. Option B identifies laudatur correctly as passive but then translates it as if it were active ("the boy praises the master"), completely reversing who does the action and who receives it. This is a classic trap — recognizing the form but mistranslating the meaning. Option D is grammatically incoherent: portantur is a third-person plural passive form, but puella (the girl) is singular. A plural verb cannot agree with a singular subject; the sentence itself is malformed. Study tip: Whenever you spot a/ab + ablative in a sentence, expect a passive verb nearby — these two features almost always appear together in Latin.