h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...that 'amo' meant 'I love', 'amare' 'to love'.

Anyone?

Good Entry otherwise, though.

Yes, amare is the infinitive form.

The pattern shown here is the "I, you, he, we, you (pl), they" endings.

I was referring to the footnote: 'For the verb amo, meaning "to love"'.

Have you been confused by the reference to "removing the am part"? I think the reference is to the "am in amo" not the "am as in I am". I don't think we are told within the piece what amo means.

The footnote reads: 'For the verb amo, meaning "to love".' 'Amo' does not mean 'to love'; it specifically means 'I love'. 'To love' is 'amare'. The 'am-' stem combines with verbal endings to make various forms of the verb for loving, but isn't a word on its own.

Now I see what you are getting at.

That is correct. The issue at hand is that I translated 'amo' idiomatically rather than literally. English dictionaries list verbs in their infinitive form, while Latin dictionaries list verbs in several forms, but primarily the first person present indicative. Thus in terms of its use as a shorthand reference for every form of the verb, saying 'amo' is equivalent to saying 'to love'.