can someone explain how to get the person, tense, number, for this word? i don't understand it!
portat
Each verb has 6 forms per tense -- here are the 6 forms for the present tense of porto, portare, ...
porto (1st person singular)
portas (2nd person singular)
portat (3rd person singular) <~~
portamus (1st person plural)
portatis (2nd person plural)
portant (3rd person plural)
This is an excellent website to use:
http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~econrad/lang/latin.html
For your particular question tonight, scroll down to the Verbs section, First conjugation ... and then click on "paradigm for celare (to hide)" and you'll see the various forms grouped in the tenses for this verb. The verb you're working on has the same tenses and endings, but of course the different root which conveys meaning.
Let me know if you have more questions.