The Irregular Verb Sum
The most notoriously irregular verb in any language is the verb “to be.” Just look at how unpredictable it is in English: I “am,” you “are,” he “is” … with past tense forms “was” and “were,” not to mention having “been” for a participle!
Latin's version of this verb with an identity crisis is sum, esse, fuī, futū rus. It may have weird principle parts and a strange-looking perfect stem, but it follows the rules for perfect tense conjugation.
Person |
Singular |
Plural |
First |
fuī (I have been or was) |
fuimus (we were) |
Second |
fuistī (you have been or were) |
fuistis (you were) |
Third |
fuit (he/she/it has been or was) |
fuē runt (they were) |
The imperfect forms of sum, however, do not.
Person |
Singular |
Plural |
First |
eram (I was) |
erā mus (we were) |
Second |
erās (you were) |
erā tis (you were) |
Third |
erat (he/she/it was) |
erant (they were) |
Latin-to-English Translations
Translate each of the following Latin words into English.
accē pī
amā bās
cē pit
dabā mus
dīcē bat
erant
fē cimus
fuē runt
agē bam
habuistis
English-to-Latin Translations
she used to love
you (plural) have given
he was (and maybe still is)
he was (and isn't anymore)
I did
