| Verbs |
|
The Family of sum
Common forms of sum
| sum, esse, fuî, futurus |
'to be' |
| possum, posse, potuî, ---- |
'to be able, can' |
| adsum, adesse, adfuî, ---- |
'to be near' (preposition ad + sum) |
| absum, abesse, afuî, ---- |
'to be away' 'to be absent' (preposition ab + sum) |
| desum, deesse, defui, ---- |
'to be lacking, wanting' |
Notes on verb morphology
- Note that there is no 4th principal part for possum, adsum, absum and desum.
- Futurus is the future active participle, meaning going to be.
- There is no passive voice for any of these verbs. One cannot say I am been, You are been able etc. in Latin or in English.
- These are all intransitive verbs. They will not be followed by a direct object. Often they will be followed by an infinitive.
- The infinitive is called a complementary infinitive meaning it completes the meaning of the conjugated verb.
- e.g. Possumus îre ad urbem. We are able to go, we can go, to the city.
- If I just say possumus I need to be responding to something that is understood. Can you go? We can (go understood)'. Potestis ire? Possumus.
Present indicative tense
| sum |
possum |
adsum |
absum |
desum |
| es |
potes |
ades |
abes |
dees |
| est |
potest |
adest |
abest |
deest |
| sumus |
possumus |
adsumus |
absumus |
desumus |
| estis |
potestis |
adestis |
abestis |
deestis |
| sunt |
possunt |
adsunt |
absunt |
desunt |
Imperfect indicative tense
The imperfect tense is the root (ab, ad, de,pot) + the imperfect endings of esse:
| eram |
poteram |
aderam |
aberam |
deeram |
| eras |
poteras |
aderas |
aberas |
deeras |
| erat |
poterat |
aderat |
aberat |
deerat |
| eramus |
poteramus |
aderamus |
aberamus |
deeramus |
| eratis |
poteratis |
aderatis |
aberatis |
deeratis |
| erant |
poterant |
aderant |
aberant |
deerant |
Future indicative tense
The future tense is the root (ab, ad, de,pot) + the future endings of esse:
| ero |
potero |
adero |
abero |
deero |
| eris |
poteris |
aderis |
aberis |
deeris |
| erit |
poterit |
aderit |
aberit |
deerit |
| erimus |
poterimus |
aderimus |
aberimus |
deerimus |
| eritis |
poteritis |
aderitis |
aberitis |
deeritis |
| erunt |
poterunt |
aderunt |
aberunt |
deerunt |
Perfect Tense
The perfect system as with all verbs, both regular and irregular, is normal. Add the regular perfect, pluperfect and future perfect endings to the 3rd principal part after removing the final -i:
fuî, afuistî, adfuit, defuimus. Possum is slightly irregular: potuistis, potuerunt. Sum is regular in the perfect, and the pluperfect and future are formed like any other verb:
| fui |
fuimus |
| fuisti |
fuistis |
| fuit |
fuerunt |
Present subjunctive
The subjunctive mood: Follow the same rules as with the indicative, using the subjunctive form of sum. Add the prefix to the root: possum will become possim, absum, absim etc.:
| sim |
simus |
| sis |
sitis |
| sit |
sint |
Imperfect subjunctive
Use the infinitive as with regular verbs and the appropriate termini:
| essem |
essemus |
| esses |
essetis |
| esset |
essent |
Perfect Subjunctive
The perfect subjunctive uses the 3rd principal part as with regular verbs and the appropriate termini:
{fu-/potu-/afu-/adfu-/defu-} + -eri- + {-m/-s/-t/, -mus/-tis/-nt} Note that the perfect subjunctive looks a lot like the future perfect forms:
| potuerim |
potuerimus |
| potueris |
potueritis |
| potuerit |
potuerint |
Pluperfect subjunctive
The pluperfect subjunctive uses the perfect active infinitive, which is formed by adding '-isse' to the 3rd principal part: fuisse, potuisse, etc. as with regular verbs. Add the appropriate termini:
| potuissem |
potuissemus |
| potuisses |
potuissetis |
| potuisset |
potuissent |
^ Grammatica