2.8 sum, esse — The Verb "To Be" — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say all six persons of sum from memory. Recognise that both sides of sum are nominative, and use that when reading. Read est as "there is" as well as "is". Explain why this one verb is worth its own lesson. Read sentences like Quot sunt? [34] — How many are there? — without looking anything up. Prerequisites : 2.7 — the second conjugation. This lesson is about one word. It earns the space because est is the commonest word in the corpus by a wide margin — it appears more than twice as often as the next word — and because it does two jobs that English splits between "is" and "there is". Its forms are irregular, which sounds bad and is actually good news: irregular verbs are irregular because they are used constantly, and constant use is what makes them stick. The table Person Latin English 1st singular sum I am 2nd singular es you are (one person) 3rd singular est he, she, it is; there is 1st plural sumus we are 2nd plural estis you are (more than one) 3rd plural sunt they are; there are The infinitive is esse , "to be", and the imperfect — which lesson 2.13 will build for every other verb — is eram, erās, erat, erāmus, erātis, erant , "I was" and so on. Those are worth learning now, because erat is nearly as common in narrative as est is in speech. How to read the table The endings are the familiar six. Look again: -m (an older first-person ending than -ō ), -s , -t , -mus , -tis , -nt . The irregularity is in the stem, which appears as s- in three forms and es- in three others. So there is less to memorise than the word "irregular" suggests. Both sides are nominative. This is the rule that matters for reading. sum does not take an object; it equates two things, and both stand in the nominative. So Aqua vīta est is water-nominative, life-nominative — "water is life". English has the same rule and hides it: the reason a careful speaker says it is I rather than it is me is exactly this, that "to be" takes a subject form on both sides. Latin applies it without exception. The consequence for reading is that a sentence with est in it may contain two nominatives and no accusative at all , and an English reader who is hunting for an object will misread it. The habit to build: when you see a form of sum , expect two subjects. est also means "there is". Latin does not have a separate construction for existence. Deus est means "God is" and therefore "God exists"; Aqua nōn est means "there is no water". Which English you choose depends on the sentence, and the clue is usually whether anything is being equated: if there is only one nominative, "there is" is usually right. Latin English Why Aqua est. There is water. / It's water. one nominative — existence, or an unstated subject Aqua vīta est. Water is life. two nominatives — equation Deus est. God exists. one nominative — existence Deus bonus est. God is good. a nominative adjective — description And est with a dative means "has". You met this in lesson 2.5 and it is worth restating here, with the verb in front of you: Hoc mihi nōn est is literally "this is not to me" and means "this isn't mine". liber mihi est is "I have a book". Latin has a verb habeō as well, and both constructions are used; the dative one emphasises that the thing exists for someone rather than that someone holds it. A last small point, which is pure mechanics but saves confusion. sum is frequently left out altogether. Hīc et nunc , Homō hominī lupus , and any number of proverbs have no verb at all, because est can simply be understood. English can do this only in headlines and mottoes; Latin does it in ordinary prose, and especially in maxims — which is why the reading in lesson 5.1 will be full of verbless sentences. Seen in real Latin Latin English What sum is doing Deus est. [1] God exists. existence — one nominative Aqua non est. [2] There is no water. existence, negated Aqua vita est. [3] Water is life. equation — two nominatives Ego sum, qui sum. [4] I am who I am. 1st singular twice; quī is nominative too Captae sumus. [5] We were captured. 1st plural, with a participle — the passive Haec mea sunt. [6] These are mine. 3rd plural; both words neuter plural nominative Hoc mihi non est. [7] This isn't mine. with a dative — possession Hic non es. [8] You're not here. 2nd singular; hīc is the adverb "here" Quot tibi sunt? [9] How many do you have? 3rd plural with a dative — "how many are there to you?" Est quod est. [10] It is what it is. two clauses, each with est and no written subject The fifth is a preview. Captae sumus is "we (women) have been captured" — a participle plus sum , which is how Latin builds the passive of the perfect. Notice that captae is feminine plural, agreeing with an unstated "we", so the one word tells you the speakers are women. That is agreement doing work English cannot do at all, and it is lesson 2.10's subject. The ninth is the possession construction again, with a question word: "how many are there to you?" Once you have the pattern, the English translation stops looking like a different sentence and starts looking like a translation. New words Word (dictionary form) Meaning Note sum la I am; there is Part of speech verb, irregular ( esse, fuī, futūrus ) How it differs from English takes a nominative on both sides; often omitted altogether Ego sum, qui sum. I am who I am. Captae sumus. We were captured. possum la I can, I am able Part of speech verb, irregular ( posse, potuī ) How it differs from English potis + sum — the same verb with "able" in front; hooks: potent , possible quī la who, which, that Part of speech relative pronoun ( quae, quod ) How it differs from English declines fully, and takes its case from its own clause quot la how many Part of speech interrogative adjective, indeclinable How it differs from English never changes form; the answer is tot , "so many" Quot tibi sunt? How many do you have? hīc la here Part of speech adverb How it differs from English the pronoun hic "this" is spelled the same wit