Sum in present tense

The verb sum (to be) is the single most frequent verb in Latin, and it is irregular, so it pays to memorize it early. You will need it to link a subject with a description or an identity: "The road is long", "We are Romans". Because it does not follow the neat conjugation patterns, learn its six forms as a set.

Person	Latin	English
1st sg.	sum	I am
2nd sg.	es	you are
3rd sg.	est	he/she/it is
1st pl.	sumus	we are
2nd pl.	estis	you (all) are
3rd pl.	sunt	they are

Examples: Roma clara est. - Rome is famous. Discipuli sumus. - We are students.

For English speakers: two things trip learners up. First, as with any Latin verb, no subject pronoun is needed - sum by itself means "I am". Second, the word that follows sum and describes the subject stays in the same case as the subject (the nominative), so you say puella laeta est ("the girl is happy"), with laeta matching puella. English has no such agreement, so make a point of matching the endings.