A feature common to all
Indo-European languagesThe Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India, and historically also predominant in Anatolia and Central Asia...
is the presence of a
verbkalleah hit meIn syntax, a verb is a word that usually denotes an action , an occurrence , or a state of being . Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice...
corresponding to the
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
verb
to be. In some languages (as
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
) the verb, though vestigial, is present nonetheless, in atrophied forms or derivatives.
General features
This verb has two basic meanings. In a less marked context it is a simple
copulaIn linguistics, a copula , also called a "passive verb" or "linking verb", is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate . The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a link or tie that connects two different things.A copula is sometimes a verb or a verb-like part of speech...
(
I'm tired;
That's a shame!), a function which in non-Indo-European languages can be expressed quite differently. In a more heavily marked context it expresses existence (
I think therefore I am); the dividing line between these is not always easy to draw. In addition, many Indo-European languages use this verb as an
auxiliaryIn linguistics, an auxiliary is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it...
for the formation of
compound (periphrastic) tensesIn linguistics, a compound verb or complex predicate is a multi-word compound that acts as a single verb. One component of the compound is a light verb or vector, which carries any inflections, indicating tense, mood, or aspect, but provides only fine shades of meaning...
(
I'm working;
I was bitten). Other functions vary from language to language. For example, although in its basic meanings,
to be is a
stative verbA stative verb is one which asserts that one of its arguments has a particular property . Statives differ from other aspectual classes of verbs in that they are static; they have no duration and no distinguished endpoint...
, English puts it to work as a dynamic verb in fixed collocations (
You are being very annoying).
The copula is the most
irregular verbIn contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur....
in many Indo-European languages. This is partly because it is more frequently used than any other, and partly because
Proto-Indo-EuropeanThe Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
offered more than one verb suitable for use in these functions, with the result that the daughter languages, in different ways, have tended to form
suppletive verb paradigmsIn linguistics and etymology, suppletion is traditionally understood as the use of one word as the inflected form of another word when the two words are not cognate. For those learning a language, suppletive forms will be seen as "irregular" or even "highly irregular". The term "suppletion" implies...
. This article describes the way in which the irregular forms have developed from a series of roots.
*h1es-
The root
*h1es- was certainly already a copula in
Proto-Indo-EuropeanThe Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
. The e-grade (see
Indo-European ablautIn linguistics, the term ablaut designates a system of vowel gradation in Proto-Indo-European and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages...
) is found in such forms as
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
is,
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
ist, Latin
est, while the zero grade produces forms beginning with /s/, like German
sind, Latin
sumus,
Vedic SanskritVedic Sanskrit is an Old Indic language. It is the language of the Vedas, the oldest shruti texts of Hinduism, compiled over the period of the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the...
smas, etc. In
PIEThe Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
,
*h1es- was an
athematicIn the Indo-European languages, thematic stems are those roots that have a theme vowel; a vowel sound that is always present between the root of the word and the attached inflections...
verb in
-mi, that is, the first person singular was
*h1esmi; this inflection survives in English
am, Sanskrit
asmi,
Old Church SlavonicOld Church Slavonic, also known as Old Bulgarian, or Old Macedonian, was the first literary Slavic language, based on the old Slavic dialect of the Thessalonica region, employed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius, who used it for translation of the Bible and...
(jesm'), etc.
The present indicative of this verb is generally reconstructed for
Proto-Indo-EuropeanThe Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
thus:
| Person |
Singular |
Plural |
| 1st |
*h1és-mi |
*h1s-més |
| 2nd |
*h1és-si (already in PIE reduced to *h1ési) |
*h1s-th1é |
| 3rd |
*h1és-ti |
*h1s-énti |
The root (which did not have ablaut variations in the protolanguage) probably meant 'to grow', but also 'to become'. This is the source of the English infinitive
be and participle
been (Germanic participles have the suffix in
-an), as well as, for example, the
Scottish GaelicScottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, and is distinct from the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages, which includes Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. Scottish, Manx and Irish Gaelic are all descended from Old Irish...
"future" tense
bithidh, and the
SlavicThe Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
infinitive, etc. for example
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
(
byt’). PIE becomes Latin /f/, hence the Latin future participle
futūrus and perfect tense
fuī; Latin
fiō 'I become' is also from this root, as is the Greek verb , from which
physics and
physical are derived. The present indicative of this verb can be reconstructed as follows:
| Person |
Singular |
Plural |
| 1st |
*bʰúH-i-h₂e(i) |
*bʰuH-i-mé- |
| 2nd |
*bʰúH-i-th₂e(i) |
*bʰuH-i-(t)é- |
| 3rd |
*bʰúH-y-e |
*bʰuH-y-énti |
*wes-
The root
*wes- may originally have meant "to live". The e-grade is present in the German participle
gewesen, the o-grade (
*wos-) survives in English and Old High German
was, while the lengthened e-grade (
*wēs-) gives us English
were. (The Germanic forms with /r/ result from
grammatischer WechselIn historical linguistics, the German term Grammatischer Wechsel refers to the effects of Verner's law when viewed synchronically within the paradigm of a Germanic verb....
.) See Germanic strong verb: Class 4.
*h1er-
The root
*h1er- meant "to move". This is probably the origin of the Old Norse and later
Scandinavian languagesThe North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages...
' present stem: Old Norse
em, ert, er, erum, eruð, eru; the second person forms of which were borrowed into English as
art and
are. Other authorities link these forms with
*h1es- and assume
grammatischer WechselIn historical linguistics, the German term Grammatischer Wechsel refers to the effects of Verner's law when viewed synchronically within the paradigm of a Germanic verb....
(/s/→/r/), although this is, to a degree, difficult to explain in the present stem.
*steh2-
The root
*(s)teh2- survives in English with its original meaning: "to stand". From this root comes the present stem of the so-called "substantive verb" in Irish and Scottish Gaelic,
tá and
tha respectively. On the absence of the initial s- in Celtic, see
Indo-European s-mobileIn Indo-European studies, the term s-mobile designates the phenomenon where a PIE root begins with an which is sometimes but not always present...
.
In Latin,
stō, stare retained the meaning "to stand", until local forms of
Vulgar LatinVulgar Latin can be defined simply as colloquial Latin.-Origin of the term:...
began to use it as a copula in certain circumstances. Today, this survives in that several Romance languages use it as one of their two copulae, and there is also a Romance tendency for a past participle derived from
*steh2- to replace that of the main copula.
Hittite
The
HittiteHittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...
verb "to be" is derived from the Indo-European root *
.
| |
Present indicative |
Preterite indicative |
Imperative |
| 1st sg. |
ēšmi |
ešun |
ēšlit
ēšlut
ašallu |
| 2nd sg. |
ēšši |
ēšta |
ēš |
| 3rd sg. |
ēšzi |
ēšta |
ēšdu |
| 1st pl. |
(ašweni) |
ēšwen |
– |
| 2nd pl. |
ēšteni |
ēšten |
ēšten |
| 3rd pl. |
ašanzi |
ešer |
ašandu |
Vedic Sanskrit
The
Vedic SanskritVedic Sanskrit is an Old Indic language. It is the language of the Vedas, the oldest shruti texts of Hinduism, compiled over the period of the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the...
verb
as (to be) is derived from the Indo-European root *
.
| Person |
Present, Indicative, Active |
| Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|
| 1st |
asmi |
svas |
smas |
| 2nd |
asi |
sthas |
stha |
| 3rd |
asti |
stas |
santi |
bhū (to be) is derived from Indo-European *
.
| Person |
Present, Indicative, Active |
| Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|
| 1st |
bhavāmi |
bhavāvas(i) |
bhavāmas(i) |
| 2nd |
bhavasi |
bhavathas |
bhavatha |
| 3rd |
bhavati |
bhavatas |
bhavanti |
Persian
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
grammar differentiates the marked or substantive verb هستن
hastan from the unmarked
encliticIn morphology, a clitic is a grammatically independent and phonologically dependent morpheme. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
copula است
ast.
Hastan is used to express existence while
ast in the present tense expresses predication, although
hastan can also be used for emphasis to express predication in the present tense. In the past tense, the verb بودن
budan covers both meanings.
Strictly speaking,
hastan is only a theoretical infinitive, not lexical:
budan functions as the actual infinitive of
hast, used, for example, in present-tense modal constructions like شايد بود
shāyad bud 'it may be'. The present stem of
budan is باش
bāsh-, used for the imperative and subjunctive, e.g. چنين باشد
chonin bāshad 'may it be so!'.
|
Substantive verb |
Enclitic copula |
| Present |
هستم hastam
هستى hasti
هست hast
هستيم hastim
هستيد hastid
هستند hastand |
م -am
ى -i
است ast
يم -im
يد -id
ند -and |
| Preterite |
بودم budam
بودى budi
بود bud
بوديم budim
بوديد budid
بودند budand |
|
Greek
The
Ancient GreekAncient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
verb
eimi (I am) is derived from the Indo-European root *
.
| |
Homeric Greek Homeric Greek is the form of Ancient Greek that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. It is an archaic version of Ionic Greek, with admixtures from certain other dialects, such as Aeolic Greek. It later served as the basis of Epic Greek, the language of epic poetry, typically in dactylic...
|
Classical Attic Attic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek"...
|
Modern GreekModern Greek refers to the varieties of Greek spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic modern features...
|
| Present The present tense is the tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* an occurrence in the near future; or* an action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present....
indicative |
1st sg.
2nd sg.
3rd sg.
1st pl.
2nd pl.
3rd pl. |
eimi)
(eis, essi)
(esti(n))
(eimen)
(este)
(eisi(n), easi) |
eimi)
(ei)
(esti(n))
(esmen)
(este)
(eisi(n)) |
ime)
(ise)
(ine)
(imaste)
(iste)
(ine) |
| Preterite The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place in the past.-English:...
indicative |
1st sg.
2nd sg.
3rd sg.
1st pl.
2nd pl.
3rd pl. |
ēa, eon)
(ēstha, eēstha)
(ē(e)n, eēn)
(ēmen)
(ēte)
(ēsan) |
ē(n))
(ēs, ēstha)
(ēn)
(ēmen)
(ēste, eate)
(ēsan, esan) |
imoun)
(isoun)
(itan)
(imastan)
(isastan)
(itan) |
| Subjunctive |
1st sg.
2nd sg.
3rd sg.
1st pl.
2nd pl.
3rd pl. |
eō)
(eēis, eois)
(eēi(si), ēisi(n), eoi)
(eōsi(n)) |
ō)
(ēis)
(ēi)
(ōmen)
(ēte)
(ōsi(n)) |
|
| Optative |
1st sg.
2nd sg.
3rd sg.
1st pl.
2nd pl.
3rd pl. |
eiēn)
(eiēs)
(eiē)
(eite)
(eien) |
eiēn)
(eiēs)
(eiē)
(ei(ē)men)
(ei(ē)te)
(eiēsan, eien) |
|
| Imperative Imperative can mean:*Imperative mood, a grammatical mood expressing commands, direct requests, and prohibitions * A morphological item expressing commands, direct requests, and prohibitions...
|
2nd sg.
2nd pl. |
esso, isthi)
(este) |
|
| Infinitive In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
|
|
einai, em(m)en(ai)) |
einai) |
|
| Participle In linguistics, a participle is a derivative of a non-finite verb, which can be used in compound tenses or voices, or as a modifier...
|
|
eōn, eont-)
fem. (eousa) |
ōn, ont-)
fem. (ousa) |
|
Albanian
| |
present tense |
| 1st sg. |
jam |
| 2nd sg. |
je |
| 3rd sg. |
është |
| 1st pl. |
jemi |
| 2nd pl. |
jeni |
| 3rd pl. |
janë |
Baltic languages
|
LithuanianLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
|
Latvian Latvian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Latvia, a country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region.* A member of the Latvian people . For more information, see Demographics of Latvia and Culture of Latvia. For specific persons, see List of Latvians.* The Latvian language...
|
Old Prussian |
| Infinitive |
būti |
būt |
|
| Present |
esu, esmi (rare), būnu (rare)
esi, būni (rare)
yra, esa (rare), būna (rare)
esam(e), būname (rare)
esate, būnate (rare)
yra, esti (rare), esa (rare), būna (rare) |
esmu, esu (rare) esi ir esam esat ir |
|
| Past simple |
buvau
buvai
buvo
buvom
buvote
buvo |
bijubijibijabijām bijātbija |
|
| Perfect |
|
bijisbijisbijusi (f), bijis (m)bijuši bijušibijušas (f), bijuši (m) |
|
| Future |
būsiu
būsi
bus
būsim
būsite
bus |
būšu būsi būs būsim būsiet, būsit (rare) ir |
|
| Imperative |
–
būk
–
būkime
būkite
– |
esiet, būsiet (second person plural) |
|
| Dubitative |
|
esot, būšot |
|
| Conditional |
|
būtu |
|
Slavic languages
|
Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic, also known as Old Bulgarian, or Old Macedonian, was the first literary Slavic language, based on the old Slavic dialect of the Thessalonica region, employed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius, who used it for translation of the Bible and...
|
UkrainianUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic alphabet....
|
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
|
Polish Polish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
|
Bosnian Bosnian is a South Slavic language spoken primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region of Sandžak in Serbia and Montenegro, although it is also spoken in various places throughout the world, as many speakers were forced to become refugees during the Bosnian war...
/ CroatianCroatian is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Croatian minorities in some neighbouring countries, in the Italian region of Molise, and parts of the Croatian diaspora....
/ SerbianSerbian is a South Slavic language, spoken chiefly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and in the Serbian diaspora...
|
BulgarianBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian demonstrates several linguistic innovations that set it apart from all other Slavic languages except the Macedonian language, such as the elimination of case declension, the development of a suffixed definite...
|
| Infinitive |
byti |
buty |
|
być |
biti |
|
| Present |
esmĭ
esi
estĭ
esmŭ
este
sǫtŭ |
є, есьм je, jes'm
є, єси je, jesy
є, єсть je, jest'
є, єсмо je, jesmo
є, єсте je, jeste
є, суть je, sut' |
(arch.)
(arch.)
(arch.)
(arch.)
(arch.) |
jestem, -m
jesteś, -ś
jest
jesteśmy, -śmy
jesteście, -ście
są |
jesam, sam
jesi, si
jest, je
jesmo, smo
jeste, ste
jesu, su |
|
| Imperfect |
–
–
běaše
–
–
běaxǫ |
|
|
by(wa)?ł[ea]m
by(wa)?ł[ea]ś
by(wa)?ła?
by(wa)?(li|ły)śmy
by(wa)?(li|ły)ście
by(wa)?(li|ły) |
bijah, b(j)eh
bijaše, b(j)eše
bijaše, b(j)eše
bijasmo, b(j)esmo
bijaste, b(j)este
bijahu, b(j)ehu |
|
| Imperfective aorist |
běxŭ
bě
bě
běxomŭ
*běste
běšę |
|
|
|
|
|
| Future |
bǫdǫ
bǫdeši
bǫdetŭ
bǫdemŭ
bǫdete
bǫdǫtŭ |
буду, budu
будеш, budeš
буде, bude
будемо, budemo
будете, budete
будуть, budut′ |
|
będę
będziesz
będzie
będziemy
będziecie
będą |
budem
budeš
bude
budemo
budete
budu |
|
| Imperative |
–
bǫdi
bǫdi
bǫděmŭ
bǫděte
bǫdǫ |
–
бувай/будь, buvaj/bud′
(нехай буде, nexaj bude)
буваймо/будьмо, buvajmo/bud′mo
бувайте/будьте, buvajte/bud′te
(нехай будуть, nexaj budut') |
–
–
– |
–
bywaj/bądź
–
bywajmy/bądźmy
bywajcie/bądźcie
– |
–
budi
(neka bude)
budimo
budite
(neka budu) |
–
–
–
–
|
| Perfective aorist |
byxŭ
by(stŭ)
by(stŭ)
byxomŭ
byste
byšę |
|
|
|
bih
bi
bi
bismo
biste
biše |
|
| Present participle |
sy m.
sǫšti f.
sy n. |
буваючий, buvajučyj m.
буваюча, buvajuča f.
буваюче, buvajuče n. |
m.
f.
n. |
będący m.
będąca f.
będące n. |
budući m.
buduća f.
buduće n. |
|
| Resultative participle |
bylŭ m.
byla f.
bylo n. |
|
|
był m.
była f.
było n. |
|
|
| Past active participle |
byvŭ m.
byvŭši f.
byvŭ n. |
|
m. (‘former’ adj.)
f.
n. |
|
|
|
Italic languages
Except for Latin, the older
Italic languagesThe Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family. It includes the Romance languages derived from Latin , and a number of extinct languages of the Italian Peninsula, including Umbrian, Oscan, Faliscan, and Latin itself.In the past various definitions of "Italic" have prevailed...
are very scarcely attested, but we have in
OscanOscan, the language of the Osci, is in the Sabellic branch of the Italic language family, which is a branch of Indo-European that also includes Umbrian, Latin, and Faliscan....
set (they are),
fiiet (they become),
fufans (they have been) and
fust (he will be), and in
UmbrianUmbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. It is closely related to Oscan.Umbrian is known from about 30 inscriptions dated from the 7th through 1st centuries BC...
sent (they are). This section will explain Latin, and the
Romance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
that have evolved from it.
In
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
,
CatalanCatalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
,
Galician-PortugueseGalician-Portuguese was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula...
and to a lesser extent,
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
there are two parallel paradigms,
ser/èsser/essere from Latin
esse "to be" on one hand, and
estar/stare from Latin
stare, "to stand" on the other.
For simplicity, the table below has only the full conjugation of the present tense, and the first-person singular forms of some other tenses.
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LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
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Old FrenchOld French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 900 to 1300...
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FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
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SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
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ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
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PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
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CatalanCatalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
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RomanianRomanian or Daco-Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia...
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| Infinitive |
esse |
stāre |
estre |
ester |
être |
ser |
estar |
essere |
stare |
ser |
estar |
ser, ésser |
estar |
fi |
| Present indicative |
sum
es
est
sumus
estis
sunt |
stō
stās
stat
stāmus
stātis
stant |
suis
es
est
sommes
estes
sont |
este
estes
este
estons
estez
estent |
suis
es
est
sommes
êtes
sont |
soy
eres
es
somos
sois
son |
estoy
estás
está
estamos
estáis
están |
sono
sei
è
siamo
siete
sono |
sto
stai
sta
stiamo
state
stanno |
sou
és
é
somos
sois
são |
estou
estás
está
estamos
estais
estão |
sóc
ets
és
som
sou
són |
estic
estàs
està
estem
esteu
estan |
sînt
eşti
este
sîntem
sînteţi
sînt |
| Present subjunctive |
sim |
stem |
sois |
este |
sois |
sea |
esté |
sia |
stia |
seja |
esteja |
sigui |
estigui |
fiu |
| Preterite |
fuī |
stetī |
fus |
estai |
fus, ai été |
fui |
estuve |
fui |
stetti |
fui |
estive |
fui
(unused) |
estiguí
(unused) |
fui, am fost |
| Imperfect The imperfect tense, in the classical grammar of several Indo-European languages, denotes a past tense with an imperfective aspect. In English, it refers to the tense of a verb for an action or a condition as incomplete, continuous, or coincident with another action.The term comes from the Latin,...
|
eram |
stābam |
ier |
estais |
étais |
era |
estaba |
ero |
stavo |
era |
estava |
era |
estava |
eram |
| Future In grammar, the future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:Languages can employ various...
|
erō |
stābō |
serai |
esterai |
serai |
seré |
estaré |
sarò |
starò |
serei |
estarei |
seré |
estaré |
voi fi |
| Past participle |
|
stātum |
|
esté |
été |
sido |
estado |
stato |
stato |
sido |
estado |
estat / sigut
(dialect) |
estat |
fost |
In several modern
Romance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, the perfect is a compound tense formed with the participle as in English, but the old Latin perfect survives as a commonly-used
preteriteThe preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place in the past.-English:...
in Spanish and Portuguese, and as a literary "past historic" in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, Italian and Catalan.
There is a tendency for a past participle derived from
stare (or more specifically its supine,
statum) to replace that of the main copula derived from
esse. For example, the French participle
été comes from
statum.
For further information, see the main article.
Germanic languages
| |
Old Norse |
Icelandic |
Danish/
Norwegian |
Old Swedish |
Swedish |
Old English |
English |
Old High German |
German |
Dutch |
Gothic |
| Infinitive In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
|
vera |
vera |
være |
vara |
vara |
wesan |
bēon |
be |
wesan |
sein |
zijn / wezen |
wisan |
| Present The present tense is the tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* an occurrence in the near future; or* an action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present....
indicative |
em
ert (est)
er (es)
erum
eruð
eru |
er
ert
er
erum
eruð
eru |
er
er
er
er
er
er |
æm/ær
æst
ær
ærum
ærin
æru |
är
är
är
är (äro)
är (ären)
är (äro) |
eom
eart
is
sint
sint
sint |
bēo
bist
biþ
bēoþ
bēoþ
bēoþ |
am
are
is
are
are
are |
bim, bin
bist
ist
birum, bir(e)n
birut, bir(e)t
sint |
bin
bist
ist
sind
seid
sind |
ben
bent/zijt
is
zijn
zijn/zijt
zijn |
im
is
ist
sijum
sijuþ
sind |
| Present The present tense is the tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* an occurrence in the near future; or* an action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present....
subjunctive |
sjá
sér
sé
sém
séð
sé |
sé
sért
sé
séum
séuð
séu |
være (rare)
|
sē(i)/vari
sēi(n)/vari(n) |
vare (rare)
|
sīe
sīe
sīe
sīen
sīen
sīen |
bēo
bēo
bēo
bēon
bēon
bēon |
be
|
sī
sīs(t)
sī
sīm, sīn
sī(n)t
sīn |
sei
sei(e)st
sei
seien
sei(e)t
seien |
zij
zij/zijt
zij
zijn
zijn/zijt
zijn |
sijau
sijais
sijai
sijaima
sijaiþ
sijaina |
| Preterite The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place in the past.-English:...
indicative |
var
varst
var
várum
várið
váru |
var
varst
var
vorum
voruð
voru |
var
var
var
var
var
var |
var
vast
var
vārum
vārin
vāru |
var
var
var
var (voro)
var (voren)
var (voro)
|
wæs
wǽre
wæs
wǽron
wǽron
wǽron |
was
were (wast)
was
were
were
were |
was
wāri
was
wārum
wārut
wārun |
war
warst
war
waren
wart
waren |
was
was/waart
was
waren
waren/waart
waren |
was
wast
was
wēsum
wēsuþ
wēsun |
| Preterite The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place in the past.-English:...
subjunctive |
væra
værir
væri
værim
værið
væri |
væri
værist
væri
værim
værið
væri |
var
var
var
var
var
var |
vāri
vāri(n) |
vore
vore
vore
vore
vore (-en)
vore |
wǽre
wǽre
wǽre
wǽren
wǽren
wǽren |
were
were
were
were
were
were |
wāri
wārīs
wāri
wārīm
wārīt
wārīn |
wäre
wärest
wäre
wären
wäret
wären |
ware
ware/waart
ware
waren
waren/waart
waren |
wēsjau
wēseis
wēsi
wēseima
wēseiþ
wēseina |
| Past participle |
verit |
verið |
været (Norw: vært) |
varin |
varit |
– |
been |
giwesan |
gewesen |
geweest |
|
Old English kept the verbs
wesan and
bēon separate throughout the present stem, though it is not clear that they made the kind of consistent distinction in usage that we find, for example in Spanish. In the preterite, however, the paradigms fell together. Old English has no participle for this verb.
Celtic languages
In the
Celtic languagesThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in...
there is a distinction between the so-called
substantive verb, used when the predicate was an adjective phrase or prepositional phrase, and the so-called
copula, used when the predicate was a noun.
The conjugation of the
Old IrishOld Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Goidelic languages for which extensive written texts are possessed. It was used from the 6th to the 10th centuries, when it gave way to Middle Irish....
and
Middle WelshMiddle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed from Old Welsh....
verbs is as follows:
|
Old Irish substantive verb |
Old Irish copula |
Middle Welsh |
| Present The present tense is the tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* an occurrence in the near future; or* an action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present....
|
(at)·tó
(at)·taí
(at)·tá
(at)·taam
(at)·taïd
(at)·taat |
am
at
is
ammi
adib
it |
wyf
wyt
yw, mae, taw, oes
ym
ywch
ynt, maen(t) |
| Preterite The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place in the past.-English:...
|
·bá
·bá
·boí
·bámmar
·baid
·bátar |
basa
basa
ba
bommar
unattested
batar |
buum
buost
bu
buam
buawch
buant |
| Future In grammar, the future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:Languages can employ various...
|
bia
bie
bieid, ·bia
beimmi, ·biam
bethe, ·bieid
bieit, ·biat |
be
be
bid
bimmi
unattested
bit |
bydaf
bydy
byd
bydwn
bydwch
bydant |
The forms of the Old Irish present tense of the substantive verb, as well as Welsh
taw, come from the PIE root *
stā-. The other forms are from the roots *
es- and *
bhū-. Welsh
mae originally meant "here is" (cf.
yma 'here').
In modern Gaelic, person inflections have almost disappeared, but the negative and interrogative are marked by distinctive forms. In Irish, particularly in the south, person inflections are still very common for the
tá/bhí series. While some grammar books still distinguish the substantive verb from the copula, some treat the substantive forms as assertive forms of the copula; since the verb is in any case suppletive, this is a matter of perspective.
|
|
Scottish Gaelic |
Irish |
| Present The present tense is the tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* an occurrence in the near future; or* an action that occurred in the past and continues up to the present....
|
affirmative
interrogative
negative
negative interrogative |
tha
a bheil
chan eil
nach eil |
tá
(1 táim, 2 táir, 3 tá, 1pl táimíd, 2pl (archaic) táthaoi, 3pl táid)
an bhfuil
níl (ní fhuil)
nach bhfuil
(1 fuilim, 2 fuilir, 3 fuil, 1pl fuilimíd-fuileam, 2pl (archaic) fuiltaoi, 3pl fuilid) |
| Assertive present |
|
is |
is |
| Past The past tense is a verb tense expressing action, activity, state or being in the past of the current moment , or prior to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future ....
|
affirmative
interrogative
negative
negative interogative |
bha
an robh
cha robh
nach robh |
bhí
(1 bhíos, 2 bhís, 3 bhí, 1pl bhiomair, 2pl bhíobhair, 3pl bhíodar)
an raibh
ní raibh
nach raibh
(1 rabhas, 2 rabhais, 3 raibh, 1pl rabhamair, 2pl rabhabhair, 3pl rabhadar) |
| Assertive past |
|
bu |
ba |
| Future In grammar, the future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:Languages can employ various...
|
affirmative
interogative
negative
negative interogative |
bidh (or "bithidh")
am bi
cha bhi
nach bi |
beidh
(1 bead, 2 beir, 3 beidh, 1pl beimíd, 2pl beidh sibh, 3pl beid)
an mbeidh
ní bheidh
nach mbeidh |
Gaelic
(bh)eil and Irish
(bh)fuil are from Old Irish
fuil, originally an imperative meaning "see!" (PIE root
*wel-, also in Welsh
gweled, Germanic
wlitu- "appearance", and Latin voltus "face"), then coming to mean "here is" (cf. French
voici < vois ci and
voilà < vois là), later becoming a suppletive
dependent formIn the Goidelic languages, dependent and independent verb forms are distinct verb forms used either with a preceding particle or, usually, without one . For example, in Irish, the past tense of the verb has two forms: the independent form and the dependent form...
of
at-tá. Gaelic
robh and Modern Irish
raibh are from the perfective particle
ro (
ry in Welsh) plus
ba (lenited after
ro).
Modern Welsh
The present tense in particular shows a split between the North and the South. Though the situation is undoubtedly more complicated, King (2003) notes the following variations in the present tense as spoken (not as written according to the standard orthography):
|
Affirmative (I am) |
Interrogative (Am I?) |
Negative (I am not) |
| Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
| North |
First Person |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Person |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Third Person |
|
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|
|
|
|
| South |
First Person |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Person |
|
|
|
| — |
|
| Third Person |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Affirmative (I am) |
Interrogative (Am I?) |
Negative (I am not) |
| Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
| Preterite |
First Person |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Person |
|
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|
| Third Person |
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| Imperfect |
First Person |
|
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| Second Person |
|
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| Third Person |
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| Future |
First Person |
|
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| Second Person |
|
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| Third Person |
|
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|
|
|
|
also has a conditional, for which there are two stems. The
bas- stem is more common in the North, and the
bydd- stem is more common in the South:
|
Affirmative |
Interrogative |
Negative |
| Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
Singular |
Plural |
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First Person |
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| Third Person |
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First Person |
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| Second Person |
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| Third Person |
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Armenian
Classical Armenian examples.
| |
present tense |
| 1st sg. |
em |
| 2nd sg. |
es |
| 3rd sg. |
é |
| 1st pl. |
emk' |
| 2nd pl. |
ék' |
| 3rd pl. |
en |