Carry: fero, ferre, tuli, latum
Drop the vowel before -s, -t and -tis: fers, fert, fertis. The perfect is tuli.
How It Works
| Person | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| I | fero | I carry |
| you (one) | fers | you carry |
| he, she, it | fert | he carries |
| we | ferimus | we carry |
| you (all) | fertis | you all carry |
| they | ferunt | they carry |
The four dictionary forms are fero, ferre, tuli, latum. The command is fer (plural ferte).
The imperfect and future are regular: ferebam, feram. The perfect tuli and the fourth form latum look like a different verb, because they come from a different root.
Fero means carry, bring or bear. It also means bear in the sense of endure: dolorem fert means he bears the pain.
Compounds follow the same pattern: afferre (bring to), auferre (take away), offerre (offer) and referre (bring back).
Examples (5)
- Iulia aquam fert.
Iulia carries water.
Fert is third person singular, with no vowel before -t.
- Pueri libros ad scholam ferunt.
The boys carry books to school.
Ferunt is third person plural.
- Quid fers?
What are you carrying?
Fers is second person singular.
- Vere languores nostros ipse tulit.
Truly he has borne our sufferings.
From Isaiah 53:4. Tulit is the perfect of fero.
- Nuntius epistolam affert.
The messenger brings a letter.
Affert is the compound afferre, third person singular.
Common Mistakes
Using a look-alike verb.
Tu aquam feris.Tu aquam fers.Feris is a real word, from ferio, to strike, so Tu aquam feris means You strike the water. To say you carry, use fers.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Fero is irregular in its present and has unusual dictionary forms.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice Carry: fero, ferre, tuli, latum in Bubblegum
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