Let’s start this lesson by looking at the first sentence:<\/p>\n
n\u014dn sum<\/strong> = I am not.<\/p>\n The presence of n\u014dn gives the meaning “not” and is usually presented immediately before the verb.<\/p>\n Let’s take a look at other examples:<\/p>\n (1) Ego servus n\u014dn sum. <\/strong>(servus<\/strong> = servant)<\/p>\n (2) N\u014dn sum dict\u0101tor. <\/strong>(dict\u0101tor<\/strong> = dictator)<\/p>\n The first sentence can be translated as, “I am not a servant”.\u00a0The “ego” serves as an emphasis, and essentially means “I”.\u00a0However, the “ego”\u00a0is not necessary because the “I” is already indicated by “sum”, which means “I am”. The second sentence means, “I am not a dictator”. Notice that in the second sentence the “n\u014dn” is in the beginning of the sentence, but the “n\u014dn” in the first sentence is located towards the end of the sentence. From this, you can conclude that the placement of “n\u014dn” is pretty flexible.<\/p>\n (1) F\u0113mina est h\u014dmo<\/strong>. (f\u0113mina = woman. h\u014dmo = human being)<\/p>\n (2) F\u0113mina n\u014dn est h\u014dmo<\/strong>. (f\u0113mina = woman. h\u014dmo = human being)<\/p>\n (3) Agricolae sunt po\u0113tae<\/strong>. (agricolae = farmers. po\u0113tae = poets)<\/p>\n (4) Agricolae n\u014dn sunt po\u0113tae<\/strong>. (agricolae = farmers. po\u0113tae = poets)<\/p>\n The first sentence can be interpreted as, “The woman is a human being”. With the first sentence, you can see that “est” can mean “is” and not just “she\/he\/it is”. The third sentence means, “The farmers are not poets”. The second sentence means, “The farmers are poets” and the fourth sentence means, “The farmers are not poets”. Like “est”,\u00a0“sunt” in the third sentence takes on the meaning “are” and not “they are”. So the next time you see “sunt”, you’ll have to determine whether this takes the meaning “are” or “they are” by context.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let’s start this lesson by looking at the first sentence: n\u014dn sum = I am not. The presence of n\u014dn gives the meaning “not” and is usually presented immediately before the verb. Let’s take a look at other examples: (1) Ego servus n\u014dn sum. (servus = servant) (2) N\u014dn sum dict\u0101tor. (dict\u0101tor = dictator) The…<\/p>\n