Dictionary formfio, fieri, factus sum

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#174 of 1,000Core 1000

Translation

to become; to be made; to happen

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Examples

?

What is happening?

.

This cannot be done.

Dives .

He became rich.

.

Let there be light.

.

Nobody becomes learned all at once.

is listed here as its own lemma, and it is treated that way in every dictionary, but what it really does is SUPPLY THE PASSIVE OF . has no passive of its own in the present system, so where you want "is made, is being done", Latin uses ; and where you want the perfect, "was made, has become", it uses , the perfect passive of . One meaning, two stems, and that split is genuinely confusing until somebody says it plainly.

The forms are odd in the other direction too. , , fit, , , look active, but the infinitive is , which looks passive, and the imperfect is . The subjunctive gives and . Alongside the passive job it works as an ordinary intransitive verb, "to become" with a complement (dives ) and "to happen" on its own ( fit?). Note that only the simple verb behaves like this: the compounds of form a normal passive, so it is conficitur, not a form.

Where this fits

Used in

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Latin 路 Free printables

fio: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "fio" (to become; to be made; to happen): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

This word is taught in chapter 2, lesson 10: fio, aio, fere and 6 more words.