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Dictionary formpossum, posse, potui

Line drawing of possum
Coloured illustration of possum
#90 of 1,000Core 1000

Translation

to be able; can

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Examples

.

I cannot come.

?

What can you do?

Potestne ?

Can this be true?

.

We can do nothing without you.

.

You can see the sea.

Possum is not really a new verb to learn. It is sum with pot-, able, stuck on the front, and reading it that way makes the present fall straight out: possum, potes, potest, possumus, potestis, possunt. The only wrinkle is a sound rule. Where the form of sum begins with s, the t of pot- assimilates to it and you get possum, possumus, possunt; everywhere else the t simply stays, potes, potest, potestis. The infinitive is posse, the perfect potui, and the verb it governs stands in the plain infinitive with no ut in sight.

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Latin 路 Free printables

possum: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "possum" (to be able; can): 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 1, lesson 13: possum, inde, respondeo and 11 more words.