ferunt

Ferunt is the third-person plural present indicative active form of the Latin verb ferre, meaning to bear, carry, or bring. In ordinary use it expresses a literal sense of bearing or bringing something, as in physical transport, and can also extend to figurative senses such as producing results or bringing about outcomes. In addition, ferre appears in idiomatic constructions where ferunt is used to report what is said or believed, e.g., in phrases meaning “they say” or “it is said.”

Morphology and forms: Ferunt comes from the verb ferre, whose present active indicative forms include fero, fers, fert, ferimus, fertis, ferunt. The 3rd person plural ending -unt attaches to the present stem fer-, giving ferunt. Ferre is notable for its irregular paradigm across tenses and voices, but ferunt itself remains a standard present tense form used with a direct object in the accusative.

Usage notes: In a literal sense, ferunt governs a direct object in the accusative to denote what is carried or brought: Milites gladiōs ferunt. “The soldiers carry (or bring) swords.” In a broader, figurative or reportive sense, ferunt can introduce what others say or report: Hoc ferunt, “They say this” or “This is reported.” The form is common in Latin narrative and dialogue, where it anchors statements about actions or reported information.

See also: ferre, ferre’s other tenses and voices, related expressions for reporting speech in Latin literature.

References: Latin dictionaries such as Lewis and Short note ferre and its present forms, including ferunt, and illustrate literal and idiomatic uses.