fui

Fui is the first-person singular perfect indicative active form of the Latin verb esse, meaning "I was" or "I have been." It denotes a completed state or action in the past and is used in both narrative and descriptive contexts.

In Latin, fui is part of the perfect active system. The full paradigm for esse in the perfect active is fui, fuistī, fuit, fuimus, fuistis, fuerunt. The related forms include the imperfect eram, erās, erat, erāmus, erātis, erant for ongoing past states, the pluperfect fueram, fuerās, fuerat, fuerāmus, fuerātis, fuerant, and the perfect subjunctive fuerim, fuerīs, fuerit, etc. The infinitives include the present esse and the perfect fuisse, with the future active participle futūrus esse used in other constructions. Fui thus functions as the principal past tense of esse in classical Latin.

Usage and nuance: fui is typically used to express a completed state in the past, often in straightforward past narration or in sentences describing a person’s past condition. It can also appear in casual or literary Latin to set the scene or contrast a past state with the present.

Etymology: fui derives from Latin esse (to be), reflecting its role as the past tense form of the verb “to be.” It shares Latin and broader Indo-European heritage with related forms in descendant languages, though it is most commonly encountered in Latin grammar and classical texts.

See also: Esse (Latin verb); Latin conjugation; Perfect tense in Latin; Latin grammar.