sequar

Sequar is a Latin deponent verb meaning "to follow." It is the first person singular future form of the verb sequi, and, like other deponent verbs, its meanings are active in sense while its forms are passive in appearance. In Latin grammar, sequor belongs to the third conjugation of deponent verbs. The standard principal parts are sequor, sequi, secutus sum.

As a deponent, sequor uses passive endings to convey its tenses, but it translates as an active action. The present system includes sequor (I follow) and sequitur, sequimini, sequuntur in the broader paradigm, with the future expressed by sequar (I shall follow), sequetur, sequemur, sequentur. The imperfect is sequebar and sequebaris, and the perfect uses the participle with sum, as in secutus sum (I have followed). The form sequar also appears as the first person singular in the present subjunctive, meaning “that I may follow,” and its future subjunctive forms share the same roots.

Usage of sequor covers literal following, adherence to a sequence, or following a course of action. The phrase non sequitur, “it does not follow,” derives from sequitur and is widely used in logic and rhetoric. In Classical Latin texts, sequor appears in both narrative and argumentative contexts, including Caesar and Cicero, often to express pursuit, consequence, or adherence to a principle.

Origin and related terms include sequi (to follow) and the derived noun non sequitur. Sequor remains a standard example in discussions of Latin deponent verbs and their distinctive, passive-formed yet active-meaning conjugation.