tolerabam

Tolerabam is a Latin verb form: the first person singular imperfect indicative active of tolerare, meaning “I was tolerating” or “I used to endure.” It expresses an ongoing or repeated action in the past.

Morphology and conjugation: tolerare belongs to the first conjugation. The imperfect tense is formed from the present stem toler- with the imperfect ending -abam, yielding tolerabam for the first person singular. The other persons have the standard -abas, -abat, -abamus, -abatis, -abant endings.

Usage and nuance: Tolerabam indicates that the subject was in the process of bearing, enduring, or putting up with something over a period in the past. It conveys continuity or habituality rather than a single completed act. Its perfect counterpart toleravi would express a completed act of tolerance or endurance.

Etymology and cognates: Tolerabam derives from tolerare, a Latin verb meaning to endure, bear, or tolerate. Tolerare itself comes from the Latin root toler- and is the source of the English verb tolerate.

Example: Quotiens amici me insultabant, tolerabam. (Whenever my friends insulted me, I was tolerating [it].)

See also: tolero, tolerare, Latin grammar, imperfect tense, Latin verb conjugation.