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ahesuṁ
ahosi
3rd person plural imperfect indicative of ahosi (was)
- were
- had been
- existed
Built from
- a — prefix · past marker
The augment a- prefixes to the root to signal imperfect tense in Pali, as in Sanskrit. It is not the negating prefix a-; here it is a tense marker inherited from Indo-European.
- hes — root · be, exist
From √as, meaning "to be" or "to exist". Cognate with Sanskrit as, Latin esse (from which English is), and Greek einai. The root appears in many tenses with ablaut variation.
- uṁ — ending · 3rd plural imperfect
Ending marking third person plural in the imperfect indicative. In Sanskrit this corresponds to -an; in Pali it becomes -uṁ in some forms.
Etymology. Root √as (to be), cognate with Sanskrit ās, Latin esse, English is. The imperfect tense marks past action without completion.