Let's break down the phrase and why it's wrong:
* ego sum: This part is correct, meaning "I am."
* meus carus: This part means "my dear" or "my beloved."
* et est mei: This part is grammatically incorrect. "Est" is the third-person singular present tense of "esse" (to be), but it doesn't fit grammatically with the pronoun "mei" ("of me").
Possible intended meanings:
It's possible that the phrase was meant to convey something like:
* "I am my own dear one" This could be a statement of self-love or a declaration of independence.
* "I am beloved" This could be a statement of being loved or cherished.
Correcting the phrase:
To make the phrase grammatically correct, you could use:
* Ego sum mihi carus. (I am dear to myself.)
* Ego sum carus. (I am beloved.)
* Ego sum meus. (I am my own.)
The best way to understand the intended meaning is to consider the context in which the phrase was used.