GRAMMAR - STUDY GUIDE!
Preppy people in places have manners. [abl. constructions that use prepositions]
Ablative Absolute
- best translated as the subordinate clause
- grammatically independent
- usually starts with when or since
- 3 ways to construct…
o noun + a participle
 present: means the actions in both clauses will always be at the same time
 While the boy is walking, the girl is reading.
 Perfect: action of the ablative absolute occurs before the main clause of
the sentence
 When the money was given, the girls went shopping
 Future: action of the ablative absolute occurs after the main verb --- very
rare
 Since it will snow tomorrow, I bought a sled today.
o noun + a noun
 add the verb “to be”
 a noun being a noun [Caesar being leader – Caesare duce]
o noun + an adjective
 add the verb “to be”
 a noun being adjective Caesar being brave – Caesare forti]
Ablative of Accompaniment
- answers the question “with whom?”
- has a prep: cum
- always a person or an animal
- I walked WITH MY MOM.
Ablative of Comparison
- comparing one thing to another
- uses a comparative adjective
- no preposition and no quam
- “Marcus can run much faster THAN ME.”
- [Marcus celerius me currere potest vs. Marcus cerlerius quam ego currere potest.]
Ablative of Description
- without a prep
- a noun and an adjective used to describe another noun
- a man OF OUTSTANDING COURAGE --- vir egregiā virtute
- interchangeable with Gen. of Description
Ablative of Manner
- consists of a noun and an adjective
- uses cum, but if there is an adjective modifying the noun, you may omit cum – if you
use cum it has to be between the adjective and noun
- used to indicate how something happened or is done
- he shouted WITH A LOUD VOICE [magnā voce OR magnā cum voce]
- he works with care – cum curā
Ablative of Means
- no prep
- always an object
- tells what was used to do an action
- The student wrote WITH A PEN.
Ablative of Personal Agent
- has a prep – a, ab
- answers the question “by whom?”
- the 3 P’s
o person
o passive verb
o preposition
- the boy was being carried BY HIS SISTER
Ablative Place from Which
- has a prep – a, ab / e, ex / de
- a location
- answers the question “from where?”
- the man said OUT OF MY TREE
Ablative Place Where
- has a prep – in, sub = under
- answers the question “where?”
- a location
- The book is ON THE DESK
Ablative of Separation
- No prep unless there is a specific number (tres ex puellis)
- me curā liberavit, "he freed me from care
- noun in the ablative is the thing from which the separation occurs
Ablative Time When
- no prep
- expresses a specific time
- ex: at the second hour
Ablative Time Within Which
- no prep
- expresses a time span
- ex: within three hours
Ablative with Deponent Verbs
- look for one of the 5 verbs
o furor, frui, fructus sum – to enjoy
o fungor, fungi, functus – to perform
o potior, potiri, potitus sum – to get possession of, obtain
o utor, uti, usus sum – to use
o vescor, vesci – to eat, feed on
Accusative Place to Which
- in the accusative case
- names of cities, towns, small islands, and words domus and rus
o with a prep – ad, in, sub = up to
- he went to Rome
Accusative Subject of Infinitive
- an infinitive and a subject in the accusative case
Comparisons
-
when quam is used, the words on either side of it are the same case
o Sextus est molestior quam Marcus
 Sextus is more annoying than Marcus
- without quam, the word being compared is ablative
o Sextus est molestior Marco
 Sextus is more annoying than Marcus
Complimentary Infinitives
- infinitives that complete the meaning of another verb
- I ought TO LISTEN more in class
- Always used with possum, often with debeo, volo, malo, nolo
Conditions
- I. Simple
a. Present- pres. indic.
Si id facit, sapiens est.
If he does it, he is wise.
b. Past - imp. or perf. indic.
Si id fecit, sapiens fuit.
If he did it, he was wise.
- II. Vivid
a. Future More Vivid future indicative
Si id faciet, sapiens erit.
If he does (will do) it, he will be wise.
Si id fecerit, sapiens erit.
If he will have done it, he will be wise.
b. Future Less Vivid present subjunctive
Si id faciat, sapiens sit.
If he should do it, he would be wise.
- III. Contrary to Fact
a. Present- imperf. subj.
Si id faceret, sapiens esset. If he were doing it, he would be wise.
(But in reality, he’s not doing it, so he’s not wise.)
b. Past- plupf. subj.
Si id fecisset, sapiens fuisset. If he had done it, he would have been wise.
Dative of Possession
- Always a form of “to be”
- Mihi nova stola est (There is a new dress to me.)
Dative with Special Verbs
- some verbs take the dative case as the direct object – LOAN words and some other
compounds, memorized when you learn the verb
o most use the accusative case
- loan words take dative objects
Deponent
- verbs that have passive forms with active meanings
Fear Clauses
- subjunctive verbs
- follows main verbs of “fearing” --- timeo, terreo, vereor
- can also appear with adjectives/noun of “fear” ---- timidus est, timor est
- ut = negative fear ; ne = positive
- Timeo ut meam amicam mox videam. (I fear that I will not see my friend soon.)
- Timeo ne gradus descendam. (I fear that I will fall down the stairs.)
Future Active Participle
- “about to____”
- Also known as a gerundive
Genitive of Description
- without a prep
- a noun and an adjective used to describe another noun
- a man OF OUTSTANDING COURAGE --- vir egregiae virtutis
- interchangeable with Abl. of Description
Genitive Price
- expresses the price or estimation of something
- in the genitive case
- He bought a horse for 10 gold coins.
Gerund
- verbal noun
- ends in –ing
- active in meaning and present
- formed by adding a “nd” to the present stem
o takes the ending of a 2nd declension neuter singular noun
o no nominative case – the infinitive take the palce of the nominative [To err is
human = Errare est humanum.]
- genitive gerunds
o used with the word “causa” or “gratia” (for the sake of) to express purpose
o gubernandi causa – for the sake of governing
- accusative gerunds
o follows the word “ad” and shows purpose
o ad gubernandum – for the purpose of governing
- ablative gerunds
o either use the words “ex” “de” or “in”
 de gubernando – concerning governing
o or can be used as ablative of means
 gubernando – by governing
Gerundive
- verbal adjective
- agrees with a noun or pronoun
- is future and passive in meaning
- has all the case forms of a ½ declension adjective
- formed by adding “nd” to the present stem of a verb and adding the ½ declension
endings
- parandus, a, um
- also used with caausa / gratia + genitive and ad + accusative to show purpose
Hortatory
- main verb is subjunctive
- always 1st person
- translates “Let”
- Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque vivamus! (Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love!)
- See also Jussive Subjunctive
Imperatives
- command form of verb
- singular imperative
o present verb stem (Ama, Mone)
-
o noli + the infinitive
plural
o stem + “te” (amate, monete, regite, capite, audite)
o nolite + infinitive
Jussive
Locative
-
main verb is subjunctive
always 3rd person
translates “Let”
Edant scriblitam! (Let them eat cake!)
replaces ablative place where
used if the place is a specific name of a city, small island, or words domus, humus, and
rus
- 1st or 2nd declension singular
o Locative ending looks like the genitive ending of the noun
- 1st and 2nd plural and all other declensions
o Ending looks like the ablative ending of the noun
Partitive Genitive
- Romans believed that you could never have a whole of something
- Genitive is always a part of something, part of a whole
- Ex: some of the girls, part of the family
Perfect Passive Participle
- 4th principle part
- 1st and 2nd declension
- Having been ____ed
- Tom, having been heard, is proud.
Present Active Participle
- Verbal adjective
- formed by dropping the “re” off the end of the 2nd principle part and adding “ns” or
“ntis” (amans, amantis)
- use 3rd declension I stem endings
- found at the end of the clause, the noun its modifying at the beginning
- Translated by “…ing” or “who are ….”
o I know them, walking down the street
o I know them, who are walking down the street
Cum Clause 3 types
Temporal – cum + indicative verb == when
When I was in Italy, I ate lots of gelato.
Causal / Circumstantial
- cum + subjunctive verb = since
- set of by commas
- causal – reason why the action occurred
- circumstantial – indicates action that takes place
- Since my Latin Exam ins soon, I am not going out with my friends this weekend.
Cum Concessive
- cum + subjunctive verb = although
- main clause will contain the work tamen [nevertheless]
- Although I did not want to study, nevertheless, I got to work.
Fear Clause
- shows what is feared
- the main verb is a fear verb [terrēre, timēre, verēri, terror est = there is fear]
- ut and ne seem to be backwards
- Caesar feared the Pompey would defeat him. [this is not what Caesar wants, so use ne]
- Pompey feared that he would not defeat Caesar [ Pompey DOES want to defeat Caesar
so use ut]
Indirect Command
- main verb is a command verb (impero, rogo, peto, quaero, postulo…)
- the main verb can be an asking verb and yet still be a ommand depending upon WHO is
doing the asking
- uses ut and ne
- from a person of higher position to a lower position
- Augustus asked the soldiers to go to Rome
Indirect Question
- question in the form of a sentence
- verbs of “asking” [rogare, quaerere, petere, mirari…]
- interrogative word (quis, quid, cur, ubi, quando….)… subjunctive verb
Indirect Statement
- follows verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, perceiving
- clause begins with the word that in English
- I know that ….
- Subject is accusative
- The verb is an infinitive
o I know that he is coming
o (I know him to be coming)
Passive Periphrastic
- expresses necessity and obligation
- future passive participle = gerundive + some for of the verb “to be”
- present stem + ndus, a, um + …
o est – the noun must be ____ed
o erat – had to be ___
o erit – will have to be ____
Purpose Clause
- “why did the main verb happen?”
- Nothing distinctive in the main clause
- I came [to praise Caesar]
o UT Caesarem laudarem
- I came [not to praise Caesar]
o NE Caesarem laudarem
o Ne usually means not to…
Relative Clause
- begins with a relative pronoun and ends with an indicative verb
- the relative pronoun:
o agrees with its antecedent in number & gender
o gets it case from its use in its own clause
Relative Clause of Characteristic
- starts with a relative pronoun with subjunctive verbs
-
gives a characteristic about its antecedent
the relative pronoun:
o agrees with its antecedent in number & gender
o gets it case from its use in its own clause
- This is the kind of weather WHICH WE USUALLY HAVE IN MAY.
Result Clause
- main clause has one of the 7 words
o adeo, tantus, tam, talis, sic, ita, tot
o Adam told Tom to stay inside today
- shows what happened because of the main verb
- positive uses “ut”, negative uses “ut…non”
- Marcus was so tired [that he didn’t go to school]
Sequence of tense rules for all subjunctives:
Main Verb
Subjunctive Verb
Time relationship
Present / future / future perfect
Imperfect / perfect / pluperfect
present / perfect
imperfect / pluperfect
same
before