Module 4 - Verbal Nouns and Adjectives · Introduction to Latin (2024)

Infinitives:

• Present Active, Present Passive
  • Practice Opportunity
• Perfect Active, Perfect Passive
  • Practice Opportunity

Uses of the Infinitive | Practice Opportunity

Gerunds and Gerundives:

• Gerunds | Practice Opportunity
• GRGs (Gerund Replacing Gerundives) | Practice Opportunity
• Other Uses of the Gerundive: Verbal Adjective, Passive Periphrastic | Practice Opportunity

Infinitives

The infinitive is a verbal noun that is not limited by a specific person or number (in-, “not”; -finitive, from finīre, “to put a limit or boundary on”). You’ve already seen many infinitives as part of verbal dictionary entries: remember that the second principal part is the present active infinitive, often translated with the preposition “to” and the verb’s meaning.

Infinitives do not have a person, number, or mood, but they do have tense and voice. There are six types of infinitives; you need only worry about the four discussed below for now. The two that we will learn about in the second semester are the future active infinitive and the future passive infinitive.

Present Active Infinitive

As stated above, you get the present active infinitive directly from the second principal part of the verb’s dictionary entry. For example, in the verb moneō, monēre, monuī, monitus, “to warn”, the present active infinitive is monēre, and it can be translated as “to warn.”

Present Passive Infinitive

The present passive infinitive is similarly translated with the preposition “to”, but the action of the verb is passive, rather than active. So, the passive form of the example above is “to be warned.”

To form the present passive infinitive in 1st, 2nd, and 4th conjugation verbs, you take the present active infinitive and replace the final -e with an -ī. So, for example:

• amāre, “to love” –> amārī, “to be loved”
• timēre, “to fear” –> timērī, “to be feared”
• audīre, “to hear” –> audīrī, “to be heard”

To form the present passive infinitive in the 3rd and 3rd -iō conjugations, you must replace the entire -ere ending of the present active infinitive with the -ī.

• regere, “to rule” –> regī, “to be ruled”
• capere, “to take” –> capī, “to be taken”

Practice Opportunity

If the present infinitive shown is active, change it to passive and then translate the new form. If the present infinitive shown is passive, change it to active and then translate the new form.

1. dūcere
   

2. movēre
   

3. punīrī
   

4. appellāre
   

5. iacī
   

Back to top.

Perfect Active Infinitive

The perfect active infinitive, as the name suggests, indicates an action that occurred in the past. The English translation uses “to” and auxiliary verbs like “have” to get across the past-ness of the action: for example, “to have loved.”

To form the perfect active infinitive, you go to the perfect stem (which, as a reminder, is found by going to the third principal part of a dictionary entry and chopping off the -ī) and then add the ending -isse. This is the rule across all conjugations.

• amāvī, “I loved” –> amāvisse, “to have loved”
• timuī, “I feared” –> timuisse, “to have feared”
• rēxī, “I ruled” –> rēxisse, “to have ruled”
• cēpī, “I took” –> cēpisse, “to have taken”
• audīvī, “I heard” –> audīvisse, “to have heard”

Perfect Passive Infinitive

The perfect passive infinitive, as the name suggests, indicates a passive action that occurred in the past. The translation adds “been” to convey the passiveness of the verbal unit: for example, “to have been loved.”

The formation of the perfect passive infinitive works similarly to the formation of the perfect passive indicative. You take the fourth principal part of the dictionary entry (the perfect passive participle) in the appropriate gender, case, and number and pair it with the present infinitive of the verb “to be,” esse. Take a look at these examples:

• amātus esse, “to have been loved”
• monitus esse, “to have been warned”
• rectus esse, “to have been ruled”
• captus esse, “to have been taken”
• audītus esse, “to have been heard”

Note that in these examples, I used only the masculine nominative singular forms, but the perfect passive participle as part of the perfect passive infinitive can change its gender, case, and number to match the noun that it is properly describing. For example, if it were feminine nouns being heard, like vocēs, “voices”, then the proper form of the infinitive would be audītae esse.

We’ll learn more about how to use the perfect passive infinitive later on. It suffices for now to know how to form it and that it exists.

Practice Opportunity

If the perfect infinitive shown is active, change it to passive (using the masculine nominative singular form of the participle) and then translate the new form. If the perfect infinitive shown is passive, change it to active and then translate the new form.

1. aspexisse
   

2. imperātus esse
   

3. implētus esse
   

4. dūxisse
   

5. sensus esse
   

Uses of the Infinitive

There are various ways in which we can use the infinitive, a verbal noun, in Latin. We’ll discuss two now.

1. As a noun (subjective)

Because the infinitive is a verbal noun, it can stand as the subject of a sentence. When used in this way, the infinitive is a neuter nominative singular noun, and it most often shows up in linking sentence types or with impersonal verbs.

• errāre est humanum. “To err is human.” OR “It is human to err.”

Note that the predicate nominative adjective humanum is neuter nominative singular because it’s modifying errāre via the linking verb est.

The subjective infinitive, though used as a noun, still retains its verbal qualities in that it can be qualified by direct objects or prepositional phrases. Here are some examples:

• cēnam parāre est prudēns. “To prepare the dinner is wise.” OR “It is wise to prepare the dinner.”
• sedēre prō igne iūvat. “To sit in front of the fire is pleasing.” OR “It is pleasing to sit in front of the fire.”

2. Complementary

The infinitive can also be used to complete the meaning of a main verb. For example, with the verb possum, posse, potuī, “to be able to, can”, it would be odd to have simply a conjugated form of that verb without anything to complete its meaning:

• potest. “She can.” She can what?!

This is where the complementary infinitive can help; it completes the sense begun by a main verb. And like the subjective infinitive, it can take its own direct objects or prepositional phrases.

• canere potest. “She can sing.” OR “She is able to sing.”
• vidēre eōs poterāmus. “We were able to see them.”

Practice Opportunity

Identify whether the bolded infinitive is subjective or complementary and then translate the sentence.

1. incipere est difficile.
   

2. ille discēdere poterit.
   

3. in hortō sedēre licet.
   

4. docēre carmina possum.
   

Gerunds and Gerundives

Gerunds

Like the infinitive, gerunds are neuter singular verbal nouns. However, while the infinitive can be the nominative subject or accusative direct object, the gerund fills all the other syntactic roles of the verbal noun. It appears in the genitive, dative, and ablative cases and in the accusative only as the object of a preposition and it is usually translated into English by adding -ing to the verb.

The gerund is formed using the second principal part. In the case of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd conjugations, we take the present stem (the infinitive minus -re) and add -nd to form the gerund stem:

• amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus –> amā- –> ama-nd-

We, then, add the appropriate 2nd declension neuter singular case endings to form the gerund:

In the case of the 3rd -io and 4th conjugations, we take the present stem (the infinitive minus -re) and add -iend to form the gerund stem:

• capiō, capere, cēpī, captus –> cap- –> cap-iend-

We, then, add the appropriate 2nd declension neuter singular case endings to form the gerund:

Below are some examples of how gerunds work in Latin sentence:

• Ars legendī est bona animō. (“The art of reading is good for the soul.”)
• Rex currendō fūgit. (“The king fled by running.”)
• Ad scribendum vēnit. (“He came for the purpose of writing.”)

NB: Ad + the accusative gerund and causā / gratiā + the genitive gerund are frequently used to express purpose.

Practice Opportunity

Produce the genitive gerund for the following verb forms.

1. incipiō, incipere, incēpī, inceptum - to begin
   

2. discēdō, discēdere, discessī, discessurus - to leave, depart
   

3. amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus - to love
   

4. doceō, docēre, docuī, doctus - to teach
   

GRGs (Gerund Replacing Gerundives)

What if, in the example, ars legendī est bona animō mentioned above, we wanted to specify that it is the “art of reading books” that is good for the soul?

The simplest solution would seem to be adding a direct object after the gerund:

• Ars legendī librōs est bona animō (“The art of reading books is good for the soul.”)

However, for some reason, Latin does not like using this construction and instead prefers to use a gerundive phrase instead. A gerundive is a verbal adjective that looks very much like a gerund (NB: the gerund and gerundive can both be identified easily by the -nd infix). It has the same stem as a gerund, but it can appear in any case, number, and gender and is declined as a 2-1-2 adjective:

• amō, amāre, amāvī, amātus –> amā- –> ama-nd- –> amandus, amanda, amandum

In a gerundive phrase, the gerundive agrees with the noun that would have been the direct object in number and gender BUT takes its case from its role in the sentence. In the example above, ars legendī librōs would be expressed as follows using a gerundive phrase:

• Ars legendōrum librōrum (explanatory genitive with ars, masculine and plural from librōs) = the art of reading books

The gerundive phrase is usually called a gerund-replacing-gerundive (GRG for short). When translating GRGs, the gerundive is translated just like a gerund and the noun that agrees with it as its a direct object. Below are a few examples:

• Terit tempus scrībendīs epistulīs. (“He wastes time by writing letters.”)
• Consilium urbis capiendae (“A plan for taking the city.”)
• Veniunt ad pācem petendam. (“They come for the purpose of seeking peace.”)

Practice Opportunity

Translate the following sentence and phrases that contain GRGs.

1. ad incipiendum iter
   

2. ars scrībendōrum librōrum
   

3. docendīs puellīs parat.
   

4. rēgīnae iuvandae grātiā
   

Other Uses of Gerundives

In addition to functioning like gerunds, gerundives have two other important usages. They can function as adjectives modifying a noun and as part of a verbal construction known as the passive periphrastic.

Gerundive as Verbal Adjective

Like all other adjectives, the gerundive will usually be paired with a noun. However, unlike most adjectives, the gerundive has two additional characteristics due to its verbal nature: voice and tense. The gerundive is always passive and forward-looking (the reason for this is that gerundive is technically the future passive participle). Consequently, we translate the gerundive “to be [verb]ed”, which often carries a sense of necessity or obligation. Consider the following examples:

• Carmen audiendum (“a song to be heard”)
• Urbs videnda (“a city to be seen”)
• Puella librum legendum scrīpsit. (“The girl wrote a book to be read (i.e. a book that ought to/must be read)”)

When used as an adjective, the gerundive is usually appears in either the nominative case (modifying a subject) or in the accusative case (modifying a direct object). The reason for this is to avoid any possible ambiguity with the GRG. The GRG like the gerund appears only in the genitive, dative, and ablative cases and in the accusative as the object of the preposition.

Passive Periphrastic

The use of the gerundive in the passive periphrastic construction is an extension of its use as a verbal adjective. As we saw above, the gerundive is passive and forward looking by nature. In the passive periphrastic, the gerundive is combined with a form of sum to express (forward-looking and passive) verbal obligation and necessity. Take for instance, the following examples:

• Rēgēs pūniendī sunt. (“The kings must be punished.”)
• Regina amanda est. (“The queen must be loved”)

In these sentences, note how the form of the gerundive matches in gender, number, and case with the subject.

Practice Opportunity

Determine whether the gerundive is being used as a GRG, verbal adjective, or a part of a passive periphrastic.

1. Puella docenda est.
   

2. Puerī docendī in urbe vīxērunt.
   

3. rēgīnae docendae grātiā vēnit.