What you need to know about Ablatives Absolute & Passive Periphrastics but were afraid to ask

I took Latin in high school, and I know from experience that when I first mentioned the names of these tricky sounding constructions, what you actually heard was, “wha-wha-wha-blah, blah, ablative-blah passive-wha- wha-blah.”

I would not be doing my duty, however, if I did not at least TRY to persuade you to master these constructions right here and right now. I know for a fact that your Latin future will be very dim if you don’t.

So, let’s dissect these menacing sounding constructions so that your quality of living can be good henceforth—and the blood vessel on my forehead doesn’t have to throb when I grade your translations and quizzes anymore.

The Ablative Absolute This is the sad story of a grammatical construction voted off the island. This construction has everything to do with the ablative case and being all alone. Ablatives absolute always describe the general circumstances in which all the rest of the action takes place. As such, it must stand alone. Instead of a comma separating it from the rest of the sentence, you’d be better off putting a period. An ablative absolute may not refer to ANYTHING else in the rest of the sentence.

Ablative, as you know, is a hard working case and by itself conveys the general meaning “by” or “with.” Let’s remember the second of those two basic translations. Write down the word “with” somewhere prominent when first confronted with an ablative absolute. This is a starting point and a place holder for further embellishments once you understand the relative tense relationship between the participle and the main verb.

In addition to a noun or pronoun in the ablative case, 98.623% of the time an ablative absolute also includes a participle -- any kind will do though the perfect passive participle is favored. Why? Since this construction is a fast, cheap, easy way of describing the general circumstances under which somebody’s story begins, that participle is usually the perfect passive because then we need not involve direct objects since they cause a lot of clutter.

Here’s what I did not just say: ablatives absolute (henceforth AAs) consist only of a noun and a perfect passive participle. They don’t and I didn’t say they did. The truth is, these guys are nimble and common as dirt. Sandwiched in between a noun/pronoun in the ablative and the ablative participle 1 Chapter 24: learn this grammar or dwell in Hades with the other shades

(any flavor) you can find any variety of direct objects, indirect objects, etc: anything goes when making an ablative absolute sandwich. Sometimes (1.377% of the time) the participial idea is actually an implied form of esse, leaving behind just an ablative noun/pronoun/adjective (because the Romans never got around to inventing participles for sum).

Some common AAs  mutatis mutandis o with the things that need to be changed (mutandis) have been changed (mutatis)  ceteris paribus o with all things being equal  his dictis o after these things have been said (“that being said”)  vice versa o with the alternate turned around to its opposite, reversely  lite pendente o with the lawsuit pending

Some nimble and impressive AAs from Latin literature  perterritis ac dubitantibus ceteris o With the rest of the people thoroughly terrified and left in doubt . . .  simul caede et incendio perculsis omnibus o With everybody stricken at the same time by slaughter and arson . . .  compluribus singillatim, qui commeatûs petendi causa missi erant, absentibus o With very many folks who had been sent for the sake of asking for free passage gone missing one by one . . .

Understand the following about Ablatives Absolutes:  They can appear anywhere in a Latin sentence: A-N-Y-W-H-E-R-E  Your textbook’s editors are sweet and often put them first but don’t let that go to your head.  They appear with no fanfare, no red flag: they are inconspicuous but they only appear in sandwich form: o from the first ablative to the last ablative the whole thing will be one unit—no mixing things from the rest of the sentence. o If you are lucky, the editor will set them off with commas but this isn’t a hard rule by any stretch of the imagination  They can do anything: an AA sandwich may contain direct objects, prepositional phrases, relative clauses, passive periphrastics, and all kinds of things you haven’t even heard of yet.  Ablatives absolute are extremely common: be on the alert at all times.  Time is always relative o Tense for all participles will always be relative all the time…always. You may have some creativity when choosing subordinating conjunctions to replace the word ‘with’ as you translate an ablative absolute: . Perfect = time prior to the main action (After….) . Present = same time as main action (As…., While…) . Future = time subsequent to the main action. (As about to…)

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More examples of Ablatives Absolute in action: Nuntio misso dux dormivit per nocte (A messenger having been sent, the general slept through the night). The noun-participle phrase tells us the sequence of events. It also suggests causation -- that the general was able to sleep soundly because a messenger had been sent. You could even add a ‘because’ to your translation.

Duce nuntium mittente milites sua arma preparavunt (While the general was sending a messenger, the soldiers readied their weapons). Nuntium, although not in the ablative case, is considered part of the AA phrase because it is direct object of the active participle.

Eo discessuro tabulae geographicae sunt paratae (As he was about to depart, maps were prepared). A pronoun, taking the place of a noun, combined with a future participle.

Caesare ipso legiones ducente tamen bellum in Gallia longum erat (Although Caesar himself was leading the legions, the war in Gaul was lengthy). With tamen in the main clause, the AA phrase becomes a circumstance that opposes or contrasts with the main clause.

Hannibale mortuo res publica salva est (With Hannibal dead the republic is safe). A noun-adjective combination with 'being' implied.

Nuntiis gravibus Caesar misit Labienum ad Galliam (The news being serious, Caesar sent Labienus to Gaul). A noun-adjective combination, with 'esse' implied.

Omnibus paratis familia discessit ad urbem (Since everything was prepared, the family departed for the city). Latin has no perfect participle for the verb 'esse' so we must supply 'was.'

Caesare Bibulo consulibus flumen Tiberis urbem inundavit (When Caesar and Bibulus were the co- consuls, the river Tiber flooded the city). This noun-noun-noun combination requires us to supply the English 'were.' This is a common way to date a year. Since two men served together as joint consuls for a one-year term, 'consul' takes plural form.

The Passive Periphrastic This little construction (henceforth PP) sounds tricky. It’s not. I love them so grow to love them and your quiz scores will thank you. "Periphrastic" is derived from Greek and refers to a "roundabout (peri-) way of saying (-phrastic) something."

The PP has three parts:

1. Any flavor of sum 2. A gerundive that agrees with the subject of sum 3. Agent of the action expressed in the dative case (called the Dative of Agent, creatively)

The WHOLE reason for using a PP is to indicate necessity. Don’t give me a wishy-washy translation for a construction designed to mean need.

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Here are some PP examples:  hae litterae mittendae sunt. o This letter must be sent.  nôbîs hae litterae mittendae sunt. o This letter must be sent by us.  Cicerônî hae litterae mittendae sunt. o This letter must be sent by Cicero  ei hae litterae mittendae sunt. o This letter must be sent by him.  illîs fêminîs clârîs hae litterae mittendae sunt. o This letter must be sent by those famous women.  in tôtâ terrâ nostrâ sine morâ premendus est nôbîs hic morbus. o This sickness must be pursued here by us into all our land without delay.

Here are a few more:  audiendum est o It must be heard (expect the substantive use of the gerundive)  verba magistri audienda sunt pueris puellisque o The words of the teacher must be heard by boys and girls.  pecunia tibi non desideranda est o Money must not be desired by you. . This is an ugly way to translate. As you get better at PPs, you will want to inverse voice occasionally as appropriate: “You must not desire money.”  consilium bonum omnibus legendum est o A good plan must be chosen by everybody. . (or) Everybody must choose a good plan  dona a Graeco nobis delenda errant o Gifts from a Greek must have been destroyed by us.

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