Genitive: Possession

• Genitive: Possession • Equus Caesaris • The horse of Caesar or Caesar’s horse • Consilium Aurorae • The plan of Aurora or Aurora’s plan • Res virorum • The affairs of men or the men’s affairs • Genitive of Quality or Description • A noun is modified/described by a noun or phrase in the genitive • Vir magnae virtutis • A man of great virtue • Feminam pulchritudinis praeclarae • A woman of distinguished beauty • Subjective Genitive • If the non-genitive noun of the phrase were changed to the verb, then the noun in the genitive would become its subject. • Adventus Caesaris • The arrival of Caesar or Caesar’s arrival • Objective Genitive • If the non-genitive noun of the phrase were changed to the verb, then the noun in the genitive would become its object. • These nouns are nouns of action, agency, and feeling. • Amor pecuniae • Love of money • Remembrance of his past life • Partitive Genitive • A genitive phrase often made up of and adverb and a noun in the genitive in which the “of” disappears in translation. • Words that commonly introduce partitive genitives: parum, nimis, nihil, satis, aliquid, milia • Parum pecuniae = too little money • Milia tria peditum = three thousand foot soldiers • Predicative Genitive • Genitive that acts as the predicate of a sentence • Often the verb is a form of sum • The genitive can be other types of genitives such as a partitive genitive or genitive of quality. • Hic gladius est Caesaris. • This sword is Caesar’s or This is Caesar’s sword. • Caesar vir erat imperii magni. • Caesar was a man of great authority. • Genitive + verbs of remember/forgetting • The genitive is used with verbs of remembering or forgetting when the item being remembered is a person. An accusative is used when the item is a thing. • Don’t get this construction mixed up with the accusative of person used with verbs of reminding. • Ipse matris suae meminerat. • He had remembered his own mother • Genitive of the Cause of Feeling • Used with miseret, paenitet, piget, pudet, and taedet • Me paenitet inimicitiae. • I am sorry for my animosity. • Pudet deorum hominumque. • It is disgraceful before gods and men. • Genitive of Interest • Interest and refert • Ciceronis intererat Clodium mori. • It was to Cicero’s interest for Clodius to die. • Faciendum aliquid, quod illorum magis quam sua retulisse videretur • Genitive with causa and gratia • For the sake of • Often with a gerund or gerundive • Often used to express purpose • Causa belli pugnandi • For the sake of fighting the war • Dative as Indirect Object • The dative indicates the person or thing which, though not the direct object, is interested in, or affected by, the action of the verb. The direct object answers the questions: Whom? What? The indirect object answers the questions: to/for whom or what? • Often with verbs of giving, showing, telling • Dic nomen tuum mihi! • Puer gladium amico demonstrabat. • Sometimes with intransitive verbs • Credite mihi! • Sometimes with particular adjectives expressing fitness, nearness, facility, likeness, usefulness, and their opposites: aptus –a –um, proximus –a –um, and similis –e • Galli sunt proximi Germanis. • The Gauls are near the Germans. • Dative of Possession • A dative of possession is used with forms of esse when more stress is laid on the thing possessed than on the possessor. • Often with verbs of being • Ille Imperatori est gladius. • That sword is the emperor’s. • Dative of Agent • Used with the gerundive and with passive periphrastics • Magister vobis audiendus est. • The teacher must be heard by you. • Dative of Purpose/Predicative Dative • Dative used to denote purpose. • Words commonly used with this are auxilium, praesidium, cura, and subsidium. • Part of the Double Dative construction • Translated as/for • Venit auxilio castris. • He came as an aid to the camps. • Exitio est avidum mare nautis. • The greedy sea is destruction to sailors. • Dative of Reference • Person or thing affected in the sentence • Part of the Double Dative Construction • Flumen erat magno impedimento Gallis. • The river was a great impediment to the Gauls. • Hoc magno dedecori erit tibi. • This will be a great disgrace for you. • Dative of Separation • Takes the place of the ablative sometimes with compound verbs (verbs that have prepositions added to them) • Hunc timorem mihi eripe! (e/ex +rapio) • Take this fear from me! • Accusative as Direct Object • Direct Object • Brutus Caesarem vulneravit. • Object Complement, often with verbs of naming, choosing, or naming (factitive) • Senatus Sullam dictatorem appellavit. • With verbs of asking and teaching – one accusative is the direct object, the other is the thing asked for or taught • Meam sententiam Magister rogavit. • The teacher asked my opinion. • Accusative as Object of Preposition • Certain prepositions take the accusative case, such as: ad, ante, circum, contra, inter, intra, ob, per, post, prope, propter, super, trans, ultra • Propter numerum sagittarum Persicarum • On account of the number of Persian arrows • Prope rivum • Near the river • Accusative of Motion Towards • Verbs of movement sometimes use ad plus and accusative • Mittam cras ad Caesarem epistulam. • I shall send the letter to Caesar tomorrow. • Accusative with ad plus the gerund or gerundive • Denotes purpose • Ad delendam Carthaginem • For the purpose of destroying Carthage • Ad dicendum • For the purpose of speaking • Accusative of Duration of Time • Tells for how long something occurs • No preposition in Latin • Translated with for • Multas annas • For many years • Accusative of Extent of Space • Similar to accusative of duration of time • No preposition in Latin • Translated with for • Multa milia passuum iter fecerunt. • They marched for many thousands of miles. • Accusative of Place to Which • Ad plus a place in accusative • Often with forms of eo ire ivi itum • Eamus ad Romam. • Let us go to Rome! • Accusative of Respect/Specification • Often used with passive participles or adjectives • Not usually found in prose, rather in poetry • Translation: with respect to • Os umerosque deo similis • Like a god in face and shoulders (with respect to his face and shoulders) • Accusative as Subject • Part of the construction of indirect statement • The subject of the statement after the word “that” in English would go into the accusative in Latin. • Amo eum hoc non intellegere. • Also with verbs of permission such as patior, sino, and iubeo • Accusative of Exclamation • An accusative noun or pronoun accompanied by an adjective is used in exclamations. • O me miserum! • O miserable me! • Ablative as Object of the Preposition • Adverbial clause • It answers the questions: whence, by what means, how, from what cause, in what manner, when, and where • Prepositions include: a/ab, cum, de, e/ex, in, prae, pro, sine, and sub • Ablative of Separation • An Ablative of Separation is used with verbs meaning keep away from, free from, deprive, or lack. • Christus nos a peccatis nostris liberavit. • Christ freed us from our sins. • An Ablative of Separation can also denote origin/descent. • Homo optimis parentibus natus • A man of excellent parentage • Ablative of Agent • The Ablative of Agent is used with passive forms of a verb to indicate the agent by whom an action is done. • Uses a/ab • Is a form of the Ablative of Separation • Clitus ab Alexandro interfectus est. • Clitus was killed by Alexander. • Ablative of Instrument/Means • The Ablative of Instrument indicates the object/means with which an action is performed. • No preposition in Latin • Translation: with or by means of • Clitus gladio interfectus est. • Clitus was killed with a sword (by means of a sword). • Ablative of Accompaniment • An Ablative of Accompaniment is used with verbs of motion to denote “in company with.” • Uses the preposition cum • Ibit mecum. • She will go with me. • Ablative of Manner • The Ablative of Manner describes how something is done. • Cum is used, but it may be omitted if the noun is modified by an adjective • Cum dignitate mori satius est quam cum ignominia vivere. • It is better to die with dignity than to live in discrace. • Summa haec diligentia fecit. • He did this with the greatest care. • Ablative of Quality/Description • An Ablative of Quality is used with an adjective. • No preposition in Latin • Vir magna virtute aedificium hoc fecit. • A man of great virtue made this building. • Ablative of Time When/Within Which and Ablative of Place Where • These Ablatives indicate when or where an action takes place. • No preposition is used in Latin for time, but in, ex, and a/ab are use for place. • Translation: at, in, within • Proxima aestate in Grecia mortuus est. • Ablative of Respect • An Ablative of Respect denotes that ‘in respect of which.’ • Sometimes called Ablative of Limitation • Common usages: specie (in appearance), re ipsa (in reality), nomine (in name), maior natu (older in age) • Translation: with respect to • Dignus laude erit vir ipsa. • That man will be worthy (with respect to) of praise. • Ablative of Comparison • In place of quam (than), one can use the ablative of comparison. • The construction is only used when the other noun is nominative or accusative. • Haec nonne luce clariora sunt? • Are not these things clearer than daylight? • Ablative Place From Which • Often with ab, e/ex, de • Ex urbe egressus est. • He left the city. He departed from the city. • Ablative of Degree of Difference • After comparatives, this ablative shows the extent or degree to which the objects differ. • Often uses multo, paulo, eo, tanto • These forms must never be used with positive degree adjectives or adverbs. • Puer est altior quam puella uno pede. • The boy is taller than the girl by one foot. • Multo me doctior • A man greatly more knowledgeable than myself • Ablative Absolute • Two words in the ablative, one a noun and one a participle • Often an ablative of agent or means often inserted in it • Trans: when, since, although, after, with the ______having been ______ed • Militibus vulneratis, dux fugit. • With the soldiers having been wounded, the leader fled. • Since the soldiers were wounded, the leader fled. • Ablative of Cause • Translation: because, on account of, by • Timore commotus est. • He was moved on account of fear. • Ablative of Price • This is used with verbs of buying, exchanging, and selling. • Translation: for • Don’t get this mixed up with genitive of worth/price. • Viginti talentis unam orationem Isocrates vendidit. • Isocrates sold one speech for 20 talents. • Pacem bello mutavit. • He exchanged peace for war. • Verbs with Ablatives • Ablatives are used with these verbs because of their essential meaning: utor – I serve myself with (I use), fruor – I enjoy myself with (I enjoy), vescor – I feed myself with (I eat, feed), fungor – I busy myself with (I perform) • Utor rebus multis. • I use many things.