January 17 th, 2012

 Infinitive = A verbal noun; “infinitive” because it is not limited by person or number.  6 forms: Present, Future, and Perfect (Active and Passive).  Intransitive verbs (i.e. verbs that do not take a direct object generally lack a passive infinitive).  Present Infinitives (both Active and Passive) have variant forms according to Conjugation.  Future and Perfect Infinitives are formed in exactly the same way regardless of Conjugation.

TenseActivePassive Present-āre, -ēre, -ere, -īre-ārī, -ērī, -ī, -īrī PerfectPerfect stem + -issePerf.Pass.Part. + esse FutureFut. Act. Part. + esse(Supine ) –um + -īre

 As a verbal noun the infinitive can be the subject of a verb (i.e. errare est humanum – “To err is human.”)  Complementary Infinitives complete the meaning of another verb (i.e. Discedere nunc possunt – “They are now able to leave.)  Infinitive can serve as a direct object together with its own accusative subject (i.e. Iussit eos venire – “He ordered them to come.”)

 Indirect statement reports what someone else has said, thought, felt, believed etc. without quoting directly (i.e. Cicero said that Caesar was conquering Gaul).  After a verb of saying, thinking, believing etc. the subject of the following sentence (i.e. that which was said, thought etc.) is placed in the accusative and the verb is placed in the infinitive. (i.e. Cicero inquit Caesarem Galliam vincere).

 Always translate into English with “that” (i.e. Cicero says that Caesar is conquering Gaul).  When the subject doing the saying, thinking etc. is the same as the subject of the indirect statement, the accusative subject of the infinitive is the reflexive pronoun.  Compare – Cicero inquit Caesarem Galliam vincere with Caesar inquit se Galliam vincere.  The tense of the infinitive is always relative to that of the main verb (cf. Wheelock, p. 165).

 Latin (like English) has 3 degrees of adjective: Positive, Comparative, Superlative (i.e. Good, Better, Best OR happy, happier, happiest).  Comparative Adjectives (i.e. Better, Happier, Stronger etc.) formed by taking the stem (i.e. genitive singular form minus the ending) and adding appropriate case of the Comparative endings (i.e. –ior + 3 rd declension endings in masc. and fem; -ius in neut. sing. nom.).  Declines like 3 rd declension adjectives with a few notable exceptions (cf. Wheelock, p. 172)  Superlative formed by taking the stem + -issimus, -issima, - issimum ; declines like magnus, magna, magnum.

 Comparatives translated with the “more –” or the suffix “-er”; sometimes can be taken as “rather –” or “too –” (i.e. lux clarior – “a rather bright light” OR vita eius erat brevior – “his life was too short”).  Superlatives translates as “-est”, “most –”, or “very –”.

 When quam follows a comparative adjective it means “than” comparing one item in a sentence with another (i.e. Dicit hos libros esse clariores quam illos – “He says that these books are more famous than those”).  Quam before a superlative means as – as possible (i.e. Amicus meus erat vir quam iucundissimus = “My friend was the pleasantest man possible.”

 When the first of two elements to be compared is the nom. or. acc., quam is left out and the second item is placed in the ablative (ablative of comparison).  Quis in Italia erat clarior Cicerone? – “Who in Italy was more famous than Cicero?”