Return to Answer

Caesar occisus senatores placuit.

Caesar occisus senatoribus placuit.

Alexander audito Dareum movisse ab Ecbatanis, omisso itinere, quod petebat, in Mediam, fugientem insequi pergit strenue.

 

— Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 5.13.1.1

Alexander audito Dareum movisse ab Ecbatanis, omisso itinere, quod petebat, in Mediam, fugientem insequi pergit strenue.

— Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 5.13.1.1

This is a plain copula with a subject complement. An attributive translation would be absurd: "the brave Caesar is". Copula with subject complement the simplest kind of predicative construction, equally common in other Indo-European languages. We must translate the sentence predicatively, i.e. as a copula with subject complement: "Caesar is brave".

This is a plain copula with a subject complement. An attributive translation would be absurd: "the brave Caesar is". Copula with subject complement is the simplest kind of predicative construction, equally common in other Indo-European languages. We must translate the sentence predicatively, i.e. as a copula with subject complement: "Caesar is brave".