Questions tagged [accusative]
For questions about the accusative case.
56 questions
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Accusative equals nominative for neuter words – how universal is this and why?
The first mnemonic for Latin case ending I learnt was that for neuter words, the accusative form is always identical to the nominative form. This applies even to exotic word endings like animal or id, ...
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How do we know that Italian words come from accusatives, not ablatives?
I have been told by several sources that Italian nouns and adjectives that originate from Latin come from accusative forms.
Also the final -m is lost and an u becomes o.
For example, caro > carnem > ...
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Happy Birthday and the accusative of exclamation
I'd like to say "Happy Birthday [to you]!" in Latin. I see two possibilities in Traupman's Conversational Latin:
Fēlīx nātālis tibi!
Fēlīcem nātālem [tibi exoptō]!
The first is used in ...
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Why did Medieval Latin use "ad" with the accusative instead of just using the dative?
Part of Documents of Medieval Latin (page 14) states several differences between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. One is
an increased use of prepositions where Classical Latin used a simple ...
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What is an Adverbial Accusative?
In book II, line 141 of Vergil's Aeneid (shown at the end of the question), my notes describe the first word 'quod' as an 'adverbial accusative', but no explanation as to what that means.
So my ...
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Can a verbum deponens go along with an accusativus?
In Plinius I encountered:
"Confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi supplicium minatus"
Is supplicium some sort of accusativus belonging to minatus, which comes from deponens minor?
If a form is ...
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Confusion regarding 'esse' + accusative
I am currently learning Latin from the Bloomsbury Latin to GCSE books. In one of the reading passages the following constructions are used:
"non cupio rex vester esse. dei signum mittent si me ...
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Why is "O felicem virum, beatum Ioseph" in the accusative case here?
This is one part of a prayer traditionally said before Mass, in honour of St. Joseph:
O felicem virum, beatum Ioseph, cui datum est Deum, quem multi reges voluerunt videre et non viderunt, audire et ...
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Difference between Vocative and Accusative usage
What is the grammatical difference between saying something like Bonam Fortunam (in the accusative) and Bona Fortuna (in the vocative) to another person? I have always heard the former, and I do not ...
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Accusativus 'Graecus' pertinetne ullo modo ad accusativum temporis?
Confer exempla haec:
Vinctus pedes senator fugere non potuit.
Augustus multos annos regnans rem publicam sibi subiecit.
Accusativus Graecus a Graecis esse dicitur. Discentes linguam Graecam ...
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When to use the Greek accusative?
The Greek accusative or the accusative of respect (accusativus Graecus or accusativus respectus) is used like the ablative of respect (ablativus respectus).
This construction is a loan from Greek, ...
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Is "servos" accusative plural in Plautus's "is est servos ipse" and, if that's the case, why does "esse" takes accusative case there?
I have some troubles in understanding the syntax of a sentence from Plautus's Captivi, line 580; I need to add glosses. The sentence is "Nam is est servos ipse, neque praeter se umquam ei servos fuit"....
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Confused with "per āera" in "Familia Romana"
This occurs in the following sentence: "...ille vir audāx per āera effugere cōnstituit." I don't understand why "āera" is not in the accusative case here.
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What is the difference between "in umerīs" and "in umerōs"?
In chapter 6 of LLPSI, we have the following sentence
Syrus et Lēander duōs saccōs in umerīs portant
While in chapter 9, we have:
Pāstor laetus ovem in umerōs impōnit.
Why the ablative in the ...
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Why is accusative pronoun "te" used in this construction?
In lines 137-138 of chapter XIII of Lingua latina per se illustrata. Familia Romana one can read:
Iam necesse est tē dormire.
I don't understand why the accusative pronoun tē is used in the above ...
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Why does "Hominem unius libri timeo" use comparativus unius instead of positivus unum?
Why does "Hominem unius libri timeo" use comparativus unius instead of positivus unum? Does it mean "I fear a man of one book (more)"? Or does that unius belong to hominem because ...
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In memoriam: why not "in memoria"?
Consider this usual example of Latin+English:
As Wiktionary states, in memoriam literally means "into memory" (memoriam is in accusative case). However, as Wiktionary (above) and Wikipedia state, the ...
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Use of accusative with operari in Opticae Thesaurus
In al-Haytham's Opticae Thesaurus, the following sentence (discussing what the first book will describe) confuses me:
Primum est quod lux per se et colores illuminati operentur in visum aliquam ...
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Why "decorem indutus est" instead of "decore indutus est"?
Psalm 92 v. 1
Dóminus regnávit, decórem indútus est: * indútus est Dóminus fortitúdinem, et præcínxit se.
The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: * the Lord is clothed with strength, and ...
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Why is that which is spoken of expressed as in + ablative?
Vīta est spīrandī mūnere fruī, mors prīvārī. Hoc autem spīrandī mūnus apud plērōsque in bonīs dicitur.
Livet er å nyte Guds* åndingsgave; døden å berøves [den]. Denne pustingas gave anses dermed i de ...
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Use of accusative instead of ablative with 'pro'
I saw written in a coat of arms "PRO MARE NOSTRVM", but we all know that the preposition "pro" takes ablative, so the right form would be "PRO MARI NOSTRO" wouldn't it?
I ...
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Why is an accusative mode needed?
Consider Deuteronomy 28:30, in the Vulgata:
Uxorem accipias, et alius dormiat cum ea. Domum ædifices, et non habites in ea. Plantes vineam, et non vindemies eam.
So uxorem, domum, vineam, and eam ...
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Unsure why the accusative relative pronoun is used? [Tacitus Annals 2.24]
I hope this is the right place to ask this, and I hope it seems I have done enough research before asking. Basically, I am working my way through translating Tacitus' Annals, and have come across ...
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Why nominative instead of accusative with verb "sum"?
Recently I've been learning about the accusative case, in/direct objects and in/transitive verbs. In light of this, consider the phrase:
Nilus fluvius est
I'm interested in the rationale (...
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Why use nominative in Coniugatio periphrastica passiva?
Why do we use the nominative case in this example:
Liber legendus est. = The book needs to be read.
If liber is a direct object, then why not put it in accusative?
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Why is the accusative not used in Judges 5:23?
This verse reads:
Maledicite terrae Meroz, dixit angelus Domini : maledicite habitatoribus ejus, quia non venerunt ad auxilium Domini, in adjutorium fortissimorum ejus.
The context is that of ...
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Should these "vellus" be "vellerum"?
I read the following text in the book Método de Latín I by Santiago Segura Munguía, published by the University of Deusto (emphasis mine on the words that cause me difficulty):
Multas fabulas a ...
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Are the following "prep. + accusative"'s used for location?
Keller's Learn to Read Latin says:
Prepositions that take the accusative emphasize the idea of motion
toward, into, around, and through.
Prepositions that take the ablative indicate one of the three
...
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Verb + esse + predicate nominative
Pueri debent esse boni
Habitus vero mediocritatis intelligitur esse liberatio hominis a dispositionibus subiectibilibus
Why are boni and liberatio nominative? It seems to me that they ought to be ...
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"Ego me omnium hominum beatissimum tot annos putabam": Why annos is accusative here?
In the beginners-book "Julia" by Maud Reed we find this sentence:
"Non falsa," inquit, "Solon, vir sapiens, dixit. Ego me omnium hominum beatissimum tot annos putabam. Nunc ...
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Why would the praeposition "per" ever take an ablative instead of an accusative complement?
PER + ABL.: Barbarism, solœcism, or diachronic evolution?
Lewis and Short clearly state that per is a praeposition whose
normal complement is in the accusative. Without having dol...
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Can valeo be used transitively?
Looking through the entry in Lewis & Strong, I couldn't find any mention of the accusative being used with valeo, except as the object of certain prepositions. However, the following use of magna ...
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Can ‘per’ occur with accusative gerundium?
In my grammar (Samson Eitrem: Latinsk grammatikk, 3rd edition, by Bjørg Tosterud and Egil Kraggerud, Aschehoug, 1996), under § 146 Gerundium, he states that:
Akkusativ brukes etter preposisjonene ad ...
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When are -ns words used with accusative direct objects?
In English, one common generalization is that "-ing" words only take direct objects when they are verb forms, not when they are true adjectives or true nouns. (There are only a few possible exceptions,...
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Is "ire" used correctly here? "Iosaphatum salutem ite."
Can ire be used in this way? "Iosaphatum salutem ite." (I go to Iosephat for shelter.) Furthermore, is the two accusatives correct? This sentence is based on a Sanskrit construction, and I do not know ...
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Can any verb which means "to go (to somewhere)" be used in a double-accusative construction?
Can any verb which means "to go (to somewhere)" be used in a double-accusative construction? Like dīcō?
Can I use any particular verb for "to go" preceded by two accusatives and have the sentence be ...
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Why is *dōna* the plural acc. Instead of *donos* like the rest of the 2nd declensions?
I am currently studying the declensions for nouns (currently on the 2nd one) and saw this difference.
amīcōs, fīliōs, agrōs
VS
dōna
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Accusative of Duration of Space
I am working through Jenney's Second-Year Latin and I came across this sentence:
Pyrrhus Romanos mille octingentos cepit, eosque summo honore tractavit.
It's the first clause that's giving me the ...
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Did Latin have any ergative verbs?
An "ergative verb" is a verb that can either take two nouns (a subject and an object) or only one (a subject), where the object of the two-noun form corresponds to the subject of the one-noun form.
...
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Why is "ad eum" and not a dative pronoun used in this sentence?
This is a sentence in lines 153-154 of chapter XVIII of Lingua latina per se illustrata. Familia Romana:
Cum pater tuus abest, oportet tē epistulās ad eum scribere.
Is there any reason why ad eum (...
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Why does ‘lūdīs’ end in a short syllable in Ov. Ep. Sapph. 16?
In Ovid’s Epistulae 16.152–153, the following two lines are found (‘eligiac couplet’, I believe is the term in English):
mṓre tuǽ gentī́s nitidā́ dum nū́da palǽstrā̆
lū́dis et és ...
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Accusative in genitive relative clause with verb finiebat
I am working on Satyricon, currently chapter 30, and have stumbled upon a passage with a grammar that baffles me:
Et quod praecipuē mīrātus sum, in postibus triclīniī fascēs erant cum secūribus ...
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Is there such a thing as the accusativus cum participio (a.c.p)? If not, what is this? (Greek)
This is not a hermeneutics question, but rather, a Greek grammar question inspired by a verse from the Bible. Adverbial clauses are common to English, Ancient Greek, and Latin, and I believe there is ...
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Regarding the mode of "terram" in Deuteronomy 28:38
Deuteronomy 28:38 reads:
Sementem multam jacies in terram, et modicum congregabis: quia locustæ devorabunt omnia.
I think the first phrase before the comma has the following structure (but ...
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Why do so many Latin prepositions of place take the accusative and not the ablative to express location?
When talking about the locative case, Latin grammars generally say that its usage was mostly taken over by the ablative case in Latin. For example: Allen and Greenough say:
Relations of Place are ...
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Audire, with accusative or dative?
The verb audire is many times (if not most of the times) found with an accusative. For example, in the Vulgata, 4 Regum, 22:11 says:
et audisset rex verba libri legis Domini, scidit vestimenta sua.
...
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When to use accusative and nominative?
I am having some difficulty figuring out the Latin translation for the following sentences:
My favourite animal is a dog. Will dog (canis) be considered as nominative or accusative (canem)?
I want a ...
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Accusative with Adverbial Function
In the Latin sentence Trabes inter se distant binos pedes, the translation is The beams are two feet distant from each other.
In the English sentence, two feet functions adverbially, describing the ...
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eadem mutata resurgo
What is the role of eadem mutata in this phrase? I'm guessing either neuter plural accusative of extent, or feminine nominative as apposition to an implied ego. The original context of this line is ...
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In Vulgate in Apocalypsis 20:4, why does it say "et regnaverunt cum Christo mille *annis*" (ablative?), rather than "...annos" (accusative)?
In Vulgate in Apocalypsis 20:4, why does it say "et regnaverunt cum Christo mille annis" (ablative? Or is it dative?), rather than "et regnaverunt cum Christo mille annos" (...
