Questions tagged [grammar-choice]
When asking which choice (case, tense, mood etc.) is grammatical in a given situation, use this tag.
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On the (typical?) ambiguity of "Porta clausa est"
It is often said that Porta clausa est can have two readings depending on the categorial nature of the participle: verbal (cf. clauditur/clausa est) or adjectival (cf. clausa est/clausa fuit), which ...
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Memento quod <subjunctive>
(A tangent off of a question and comment by David Charles.)
This verse from roughly the ninth century:
Memento rerum conditor,
Nostri quod olim corporis
Sacrata ab alvo Virginis
Nascendo ...
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What is the difference between -us and -io?
One can derive nouns from verbs by attaching -us or -io to the perfect participle stem.
For example, movere gives rise to motus (fourth declension) and motio.
The meanings of these derived words are ...
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Is the complement of esse in nominative or accusative when esse is a subject?
Suppose I want to say something like "I like being a human".
There are undoubtedly several ways to phrase that in Latin, but I want to do it so that it the subject is "to be a human".
The complete ...
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When can the gerund take an object?
Typically the gerundive is employed when one using a gerund with an object seems possible.
For example, I have understood that aqua bibenda est and rei faciendae causa are preferable to aquam bibendum ...
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When to use a genitive pronoun instead of a possessive adjective
The genitive form of the personal pronouns (e.g. mei, tui, nostri, nostrum, etc.) seem to occur fairly often in the following contexts:
Partitive genitive: to indicate a part of some whole.
Quis ...
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When to use cum + subjunctive and when cum + indicative
So I have never, ever, ever been able to grasp fully any explanation in any textbook of when to use "cum" with the subjunctive and when to use it with the indicative, because the examples they give ...
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The difference between coniunctivus and imperativus when expressing commands
What is the rule for choosing coniunctivus or imperativus when expressing commands? I know, that imperativus has only second person forms, so one is forced to use coniunctivus for other persons. Are ...
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Stem for derivatives like figura, statura and cultura
I learned in a recent question that derived nouns like figura, statura and cultura do not always look like the future participle but are actually formed from a different stem.
Examples of differences: ...
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Genitive vs Ablative of Price
In Latin, worth or value can be expressed by the genitive or by the ablative. Here are some examples:
Genitive
Non pono utrique par pretium: pluris aestimo beneficium quam iniuriam. (Sen Ep. Mor. 81....
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What is the difference between accusative and genitive with meminisse?
The verb meminisse can take an accusative or a genitive object.
Also other constructions are possible (see the entry in L&S), but I want to focus on comparing these two in classical Latin.
Are ...
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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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Choosing between the prefixes e- and ex-
Before a consonant on can use either version of the prepositions e/ex.
Both seem to appear in prefixes as well, but ex- is often assimilated.
It seems that, for example, words beginning with F take ex-...
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Is active periphrastic conjugation compulsory in consecutio temporum?
There is a rule which I have learned to know and love by the name consecutio temporum, and it governs the tense of a conjunctive predicate in (many) subordinate clauses.
All three Latin Grammars I ...
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What is the grammatical "logic" of impersonal constructions like "Me non solum piget stultitiae meae sed etiam pudet" (Cic. De Dom. 29)?
What is the grammatical "logic" of the impersonal construction with psychological verbs like pudet, piget, paenitet, taedet, miseret? (here is a short descriptive characterization of so-...
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How do you convert 'lectulus' from a noun to an adjective?
I'm thinking that a houseguest who stays on your couch should be something like hospes lectuli. But that sounds more like a guest invited by your couch, which is silly. In my non-expert understanding ...
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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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Is it "bene videtur" or "bonum videtur"? Adjective or adverb with verbs/copulae meaning "seem"
With verbs like "seem, appear", one sometimes uses an adverb to express how something appears ("she looked well"), at other times an adjective ("he seemed angry"). How did the Romans do it, ...
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The interjection "o" with different cases
I recently came across o beatum te in a letter and I was surprised that accusative was used instead of vocative.
Lewis and Short indeed indicate that the interjection o can be used with vocative, ...
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Is the phrase professor emerita grammatically correct?
Since professor has masculine gender, one may think that the phrase should be professor emeritus, regardless of the gender of the person referred to. Is the use of emerita simply a case of grammatical ...
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Reference with hic, is and ille
Consider this example:
Ecce Marcus et Gaius. Hic canit, ille auscultat.
Here are Marcus and Gaius. The latter sings, the former listens.
When there are two or more things one could refer to, hic ...
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When did the infinitive of purpose arise?
In Classical Latin, purpose would normally be expressed with ut, or ad with a gerund, or a supine with a verb of motion, or numerous other ways.
However, in later and vulgar Latin (most notably the ...
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What is the difference between present and perfect conjunctive in hesitation?
I recently said this in our chat room:
Ita crediderim, sed certus non sum.
A brief discussion ensued about my choice of tense.
I wanted to express hesitation, and my gut feeling says that the ...
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Difference between future participle and simple future
They say taking a walk over a cemetery inspires you to ponder the big questions. I have definitely found that to be true, as I recently came across this inscription on a local graveyard:
According to ...
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Constantis vs. constantes et similia
Following up on @brianpck's suggestion in this question:
In this passage:
Maxume vero sunt admirabiles motus earum quinque stellarum quae falso vocantur errantes; nihil enim errat quod in omni ...
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Does using quippe in a relative clause require conjunctive?
One can insert the particle quippe in a relative clause to give it a causal or otherwise explaining tone.1
Does quippe require using conjunctive in the relative clause?
If not, are there some rules ...
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Is "nolī esse" grammatical?
In the Vatican's Nova Vulgata, Ecclesiastes 7:16-17 reads as follows:
Noli esse nimis iustus
neque sapiens supra modum!
Cur te perdere vis?
Ne agas nimis impie
et noli esse stultus!
Cur ...
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Ordinal adjectives for single things modifying plural noun?
To refer to "the first and second chapters", do I say:
capitula prima et secunda
or:
capitula primum et secundum?
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The difference between ablative absolute and a participle coniunctum
(old misleading title: The difference between ablative absolute and present participle)
On participles A&G notes:
The present and perfect participles are often used as a predicate, where in ...
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Is the adjective in latin put after the noun or before?
E.g Is the legal term essentialia negotii correct use of the grammar(declension, agreement, word order) rules or not?
Should it not be negotiorum essentialium so that the case, the number and the ...
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What is the logic behind the order of the cases
Most English books of Latin use the order used by Charles E. Bennett:
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, Ablative.
But most French books use the following order:
Nominative, ...
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Is the Phrase "Sola Dea Fatum Novit" Proper Latin?
I have seen this sentence translated as both "Only the Goddess knows fate" and "Only the Goddess knows their fate". That aside, I remember someone telling me that this was not correct Latin, and it ...
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How to resolve ambiguity with reflexive pronouns
A comment to an answer of this question mentions that ambiguity can arise with a reflexive pronoun when both the independent clause and the clause with the reflexive pronoun have third-person subjects....
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How to speak a language with a third declension adjective?
Most Latin adjectives related to names of countries and languages are of first and second declension: Latinus, Graecus, Anglicus…
If I want to express that I speak in any such language, I will ...
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What is the correct way to say "Noctis Avem"?
I'm looking to use "Night bird" as a name or title for something. I don't know which, if any, of the following would be correct:
Noctis Avem
Avem Noctis
Avis Noctem
Avem nox
etc.
What rules come ...
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How to form the plural of "noun plus noun in possessive case"?
I would like to know what are the rules to form the plural of a noun plus a noun in possessive case. I am not sure if this is a correct description of what I am interested in let me give an example.
...
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Does Latin have a mechanism to disambiguate possessive pronouns of the same gender referring to distinct persons?
Question: does Latin have a grammatical mechanism to disambiguate the ambiguous use of `his' in the third of the three following English sentences?
Person A wrote a book.
Then person B wrote a ...
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Dropping "to be" and other verbs in Latin?
Some languages, like Indonesian, can drop the verb to be when the meaning is obvious.
They are zero-copula languages.
I heard that some Latin authors wrote some sentences with this feature.
Do you ...
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Translation of "since 1950" (for example)
I'm in the midst of designing a graphic for my parents' 50th anniversary celebration, and for obscure reasons I want to include the proper Latin equivalent of "since 1967", in the same way that a ...
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How to emphasize adjectives?
In English, and most modern European languages, we have one single word, "very," which is accepted as the regular way to make an adjective more extreme.
Is there a common way to do this in Latin?
Ways ...
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How do I specify how many "litterae" or "castra" there are?
Certain words in Latin have a special meaning in the plural, which is often translated with the English singular. One obvious example of this is litterae, -arum, which means, "a letter."
...
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How to answer a question?
Respondere looks like a good verb for answering, but how can I say "to answer a question"?
I failed to find an answer by looking at dictionaries.
These options come to mind:
quaestionem respondere
in ...
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Usage of adjective solus
I'm trying to translate the sentence "The whole state was thanking this man's brother alone." (that is, the brother the only one being thanked)
My try is: Tota civitas fratri huius soli gratias agebat....
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Is it acceptable/regular to use diacritics (macron) in written texts?
I'm building the brand for a web development company, and I'm using Latin for the name and slogan. However, as I am not familiar with the language, I would like some help clarifying meanings to avoid ...
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Can -c replace -que in other words than atque and neque?
The enclitic -que in the words neque and atque can be shortened to produce nec and ac.
Are there other instances where -que can turn into -c?
Can this be productive, or can it only happen in very ...
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Can we use the gerund passively?
In a recent question it was pointed out that there is no passive gerund, and cupido amandi can't mean the desire of being loved. But I'm not sure that this is the case. I tend to view the gerund as ...
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Alea iacta est, plural version?
I was thinking about the famous Phrase "alea iacta est", and I was wondering: how would be the plural version of it?
I thought about
ALEAS IACTA SUNT
Because aleas needs to be in the accusative ...
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Hit the lamb with the flower
Page 18 of "Prosodic Phrasing in Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism" by Jessica Mayo, a doctoral dissertation that has nothing to do with Latin (but watch for the relevance, it's coming), ...
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Why *In medias res* and not *In media res*?
Wikipedia gives literal translation as: Into the middle of things.
As far as I am aware into – in takes accusative.
Plural accusative of medium seems to be media, not medias
Even if I am ...
user1846
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Can "sum" and "nemo" work together to create a phrase meaning "I am no one?"
I have been trying to understand the relationship between "sum" and "nemo", to create a phrase meaning something like "I am no one". In all the contexts I personally ...
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