Questions tagged [passive-voice]
The passive-voice tag has no usage guidance.
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Null expletive objects in Latin? "Cariotae cum ficis certandum habent" (Plin. Ep. 1,8)
How is the gerundive construction to be analyzed in the following example?
Cariotae cum ficis certandum habent. (Plin. Ep. 1,8)
'Dates have to fight with figs'.
Could you please provide me ...
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Do non-deponent Latin verbs ever have a "middle voice"?
In Ancient Greek, verbs often take a "middle voice", neither active nor passive. The forms usually look identical to the passive on the surface, but can take direct objects and cannot take an agent (...
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On the absence of impersonal passives of deponent verbs
In a previous post there's a discussion on an intriguing example of a passive construction of a transitive (allegedly) deponent verb: Ab amīcīs hortārētur (Did Latin have any ergative verbs? ). The ...
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Can I passivize a verb with two objects with respect to either one?
If I have a transitive verb with one object, passivizing an active sentence is straightforward.
For example, "te amo" becomes "(a me) amaris".
But how to passivize a verb that has two objects?
For ...
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How do I use gerundives of obligation for deponent verbs?
(Inspired by the comments on this answer.)
The gerundive of obligation is a wonderful little idiom in Latin, as in Cato's famous mantra
Carthāgō dēlenda est "Carthage must be destroyed"
In this ...
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When to use -ris vs. -re as a passive verbal ending
Anyone who has read Cicero's famous line,
Quo usque tandem, Catalina, abutere patientia nostra?
...knows that the 2nd person singular passive personal ending "-ris" is often changed to "-re":
...
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How to make a deponent passive in meaning?
I was thinking about the verb sequi, a deponent which means to follow. I was wondering, how do you put the deponent into a passive form?
So is it possible to translate the following sentences into ...
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Instances of the future passive infinitive
Throughout my time studying Latin in school, one grammatical construction in particular has always intrigued me to an extent — the future passive infinitive (eg. amatum iri). Whenever it came up (...
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Gone But Not Forgotten
On the Andrew Marr TV-prog (Sunday, 10/11/2019) General Sir Nicholas Carter was interviewed. When Marr asked about the declining interest in Remembrance-Day Commemorations, the general quoted ...
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Why is the passive participle in Matthew 10:1 rendered as active in English?
I'm a little confused by the clause that begins Matthew 10:
10:1 Et convocatis duodecim discipulis suis, dedit illis potestatem spirituum immundorum, ut ejicerent eos, et curarent omnem languorem,...
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Latin passive endings: Why is -mini sticking out
The Latin passive ending usually feature an additional letter R compared to the active endings: laud-or, -aris, -atur, -amur, -antur. However, the second person plural is different, using the ending -...
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Hogwarts Motto from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series
Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter books, has the following Latin motto: Draco dormiens numquam titillandus.
Most online sources translate this as "Never tickle a ...
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Active verbs with passive meanings
Every beginning Latin-learner is familiar with the idea of deponent verbs: verbs that have passive forms but active meanings.
I am curious about a small subset of Latin verbs that aren't just ...
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Passive verbal noun, oblique cases
As far as I know, present infinitive is used as verbal noun for the nominative and accusative, and gerund is used as verbal noun in other oblique cases (genitive, dative and ablative).
I would like to ...
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"cenacula dicuntur, ad quae scalis ascenditur" - why passive singular (ascenditur)?
According to Festus (can be found in L&S under cenaculum):
cenacula dicuntur, ad quae scalis ascenditur
While the overall meaning of the statement is quite clear (namely that the upper room that ...
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Passive form of "One can not know"
This is an exercise in a book: We are asked to translate "one" using the passive voice for several sentences. Unfortunately, the exercise is not corrected.
One of those sentences is "...
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The usage of present passive infinitive
In Augustine confessions we read:
"quid tibi sum ipse, ut amari te iubeas a me et, nisi faciam, irascaris mihi et mineris ingentes miserias?" (book I, cap. V)
I can't understand the usage of the ...
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Is the third person passive perfect of a verb a source of nouns, e.g. "benedictus" from "bendico"?
I always get confused with benedictus. It Christian prayers, it is found both as a noun and as a (passive) verb, e.g. benedictus est. When est is omitted (not uncommon in Latin, it seems), both look ...
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