Section 10: Syntax

SECTION X.

OF SYNTAX.

1. SYNTAX is the right way of putting words together in a sentence.

2. One part of Syntax teaches the Agreement, the other the Government, of Words.

3. Every Verb agrees with its Nominative Case in Number and Person; every Adjective, with its Substantive in Gender, Number and Case; every Relative, with its Antecedent in Person, Gender, and Number.

4. The Relative, if there be no other, is the Nominative Case to the Verb; but if there be, it is governed of the Verb, or of some other word in the same sentence.

5. A Nominative of the First or Second Person is often understood; yea. and of the Third, if it has been mentioned before, or may be easily known by the sense of the Verb; as ita praedicant, so they say.

6. So is also the Substantive to an Adjective; as, amat bonos, he loves good men.

7. An Infinitive Mood, or part of a sentence, often supplies the place of a Nominative or Accusative Case; as, non progredi, est regredi.

8. When an Infinitive Mood, or part of a sentence, supplies the place of a Nominative Case to the Verb, or of a Substantive to an Adjective, the Verb is the Third Person Sungular, and the Adjective the Neuter Gender.

9. A Collective Nominative may have either a Singular or Plural Verb; (as, turba ruit or ruunt;) and so may two Nominatives coupled together; as, terror et metus invadit or invadunt.

10. A Verb between Nominatives of different Numbers, and an Adjective between Substantives of different Genders, ma agree with either; as vestes sunt, or est, lana.

11. The First Person is preferable to the Second, the Second to the Third; as, ego et tu fecimus, tu et ille audivistis.

12. The Masculine Gender is preferable among animate things; as, vir et mancipium sumt mersi; the Neuter, among inanimate; as, liber, charta, et atramentum parata sunt.

13. The word thing is frequently understood, the Adjective being put in the Neuter Gender; as magnum, a great thing.

14. The word which asks, and that which answers, a question must be in the same Case; and so must Substantives signifying the same thing; as, urbs Roma, the city Rome.

15. Verbs of a Passive Sense govern a Nominative Case; as, sum discipulus; his vocatur doctus.

16. So do Verbs of Gesture; as, homo incediterectus, man walks upright.

17. Active and Deponent Verbs govern an Accusative Case. So do some Neuters, especially of Nouns of a like signification; as, vivere vitam, to live a life; and the Impersonals, decet, oportet, juvat, delectat.

18. Celo, doceo, exuo, induo, moneo, oro, peto, posco, postulo, rogo, and Verbs of a like signification, govern two Accusatives; as rogo te hoc: And their Passives, one; as, induiter vestem.

19. Verbs signifying or implying motion, as to allure, apply, avail, belong, call, challenge, conduce, encourage, entice, exhort, incite, incline, invite, lie, provoke, reach, send, stir up, tend, and loquor, will have an Accusative with ad.

20. So will these Adjectives, natus, paratus, praeceps, proclivis, promptus, pronus, propensus, tardus; as tardus ad iram, slow to anger.

21. Aptus, habilis, idoneus, vehemens, have sometimes an Accusative with ad, and sometimes a Dative.

22. The English sign of the Genitive Case is of or ‘s; as, the Book of theMaster, or the Master’s Book.

23. But of mine, of thine, of his own, of hers, or her own, of their own, of ours, of yours, are translated meus, tuus, suus, noster, vester.

24. Of, signifying the matter whereof a thing is made, is translated by de, e, ex, or an Adjective; so, a cup of gold, poculum ex auro, or aureum.

25. The latter of two Substantives is put in the Genitive Case.

26. Adjectives signifying care, desire, envy, fear, guilt, impatience, knowledge, love, memory, plenty, power, thrift, and their contraries, and those which are alone in the Neuter Gender, and put Substatively, govern a Genitive Case; as, cupidus laudis, desirous of praise.

N.B. — Adjectives of plenty and want govern a Genitive or Ablative; as, dives agris, or agrorum, rich in lands.

27. So do Comparatives, Superlatives, Interrogatives, and some Numerals; as maximus horum, the greatest of these.

28. As likewise Verbals ending in ax or ns; as petax pecuniae.

29. When the Verb sum signifies posession, property, orduty, it governs a Genitive Case; as, est Caesaris, it is Caesar’s.

30. Misereor, miseresco, and satayo, govern a Genitive Case; and so do the Impersonals, interest and refert; as, interest reipublicae: Yet we say, interest mea, tua, sud, nostra, vestra, cuja.

31. Similis, dissimilis, proprius, communis, contrarius, govern a Genitive or a Dative; as, similis tui, or tibi.

32. Memini, reminiscor, recorder, obliviscor, govern a Genitive or Accusative;as meminisse laborum, or labores.

33. Abundo, egeo, indigeo, potior, dignus, indignus, orbus, plenus, vacuus, govern a Genitive or Ablative.

34. Verbs of accusing, acquitting, admonishing, condemning, despising, esteeming, valuing, govern a Genitive and sometimes an Ablative Case after an Accusative; as, accuso te superbiae, I accuse you of pride.

35. Their Passives also govern a Genitive or Ablative Case; as, accusor avaritiae, I am accused of covetousness.

36. Likewise the Impersonals, miseret, miserescit, poenitet, piget, pudet, taedet, govern a Genitive after an Accusative; as, miseret me tui, I pity you.

37. Praise and dispraise, likewise the nature, property, or quality of a thing, are expressed either by the Genitive or Ablative Case; as, vir summe virtutis, a man of the greatest virtue; arbor mirae proceritatis, a tree of wonderful height.

38. Consto, emo, aestimo, vendo, and Verbs of a like signification, govern a Genitive of the Adjective, or an Ablative of the Substantive; as, constat minoris, constat auro.

39. Many, both Substantives and Adjectives, govern a Dative Case; as, pater urbi, a father to the city; utilis reipublicae, profitable to the state: Particularly Verbals in bilis and dus; as, flebilis tibi, amandus omnibus.

40. Verbs expressing anger, believing, commanding, congratulating, envying, favoring, fighting, falttering, forgiving, helping, hurting, indulging, meeting, obeying, pleasing or displeasing, profit or disprofit, resisting, serving, trusting, and upbraiding, govern a Dative Case.

41. As alsoVerbs compounded of bene, mate, satis; or ad, ante, con, contra, in, inter, ob, post, prae, sub, super, which have often an Accusative also; as, praestat officium Domino.

42. But guberno, impugno, invado, jubeo, juvo, laedo, offendo, oeeugno, praevenio, rego, govern an Accusative.

43. Many Impersonals govern a Dative Case; as licet mihi.

44. So does sum, with is Compounds, except possum.

45. Sum has often a double Dative; as, Deus est mihi propugnaculo, God is my defence; particularily when it is joined to words expressing praise or dispraise, profit or loss; as, hoc est mihi dedecori, this is a disgrace to me: And so have accipio, habeor, do, duco, puto, verto, tribuo, relinquo, and some others.

46. Verbs of bringing, comparing, declaring, denying, equalling, giving, lending, joining, owing, pardoning, paying, persuading, postponing, preferring, promising, receiving, restoring, returning, sending, showing, taking, threatening, vowing, govern a Dative after an Accusative; as, da mihi librum, give me a book.

47. Their Passives govern one Dative; as, donum datur mihi, a gift is given to me.

48. Nouns denoting the instrument, the cause, the manner of doing a thing, the value, the quality, the excess of it, the natural endowment, the birth, or any circumstance, are put in the Ablative Case; as, vulneravit me gladio, he wounded me with a sword.

49. Nouns expressing measure, or the distance from a place, are put in the Ablative Case, though sometimes in the Genitive or Accusative; as, domus quadragomta pedibus (or pedes) alta, a house forty feet high.

50. If quam is omitted after a Comparative, the following Noun must be in the Ablative case; as, melior est patre, he is better than his father.

51. A Substantive joined with a Participle is often put in the Ablative Case absolute; as, Deo juvante, God helping; nuntio accepto, news being received.

52. Verbs of abounding, depriving, easing, emptying, filling, loading, robbing, spoiling, unloading, govern an Ablative Case; as, cumulat me beneficiis, he loads me with kindness.

53. So do these Verbs, abutor, careo,commuto, defungor, dignor, dono,exulto,fruor, fungor, gaudeo, glorior, impertio, impertior, laetor, libero, muto, nitor, participo, perfungor, supersedeo, vescor,vidtito,utor; and also, captus, contentus,creatus,cretus, editus, extorris,fretus,genitus, laetus, natus, opus, praeditus, profugus, prognatus, satus, superbus, and usus; as vescor carne; opus est pluxid.

54. A Noun of time, answering to the question, When, is usually put in the Ablative Case; How long, in theAccusative; as, venidie Jovis, I came on Thursday; mansit paucos dies, he stayed a few days.

55. At or in, before the Proper Name of a town or city, notes a Genitive; as est Romae, he is at Rome: But if the word be of the Plural Number, or the Third Declension, a Dative or Ablative; as est Athenis, he is at Athens; vixit Tiburi, he lived at Tibur: — To, an Accusative; from, an Ablative; as, Larino Romam advolavi, I hasted from Larinum to Rome. We likewise say, for, at home, domi; on the ground, humi; at the war, militiae, or bell.

56. Which way? is answered by the Ablative; as veni huc Eboraco, I came hither by the way of York; or by an Accusative Case with per.

57. Before an Imperative or Subjuncitve Mood, ne is Latin for not; as, ne canta, do not sing.

58. Non in Latin stands before the Verb; as, non curo, I care not.

59. The Infinitive Mood follows a Verb; as, mentiri nescio; or a Passive or Verbal Adjective; as, digmus amari; audux perpeti.

60. An Accusative Case often goes before it, following the sign that; as, gaudeo te valere, I am glad that you are well.

61. It may be turned into another Mood by inserting ut or quod; as, monet me facere, or ut faciam; scio filium amare, or quod filius amet.

62. The Infinitive esse has the same Case before and after it; as, licet nemini esse noxio; indignum est homine esse scelesto.

63. The Participle having before a Verb is translated either by a Deponent Participle, (as, having spoken, locutus,) or by cum and a Preterpluperfect Tense.

64. Derivatives (whether Participles, Gerunds, Supines, or Adverbs) govern the same Cases with their Primitives.

65. The first Gerund commonly follows a Noun or Verbal Adjective; as, cupidus discendi, desirous of learning; tempus studendi, the time of studying: The second and third, a Preposition; as, ignavi cito deterrentur a discendo; locus ad agendum amplissimus.

66. But if it implies the cause or manner of a thing, the Preposition is omitted; as, defessus ambulando, weary with walking.

67. The third Gerund often expresses that a thing must be done; as, utendum est aetate, we must make use of time.

68. The first Supine follows Verbs of motion; as, eo ambulatum, I go to walk.

69. The second Supine follows Adjectives; as, turpe dictu, shameful to be spoken.

OF EXAMINING A WORD, ETC.

THE manner of examining a word is this: —

QUESTION. What sor t of a word is it?

ANSWER 1. Noun Substantive.

Q. Of what Declension, Gender, Number, Case? Why?

A. 2. A Noun Adjective.

Q. Of how many Terminations? Of what Degree, Gender, Number, Case? With what does it agree?

A. 3. A Pronoun Relative.

Q. Of what Gender, Number, Person? With what does it agree? A. 4. A Pronoun Substantive.

Q. Of what Person, Number, Case? Why?

A. 5. A Pronoun Adjective.

Q. Of what Gender, Number, Case? With what does it agree? A. 6. A Verb.

Q. Of what kind, Conjuction, Voice, Mood, Tense, Number, Person? With what does it agree?

A. 7. A Participle.

Q. Of what Verb Voice, Tense, Gender, Number, Case? With what does it agree?

A. 8. An Adverb; a Preposition.

Q. What Case does it govern?

In order to turn English into Latin, 1. Find out the Verb, by the sign am or do: 2. The Nominative Case, by asking the question, who? or what? with the Verb: 3. The Case following the Verb, by asking the question, whom? or what? with the Nominative Case and the Verb: 4. The Noun agreeing with the Case before or after the Verb: 5. The Adverbs or Prepositions: 6. The Case following them: 7. The Ablative Absolute, if there be any. In order to turn Latin into English, 1. Seek out the Nominative and Verb, agreeing in Number and Person: 2. When you see a Genitive or Dative, seek out the Substantive, Adjective, Verb, or Adverb, governing it: 3. When you see an Accusative or Ablative, seek out the Adjective, Particple, Gerund, Supine, or Prepostion, governing it: 4. When you see an Infinitive Mood, seek out the Substantive, Adjective, or Verb, governing it: 5. When you see an Adjective, seek out the Substantive with which it agrees in Gender, Number and Case.