THE SENTENCE
Kinds of Sentences
A Sentence is a form of words which contains a Statement, a Question, an Exclamation, or a Command.
A sentence in the form of a Statement is called a Declarative Sentence: as,canis currit, the dog runs.
A sentence in the form of a Question is called an Interrogative Sentence: as,canisne currit? does the dog run?
A sentence in the form of an Exclamation is called an Exclamatory Sentence: as,quam celeriter currit canis! how fast the dog runs!
A sentence in the form of a Command, an Exhortation, or an Entreaty is called an Imperative Sentence: as,, curre per Alps, go, run across the Alps; currat canis, let the dog run.
Subject and Predicate
Every sentence consists of a Subject and a Predicate.
The Subject of a sentence is the person or thing spoken of. The Predicate is that which is said of the Subject.
Thus in canis currit, the dog runs, canis is the subject, and currit the predicate.
The Subject of a sentence is usually a Noun or Pronoun, or some word or group of words used as a Noun:
equits ad Caesarem vnrunt, the cavalry came to Csar.
hmnum est errre, to err is human.
quaeritur num mors malum sit. the question is whether death is an evil.
But in Latin the subject is often implied in the termination of the verb:
The Predicate of a sentence may be a Verb (as in canis currit, the dog runs), or it may consist of some form of sum and a Noun or Adjective which describes or defines the subject (as in Caesar cnsul erat, Csar was consul).
Such a noun or adjective is called a Predicate Noun or Adjective, and the verb sum is called the Copula (i.e. the connective).
Thus in the example given, Caesar is the subject, cnsul the predicate noun, and erat the copula (see 283). [p. 165]
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Verbs are either Transitive or Intransitive.
1. A Transitive Verb has or requires a direct object to complete its sense (see 274): as,frtrem cecdit, he slew his brother.
2. An Intransitive Verb admits of no direct object to complete its sense:
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cad, I fall (or am falling). |
sl lcet, the sun shines (or is shining). |
NOTE 1.Among transitive verbs Factitive Verbs are sometimes distinguished as a separate class. These state an act which produces the thing expressed by the word which completes their sense. Thus mnsam fcit, he made a table (which was not in existence before), is distinguished from mnsam percussit, he struck a table (which already existed).
NOTE 2.A transitive verb may often be used absolutely, i.e. without any object expressed: as,arat, he is ploughing, where the verb does not cease to be transitive because the object is left indefinite, as we see by adding,quid, what? agrum suum, his land.
NOTE 3.Transitive and Intransitive Verbs are often called Active and Neuter Verbs respectively.
Object
The person or thing immediately affected by the action of a verb is called the Direct Object.
A person or thing indirectly affected by the action of a verb is called the Indirect Object.
Only transitive verbs can have a Direct Object; but an Indirect Object may be used with both transitive and intransitive verbs ( 362, 366):
pater vocat filium (direct object), the father calls his son.
mihi (ind. obj.) agrum (dir. obj.) ostendit, he showed me a field.
mihi (ind. obj.) placet, it is pleasing to me.
NOTE.The distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs is not a fixed dis tinction, for most transitive verbs may be used intransitively, and many verbs usually intransitive may take a direct object and so become transitive ( 388. a).
With certain verbs, the Genitive, Dative, or Ablative is used where the English, from a difference in meaning, requires the direct object (Objective):
hominem vide, I see the man (Accusative).
homin servi, I serve the man (Dative, see 367).
hominis misereor, I pity the man (Genitive, see 354. a).
homine amc tor, I treat the man as a friend (Ablative, see 410). [p. 166]
Many verbs transitive in Latin are rendered into English by an intransitive verb with a preposition:
petit aprum, he aims at the boar.
laudem affectat, he strives after praise.
crat valtdinem, he takes care of his health.
meum csum dolurunt, they grieved at my misfortune.
rdet nostram mentiam (Quinct. 55), he laughs at our stupidity.
When a transitive verb is changed from the Active to the Passive voice, the Direct Object becomes the Subject and is put in the Nominative case:
Active: pater flium vocat, the father calls his son.
Passive: flius patre voctur, the son is called by his father.
Active: lnam et stells vidmus, we see the moon and the stars.
Passive: lna et stellae videntur, the moon and stars are seen (appear).
Modification
A Subject or a Predicate may be modified by a single word, or by a group of words (a phrase or a clause).
The modifying word or group of words may itself be modified in the same way.
A single modifying word may be an adjective, an adverb, an appositive ( 282), or the oblique case of a noun.
Thus in the sentence vir fortis patienter fert, a brave man endures patiently, the adjective fortis, brave, modifies the subject vir, man, and the adverb patienter, patiently, modifies the predicate fert, endures.
The modifying word is in some cases said to limit the word to which it belongs.
Thus in the sentence puer patrem vide, I see the boy's father, the genitive puer limits patrem (by excluding any other father).
A Phrase is a group of words, without subject or predicate of its own, which may be used as an Adjective or an Adverb.
Thus in the sentence vir fuit summ nbilitte, he was a man of the highest nobility, the words summ nbilitte, of the highest nobility, are used for the adjective nbilis, noble (or nbilissimus, very noble), and are called an Adjective Phrase.
So in the sentence mgn celeritte vnit, he came with great speed, the words mgn celeritte, with great speed, are used for the adverb celeriter, quickly (or celerrim, very quickly), and are called an Adverbial Phrase. [p. 167]
Clauses and Sentences
Sentences are either Simple or Compound.
1. A sentence containing a single statement is called a Simple Sentence.
2. A sentence containing more than one statement is called a Compound Sentence, and each single statement in it is called a Clause.
If one statement is simply added to another, the clauses are said to be Cordinate. They are usually connected by a Cordinate Conjunction ( 223. a); but this is sometimes omitted:
dvide et imper, divide and control. But,
vn, vd, vc, I came, I saw, I conquered.
If one statement modifies another in any way, the modifying clause is said to be Subordinate, and the clause modified is called the Main Clause.
This subordination is indicated by some connecting word, either a Subordinate Conjunction ( 223. b) or a Relative:
derint dum metuant, let them hate so long as they fear.
servum msit quem scum habbat, he sent the slave whom he had with him.
A sentence containing one or more subordinate clauses is sometimes called Complex.
NOTE.A subordinate clause may itself be modified by other subordinate clauses.
Subordinate Clauses are of various kinds.
A clause introduced by a Relative Pronoun or Relative Adverb is called a Relative Clause:
Mosa prfluit ex monte Voseg, qu est in fnibus Lingonum (B. G. 4.10), the Meuse rises in the Vosges mountains, which are on the borders of the Lingones.
For Relative Pronouns (or Relative Adverbs) serving to connect independent sentences, see 308. f.
A clause introduced by an Adverb of Time is called a Temporal Clause:
cum tacent, clmant (Cat. 1.21), while they are silent, they cry aloud.
homins aegr morb grav, cum iactantur aest febrque, s aquam gelidam biberint, prm relevr videntur (id. 1.31), men suffering with a severe sickness, when they are tossing with the heat of fever, if they drink cold water, seem at first to be relieved. [p. 168]
A clause containing a Condition, introduced by s, if (or some equivalent expression), is called a Conditional Clause. A sentence containing a conditional clause is called a Conditional Sentence.
Thus, s aquam gelidam biberint, prm relevr videntur (in b, above) is a Conditional Sentence, and s ... biberint is a Conditional Clause.
A clause expressing the Purpose of an action is called a Final Clause:
ed ut vvam, I eat to live (that I may live).
msit lgts qu dcerent, he sent ambassadors to say (who should say).
A clause expressing the Result of an action is called a Consecutive Clause:
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tam long aberam ut nn vidrem, I was too far away to see (so far away that I did not see).
AGREEMENT
A word is said to agree with another when it is required by usage to be in the same Gender, Number, Case, or Person.
The following are the general forms of agreement, sometimes called the Four Concords:
1. The agreement of the Noun in Apposition or as Predicate ( 281-284).
2. The agreement of the Adjective with its Noun ( 286).
3. The agreement of the Relative with its Antecedent ( 305).
4. The agreement of the Finite Verb with its Subject ( 316).
A word sometimes takes the gender or number, not of the word with which it should regularly agree, but of some other word implied in that word.
This use is called Synesis, or cnstrcti ad snsum (construction according to sense).
AGREEMENT OF NOUNS
A noun used to describe another, and denoting the same person or thing, agrees with it in Case.
The descriptive noun may be either an Appositive ( 282) or a Predicate noun ( 283). [p. 169]
Apposition
A noun used to describe another, and standing in the same part of the sentence with the noun described, is called an Appositive, and is said to be in apposition:
externus timor, maximum concordiae vinculum, iungbat anims (Liv. 2.39), fear of the foreigner, the chief bond of harmony, united their hearts. [Here the appositive belongs to the subject.]
quattuor hc prmum men equs vd; (Aen. 3.537), I saw here four horses, the first omen. [Here both nouns are in the predicate.]
litters Graecs senex didic; (Cat. M. 26), I learned Greek when an old man. [Here senex, though in apposition with the subject of didic, really states something further: viz., the time, condition, etc., of the act (Predicate Apposition).]
Words expressing parts may be in apposition with a word including the parts, or vice versa (Partitive Apposition):
Nec P. Popilius neque Q. Metellus, clrissim vir atque amplissim, vim tribnciam sustinre poturunt (Clu. 95), neither Publius Popilius nor Quintus Metellus, [both of them] distinguished and honorable men, could withstand the power of the tribunes.
Gnaeus et Pblius Scpins, Cneius and Publius Scipio (the Scipios).
An Adjective may be used as an appositive:
ea Sex. Rscium inopem recpit (Rosc. Am. 27), she received Sextus Roscius in his poverty (needy).
An appositive generally agrees with its noun in Gender and Number when it can:
sequuntur ntram, optimam ducem (Lael. 19), they follow nature, the best guide.
omnium doctrnrum inventrcs Athns (De Or. 1.13), Athens, discoverer of all learning.
NOTE.But such agreement is often impossible: as,lim truncus eram fculnus, intile lgnum (Hor. S. 1.8.1), I once was a fig-tree trunk, a useless log.
A common noun in apposition with a Locative ( 427) is put in the Ablative, with or without the preposition in:
Antiochae, celebr quondam urbe (Arch. 4), at Antioch, once a famous city.
Albae cnstitrunt, in urbe mnt; (Phil. 4.6), they halted at Alba, a fortified town.
For a Genitive in apposition with a Possessive Pronoun or an Adjective, see 302. 6
For the so-called Appositional Genitive, see 343. d.
For the construction with nmen est, see 373. a. [p. 170]
Predicate Noun or Adjective
With sum and a few other intransitive or passive verbs, a noun or an adjective describing or defining the subject may stand in the predicate. This is called a Predicate Noun or Adjective.
The verb sum is especially common in this construction, and when so used is called the copula (i.e. connective).
Other verbs which take a predicate noun or adjective are the socalled copulative verbs signifying to become, to be made, to be named, to appear, and the like.
A Predicate Noun or Adjective after the copula sum or a copulative verb is in the same case as the Subject:
pcis semper auctor fu; (Lig. 28), I have always been an adviser of peace.
quae pertincia quibusdam, eadem alis cnstantia vidr potest (Marc. 31), what may seem obstinacy to some, may seem to others consistency.
ius mortis sedtis ultrs (Mil. 79), you sit as avengers of his death.
habetur vir gregius Paulus (Cat. 4.21), let Paulus be regarded as an extraordinary man.
ego patrnus exstit; (Rosc. Am. 5), I have come forward as an advocate.
dcit nn omns bons esse bets, he says that not all good men are happy.
A predicate noun referring to two or more singular nouns is in the plural:
cnsuls creantur Caesar et Servlius (B. C. 3.1), Csar and Servilius are elected consuls.
Sum in the sense of exist makes a complete predicate without a predicate noun or adjective. It is then called the substantive verb:
sunt vir forts, there are (exist) brave men. [Cf. vxre forts ante Agamemnona (Hor. Od. 4.9.25), brave men lived before Agamemnon.]
For Predicate Accusative and Predicate Ablative, see 392, 415. N.
