PARTICIPLES

TENSE IN PARTICIPLES

488. The participle expresses the action of the verb in the form of an Adjective, but has a partial distinction of tense and may govern a case.

Note— Thus the participle combines all the functions of an adjective with some of the functions of a verb. As an adjective, it limits substantives and agrees with them in gender, number, and case (§ 286). As a verb, it has distinctions of time (see § 489 below) and often takes an object.

489. Participles denote time as present, past, or future with respect to the time of the verb in their clause. Thus the present participle represents the action as in progress at the time indicated by the tense of the verb, the perfect as completed, and the future as still to take place.

490. The present participle has several of the special uses of the present indicative. Thus it may denote—

1. An action continued in the present but begun in the past (§ 466).

   Quaerentī mihi iam diū certa rēs nūlla veniēbat in mentem (Fam. 4.13)
   Though I had long sought, no certain thing came to my mind.

2. Attempted action (§ 467).

   C. Flāminiō restitit agrum Pīcentem dīvidentī. (Cat. M. 11)
   He resisted Flaminius when attempting to divide the Picene territory.

3. Rarely (in poetry and later Latin) futurity or purpose, with a verb of motion.

   Eurypylum scītantemōrācula mittimus (Aen. 2.114)
   We send Eurypylus to consult the oracle.
   [cf. § 468]

491. The perfect participle of a few deponent verbs is used nearly in the sense of a Present. Such are, regularly, ratus, solitus, veritus; commonly, arbitrātus, fīsus, ausus, secūtus, and occasionally others, especially in later writers.

rem incrēdibilem ratī (Sall. Cat. 48)
thinking the thing incredible

īnsidiās veritus (B. G. 2.11)
fearing an ambuscade

cohortātus mīlitēs docuit (B. C. 3.80)
encouraging the men, he showed

Īrātus dīxistī (Mur. 62)
You spoke in a passion.

ad pūgnam congressī (Liv. 4.10)
meeting in fight

492. The Latin has no present participle in the passive. The place of such a form is supplied usually by a clause with dum or cum.

Obiēre dum calciantur mātūtīnō duo Caesarēs (Plin. N. H. 7.181)
Two Cæsars died while having their shoes put on in the morning.

Mēque ista dēlectant cum Latīnē dīcuntur (Acad. 1.18)
Those things please me when they are spoken in Latin.

Note— These constructions are often used when a participle might be employed.

dīc, hospes, Spartae nōs tē hīc vīdisse iacentīs, dum sānctīs patriae lēgibus obsequimur (Tusc. 1.101)
tell it, stranger, at Sparta, that you saw us lying here obedient to our country's sacred laws.
[Here dum obsequimur is a translation of the Greek present participle πειθόμενοι.]

dum [Ulixēs] sibi, dum sociīs reditum parat (Hor. Ep. 1.2.21)
Ulysses, while securing the return of himself and his companions.
[In Greek: ἀρνύμενος.]

493. The Latin has no perfect participle in the active voice. The deficiency is supplied—

1. In deponents by the perfect passive form with its regular active meaning.

   Nam singulās [nāvīs] nostrī cōnsectātī expūgnāvērunt. (B. G. 3.15)
   For our men, having overtaken them one by one, captured them by boarding.

   Note— The perfect participle of several deponent verbs may be either active or passive in meaning (§ 190.b).

2. In other verbs, either by the perfect passive participle in the Ablative Absolute (§ 420, Note) or by a temporal clause (especially with cum or postquam).

   Itaque convocātīs centuriōnibus mīlitēs certiōrēs facit. (B. G. 3.5)
   And so, having called the centurions together, he informs the soldiers.
   (the centurions having been called together)

   Cum vēnisset animadvertit collem. (id. 7.44)
   Having come (when he had come), he noticed a hill.

   Postquam id animum advertit cōpiās suās Caesar in proximum collem subdūcit. (B. G. 1.24)
   Having observed this (after he had observed this) Cæsar led his troops to the nearest hill.

 

USES OF PARTICIPLES

494. The present and perfect participles are sometimes used as attributives, nearly like adjectives.

aeger et flagrāns animus (Tac. Ann. 3.54)
his sick and passionate mind

cum antīquissimam sententiam tum comprobātam (Div. 1.11)
a view at once most ancient and well approved

sīgna numquam ferē mentientia (id. 1.15)
signs hardly ever deceitful

Auspiciīs ūtuntur coāctīs. (id. 1.27)
They use forced auspices.

a. Participles often become complete adjectives, and may be compared, or used as nouns.

quō mulierī esset rēs cautior (Caec. 11)
that the matter might be more secure for the woman

in illīs artibus praestantissimus (De Or. 1.217)
preëminent in those arts

sibi indulgentēs et corporī dēservientēs (Legg. 1.39)
the self-indulgent, and slaves to the body
(indulging themselves and serving the body)

rēctē facta paria esse dēbent (Par. 22)
right deeds ought to be like in value
(things rightly done; see § 321.b)

male parta male dīlābuntur (Phil. 2.65)
ill got, ill spent
(things ill acquired are ill spent)

cōnsuētūdō valentis (De Or. 2.186)
the habit of a man in health

495. Participles are often used as predicate adjectives. As such they may be joined to the subject by esse or a copulative verb (see § 283).

Gallia est dīvīsa (B. G. 1.1)
Gaul is divided

locus quī nunc saeptus est (Liv. 1.8)
the place which is now enclosed

Vidētis ut senectūs sit operōsa et semper agēns aliquid et mōliēns. (Cat. M. 26)
You see how busy old age is, always aiming and trying at something.

nēmō adhūc convenīre mē voluit cui fuerim occupātus (id. 32)
nobody hitherto has [ever] with me, to whom I have been “engaged”

Note— From this predicate use arise the compound tenses of the passive—the participle of completed action with the incomplete tenses of esse developing the idea of past time.

Interfectus est.
He was (or has been) killed
(lit. he is having-been-killed; i.e. already slain).

The perfect participle used with fuī etc. was perhaps originally an intensified expression in the popular language for the perfect, pluperfect, etc. At times these forms indicate a state of affairs no longer existing.

cōtem quoque eōdem locō sitam fuisse memorant (Liv. 1.36.5)
They say that a whetstone was (once) deposited in this same place.
[At the time of writing it was no longer there.]

Arma quae fīxa in parietibus fuerant, humī inventa sunt. (Div. 1.74)
The arms which had been fastened on the walls were found upon the ground.

But more frequently they are not to be distinguished from the forms with sum, etc. The construction is found occasionally at all periods, but is most common in Livy and later writers.

496. The present and perfect participles are often used as a predicate, where in English a phrase or a subordinate clause would be more natural. In this use the participles express time, cause, occasion, condition, concession, characteristic (or description), manner, means, attendant circumstances.

Volventēs hostīlia cadāvera amīcum reperiēbant. (Sall. Cat. 61)
While rolling over the corpses of the enemy they found a friend. [Time]

Paululum commorātus, sīgna canere iubet. (id. 59)
After delaying a little while, he orders them to give the signal. [Time]

Longius prōsequī veritus, ad Cicerōnem pervēnit. (B. G. 5.52)
Because he feared to follow further, he came to Cicero. [Cause]

quī scīret laxās dare iussushabēnās (Aen. 1.63)
who might know how to give them loose rein when bidden [Occasion]

Damnātum poenam sequī oportēbat. (B. G. 1.4)
If condemned, punishment must overtake him. [Condition]

Salūtem īnspērantibus reddidistī. (Marc. 21)
You have restored a safety for which we did not hope (to [us] not hoping). [Concession]

Dardanius caput ecce puer dētēctus (Aen. 10.133)
the Trojan boy with his head uncovered. [Description]

Nec trepidēs in ūsum poscenti saevī pauca. (Hor. Od. 2.11.5)
Be not anxious for the needs of age that demands little. [Characteristic]

Incitātīfugā montīs altissimōs petēbant. (B. C. 3.93)
In headlong flight they made for the highest mountains. [Manner]

Mīlitēs sublevātīaliī ab aliīs māgnam partem itineris cōnficerent. (id. 1.68)
The soldiers, helped up by each other, accomplished a considerable part of the route. [Means]

Hōc laudāns, Pompêius idem iūrāvit. (id. 3.87)
Approving this, Pompey took the same oath. [Attendant Circumstance]

Aut sedēns aut ambulāns disputābam. (Tusc. 1.7)
I conducted the discussion either sitting or walking. [Attendant Circumstance]

Note 1— These uses are especially frequent in the Ablative Absolute (§ 420).

Note 2— A coördinate clause is sometimes compressed into a perfect participle.

Īnstrūctōs ōrdinēs in locum aequum dēdūcit. (Sall. Cat. 59)
He draws up the lines, and leads them to level ground.

ut hōs trāductōs necāret (B. G. 5.6)
that he might carry them over and put them to death

Note 3— A participle with a negative often expresses the same idea which in English is given by without and a verbal noun.

Miserum est nihil prōficientem angī. (N. D. 3.14)
It is wretched to vex oneself without effecting anything.

Note 4— Acceptum and expēnsum as predicates with ferre and referre are bookkeeping terms.

quās pecūniās ferēbat eīs expēnsās (Verr. 2.170)
what sums he charged to them

497. A noun and a passive participle are often so united that the participle and not the noun contains the main idea.¹

ante conditam condendamve urbem (Liv. Pref.)
before the city was built or building

Illī lībertātem imminūtam cīvium Rōmānōrum nōn tulērunt; vōs ēreptamvītam neglegētis? (Manil. 11)
They did not endure the infringement of the citizens' liberty; will you disregard the destruction of their lives?

post nātōs hominēs (Brut. 224)
since the creation of man

iam ā conditā urbe (Phil. 3.9)
even from the founding of the city

a. The perfect participle with a noun in agreement, or in the neuter as an abstract noun, is used in the Ablative with opus (need; cf. § 411.a).

Opus factō est viāticō. (Pl. Trin. 887)
There is need of laying in provision.

Mātūrātō opus est. (Liv. 8.13.17)
There is need of haste.

b. The perfect participle with habeō (rarely with other verbs) has almost the same meaning as a perfect active, but denotes the continued effect of the action of the verb.²

fidem quam habent spectātam iam et diū cōgnitam (Caecil. 11)
my fidelity, which they have proved and long known

Cohortīs in aciē LXXX cōnstitūtās habēbat. (B. C. 3.89)
He had eighty cohorts stationed in line of battle.

Nefāriōs ducēs captōs iam et comprehēnsōs tenētis. (Cat. 3.16)
You have now captured the infamous leaders and hold them in custody.

c. A verb of effecting or the like may be used in combination with the perfect participle of a transitive verb to express the action of that verb more forcibly.

Praefectōs suōs multī missōs fēcērunt. (Verr. 3.134)
Many discharged their officers (made dismissed).

Hīc trānsāctum reddet omne (Pl. Capt. 345)
He will get it all done.
(restore it finished)

Adēmptum tibi iam faxō omnem metum. (Ter. Haut. 341)
I will relieve you of all fear.
(make it taken away)

Illam tibi incēnsam dabō. (Ter. Ph. 974)
I will make her angry with you.

Note— Similarly volō (with its compounds) and cupiō, with a perfect participle without esse (cf. § 486.d).

d. After verbs denoting an action of the senses the present participle in agreement with the object is nearly equivalent to the Infinitive of Indirect Discourse (§ 580), but expresses the action more vividly.

ut eum nēmō umquam in equō sedentemvīderit (Verr. 5.27)
so that no one ever saw him sitting on a horse.
[cf. Tusc. 3.31.]

Note— The same construction is used after faciō, indūcō, and the like, with the name of an author as subject.

Xenophōn facit Sōcratem disputantem. (N. D. 1.31)
Xenophon represents Socrates disputing.

Footnotes

 

THE FUTURE PARTICIPLE

498. The future participle (except futūrus and ventūrus) is rarely used in simple agreement with a noun, except by poets and later writers.

a. The future participle is chiefly used with the forms of esse (often omitted in the infinitive) in the active periphrastic conjugation (see § 195).

Morere, Diagorā, nōn enim in caelum adscēnsūrus es. (Tusc. 1.111)
Die, Diagoras, for you are not likely to rise to heaven.

Spērat adulēscēns diū sē vīctūrum. (Cat. M. 68)
The young man hopes to live long.
(that he shall live long)

neque petītūrus umquam cōnsulātum vidērētur (Off. 3.79)
And he did not seem likely ever to be a candidate for the consulship.

b. With the past tenses of esse in the indicative, the future participle is often equivalent to the pluperfect subjunctive (§ 517.d). For futūrum fuisse, see § 589.b.

499. By later writers and the poets the future participle is often used in simple agreement with a substantive to express—

1. Likelihood or certainty.
   

   rem ausus plūs fāmae habitūram (Liv. 2.10)
   having dared a thing which would have more repute

2. Purpose, intention, or readiness.
   

   ēgreditur castrīs Rōmānus vāllum invāsūrus. (Liv. 3.60.8)
   The Roman comes out of the camp with the intention of attacking the rampart.

   Dispersōs per agrōs mīlitēs equitibus invāsūrīs (id. 31.36)
   While the horse were ready to attack the soldiers scattered through the fields.

   sī peritūrus abīs (Aen. 2.675)
   if you are going away to perish

3. Apodosis.
   

   Dedit mihi quantum maximum potuit, datūrus amplius sī potuisset. (Plin. Ep. 3.21.6)
   He gave me as much as he could, ready to give me more if he had been able.
   [Here datūrus is equivalent to dedisset.]

   Note— The participle in -dus, commonly called the gerundive, has two distinct uses.

   (1) Its predicate and attribute use as participle or adjective (see § 500 below).

   (2) Its use with the meaning of the Gerund (§ 503). This may be called its gerundive use.

 

GERUND AND GERUNDIVE

Gerundive (Future Passive Participle)

500. The gerundive when used as a participle or an adjective is always passive, denoting necessity, obligation, or propriety.

In this use of the gerundive the following points are to be observed:

1. The gerundive is sometimes used, like the present and perfect participles, in simple agreement with a noun.
   

   fortem et cōnservandum virum (Mil. 104)
   a brave man, and worthy to be preserved

   Gravis iniūria facta est et nōn ferenda. (Flacc. 84)
   A grave and intolerable wrong has been done.

2. The most frequent use of the gerundive is with the forms of esse in the 2nd (or Passive) Periphrastic Conjugation (see § 196).
   

   Nōn agitanda rēs erit? (Verr. 5.179)
   Will not the thing have to be agitated?

3. The neuter gerundive of both transitive and intransitive verbs may be used impersonally in the 2nd periphrastic conjugation. With verbs that take the dative or ablative, an object may be expressed in the appropriate case; with transitive verbs, an object in the accusative is sometimes found.
   

   Temporī serviendum est. (Fam. 9.7.2)
   One must obey the time.

   Lēgibus pārendum est. The laws must be obeyed.

   ūtendum exercitātiōnibus modicīs (Cat. M. 36)
   we must use moderate exercise

   agitandumst vigiliās (Pl. Trin. 869)
   I have got to stand guard.

   via quam nōbīs ingrediendum sit (Cat. M. 6)
   the way we have to enter.

4. After verbs signifying to give, deliver, agree for, have, receive, undertake, demand,¹ a Gerundive in agreement with the object is used to express purpose.
   

   redēmptor quī columnam illam condūxerat faciendam (Div. 2.47)
   the contractor who had undertaken to make that column [The regular construction with this class of verbs.]

   Aedem Castoris habuit tuendam. (Verr. 2.1.150)
   He had the temple of Castor to take care of.

   Nāvīs atque onera adservanda cūrābat (id. 5.146)
   He took care that the ships and cargoes should be kept.

 

 

Gerund

501. The gerund is the neuter of the gerundive, used substantively in the genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative.

502. The gerund expresses an action of the verb in the form of a verbal noun. As a noun the gerund is itself governed by other words; as a verb it may take an object in the proper case.

ars bene disserendī et vēra ac falsa dīiūdicandī (De Or. 2.157)
the art of discoursing well, and distinguishing the true and the false.

Note— The nominative of the gerund is supplied by the infinitive. Thus in the example above, the verbal nouns discoursing and distinguishing, if used in the nominative, would be expressed by the infinitives disserere and dīiūdicāre. The gerund is the neuter of the gerundive used impersonally, but retaining the verbal idea sufficiently to govern an object. It may therefore be regarded as a noun (cf. mātūrātō opus est, § 497.a) with a verbal force (cf. istanc tāctiō, § 386, footnote).

503. When the gerund would have an object in the accusative, the Gerundive² is generally used instead. The gerundive agrees with its noun, which takes the case that the gerund would have had.

parātiōrēs ad omnia perīcula subeunda (B. G. 1.5)
readier to undergo all dangers

Here subeunda agrees with perīcula, which is itself governed by ad. The (inadmissible) construction with the gerund would be ad subeundum perīcula; ad governing the gerund, and the gerund governing the accusative perīcula] For details, see §§ 504 - 507, below.

Note 1— In this use the gerund and the gerundive are translated in the same way, but have really a different construction. The gerundive is a passive participle, and agrees with its noun, though in translation we change the voice, just as we may translate vigiliae agitandae sunt (guard must be kept) by I must stand guard.

Note 2— In the gerundive construction the verbs ūtor, fruor, etc., are treated like transitive verbs governing the accusative, as they do in early Latin (§ 410.a, Note 1)

ad perfruendās voluptātēs (Off. 1.25)
for enjoying pleasures

a. The following examples illustrate the parallel constructions of gerund and gerundive.

Note 1— The gerund with a direct object is practically limited to the genitive and the ablative (without a preposition); even in these cases the gerundive is commoner.

Note 2— The gerund or gerundive is often found co-ordinated with nominal constructions, and sometimes even in apposition with a noun.

1. in forō, in cūriā in amīcōrum perīculīs prōpulsandīs (Phil. 7.7)
   in the forum, in the senate-house, in defending my friends in jeopardy
2. ad rēs dīversissimās, pārendum atque imperandum (Liv. 21.4)
   for the most widely different things, obeying and commanding

Genitive of the Gerund and Gerundive

504. The genitive of the gerund and gerundive is used after nouns or adjectives, either as Subjective or Objective Genitive.

Vīvendī fīnis est optimus. (Cat. M. 72)
It is the best end of living. [Subjective]

neque cōnsilī habendī neque arma capiendī spatiō datō (B. G. 4.14)
time being given neither for forming plans nor for taking arms [Objective]

nōn tam commūtandārum quam ēvertendārum rērum cupidōs (Off. 2.3)
desirous not so much of changing as of destroying the state [Objective.]

Note 1— In these uses the gerund and the gerundive are about equally common.

Note 2— In a few phrases the infinitive is used with nouns which ordinarily have the genitive of the gerund or gerundive.

Tempus est abīre
It is time to go.

a. The genitive of the gerund sometimes takes a direct object, especially a neuter pronoun or a neuter adjective used substantively.

Nūlla causa iūsta cuiquam esse potest contrā patriam arma capiendī. (Phil. 2.53)
No one can have a just cause for taking up arms against his country.

artem vēra ac falsa dī iūdicandī (De Or. 2.157)
the art of distinguishing true from false

Note— The genitive of the gerund or gerundive is used (especially in later Latin) as a predicate genitive. When so used it often expresses purpose.

quae postquam glōriōsa modo neque bellī patrandī cōgnōvit (Iug. 88)
when he perceived that these were only brilliant deeds and not likely to end the war

Aegyptum proficīscitur cōgnōscendae antīquitātis (Tac. Ann. 2.59)
He sets out for Egypt to study old times.

b. The genitive of the gerund or gerundive with causā or gratiā expresses purpose (§ 533.b).

pābulandī aut frūmentandīcausā prōgressī (B. C. 1.48)
having advanced for the purpose of collecting fodder or supplies

vītandae suspīcionis causā (Cat. 1.19)
in order to avoid suspicion

simulandī grātiā (Iug. 37)
in order to deceive

exercendae memōriae grātiā (Cat. M. 38)
for the sake of training the memory

c. The genitive of the gerund is occasionally limited by a noun or pronoun (especially a personal pronoun in the plural) in the Objective Genitive instead of taking a direct object.

rêiciendī trium iūdicum potestās (Verr. 2.77)
the power of challenging three jurors (of the rejecting of three jurors)

suī colligendī facultās (B. G. 3.6)
the opportunity to recover themselves

Dative of the Gerund and Gerundive

505. The dative of the gerund and gerundive is used in a few expressions after verbs.³

Diem praestitit operī faciendō.(Verr. 2.1.148)
He appointed a day for doing the work.

praeesse agrō colendō (Rosc. Am. 50)
to take charge of cultivating the land

esse solvendō to be able to pay (to be for paying)

Note— The dative of the gerund with a direct object is never found in classic Latin, but occurs twice in Plautus.

a. The Dative of the Gerund and Gerundive is used after adjectives,⁴ especially those which denote fitness or adaptability,

genus armōrum aptum tegendīs corporibus (Liv. 32.10)
a sort of armor suited to the defence of the body

Reliqua tempora dēmetendīs frūctibus et percipiendīs accommodāta sunt. (Cat. M. 70)
The other seasons are fitted to reap and gather in the harvest.

perferendīs mīlitum mandātīs idōneus (Tac. Ann. 1.23)
suitable for carrying out the instructions of the soldiers

Note— This construction is very common in Livy and later writers, infrequent in classical prose.

b. The Dative of the Gerund and Gerundive is used in certain legal phrases after nouns meaning officers, offices, elections, etc., to indicate the function or scope of the office etc.

comitia cōnsulibus rogandīs (Div. 1.33)
elections for nominating consuls

triumvir colōniīs dēdūcundīs (Iug. 42)
a triumvir for planting colonies

triumvirī reī pūblicae cōnstituendae (title of the Triumvirate) triumvirs (a commission of three) for settling the government

Accusative of the Gerund and Gerundive

506. The accusative of the gerund and gerundive is used after the preposition ad, to denote purpose (cf. § 533).

Mē vocās ad scrībendum. (Or. 34)
You summon me to write.

Vīvis nōn ad dēpōnendam sed ad cōnfīrmandam audāciam. (Cat. 1.4)
You live not to put off but to confirm your daring.

nactus aditūs ad ea cōnanda (B. C. 1.31)
having found means to undertake these things

Note 1— Other prepositions appear in this construction; inter and ob a few times, circā, in, ante, and a few others very rarely.

inter agendum
while driving

Note 2— The accusative of the gerund with a preposition never takes a direct object in classic Latin.

Ablative of the Gerund and Gerundive

507. The ablative of the gerund and gerundive is used (1) to express manner,⁵ means, cause, etc.; (2) after comparatives; and (3) after the propositions ab, dē, ex, in, and (rarely) prō.

1. Multa pollicendō persuādet. (Iug. 46)
   He persuades by large promises.

   Latīnē loquendō cuivīs pār (Brut. 128)
   equal to any man in speaking Latin

   hīs ipsīs legendīs (Cat. M. 21)
   by reading these very things

   obscūram atque humilem conciendōad sē multitūdinem (Liv. 1.8)
   calling to them a mean and obscure multitude

2. Nūllum officium referendā grātiā magis necessārium est. (Off. 1.47)
   No duty is more important than repaying favors.

3. in rē gerendāversārī (Cat. M. 17)
   to be employed in conducting affairs

   Note 1— The ablative of the gerund and gerundive is also very rarely used with verbs and adjectives.

   nec continuandō abstitit magistrātū (Liv. 9.34)
   He did not desist from continuing his magistracy.

   Note 2— The ablative of the gerund rarely takes a direct object in classic prose.

Footnotes