Ch 7 · Lesson 10Latin · Chapter 7 · Lesson 10 · Grammar primer
Deponent verbs: loquitur, he speaks
, , : passive endings, active meaning. They take ordinary objects, their perfect is active ( , he spoke), and does duty as the passive of .
The short version
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is I speak, is I follow, is I suffer, is I die. They take every passive ending in the book, mean something entirely active, and hand out ordinary direct objects while they do it. Their perfect is the two-word type, , I spoke. In a genuine passive, meanwhile, the doer is plus the ablative for a person and a bare ablative for a thing: a , .
Deponent verbs: passive form, active meaning
A group of very common verbs has passive endings and active meanings. Grammars call them : they have "laid aside" their active forms.
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
. | The boy is called. |
. | The boy speaks. |
Same ending, opposite direction. The dictionary tells you which: a headword ending in -or is .
| Verb | Principal parts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| , , | speak |
| , , | follow |
| , , | suffer |
| , , | be born |
| , , | rise |
| , , | set out |
| , , | go in |
| , , | use |
| , , | die |
There are three principal parts, not four, because there is no separate passive to list. Every passive form you have learned applies; none of the passive meaning does.
They take ordinary objects
A transitive takes a plain accusative, like any active verb:
.- The soldiers follow the leader..- We suffer many evils.
is the exception inside the exception: its object goes in the ablative. ., he uses a sword.
The perfect is active too
is he spoke, and he was born (which is a passive only in English):
.- The king spoke.Salvator- for unto you is born this day a Saviour (Luke 2:11, in the Vulgate)
If a passive-looking form cannot possibly have a passive meaning, it is a . Nobody is being died at: . is the old man is dying.
fio: the passive of facio
has no ordinary present passive. A separate verb, , fills the gap with active-looking endings:
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| I am made, I become |
| it is made, it becomes, it happens |
| they are made, they become |
In the perfect, is regular again: , it was made, it became.
.- And the Word was made flesh. (John 1:14, in the Vulgate)
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
as now | he was called | participle + |
. | . | the participle agrees: |
| | the passive of -tis is -mini |
(by) | | a thing takes a bare ablative |
| he speaks | |
Going further: The passive endings: -r, -ris, -tur and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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