John Percival Postgate

“ Inflexions.—The changes which words undergo in order to become parts of a sentence are called Inflexions. Inflexions are found in English. Thus we cannot make a sentence out of "Cæsar," "friend," "die," until we have added the proper endings, as "Cæsar's friend dies." In Latin there are a great many more inflexions than in English, and they are used to express what English expresses by means of Prepositions and of Verbs like be, shall, do: dăbĭt lĭbrum Caesărī give-will-he the-book Cæsar-to, that is, he will give the book to Cæsar. ”

“ Pronouns are used for Nouns and for Adjectives. They point out something, or describe it less definitely than an Adjective: ĭs he, quīdam lĭbĕr a-certain book.
Verbs show what people do, or what is done to them, or in what state they are: vulnĕrō I-wound, vulnĕrŏr I-am-wounded, stō I-stand.
Adverbs are used to qualify Verbs and Adjectives: cĕlĕrĭtĕr vĕnĭt quickly he-comes, valdē bŏnŭs very good.
Prepositions and Conjunctions have no meaning by themselves.
A Preposition is used with a Noun or Pronoun to show its connexion with the rest of the sentence. ”

“ Sounds are what we actually utter with our voices and hear with our ears when we are speaking a language. Letters are the signs which we use to represent the sounds when we are writing it down. It often happens that the letters do not represent the sounds exactly. Sometimes different sounds are represented by the same letter, sometimes the same sound is represented by different letters.
§ 6.The English and the Latin Alphabets.—The English alphabet was originally taken from the Latin alphabet, and the letters in it had the same sounds as in Latin. ”

“ Sounds are either Vowels or Consonants. Vowels are sounds which can be pronounced by themselves; Consonants are sounds which can be pronounced only when combined with other sounds. Thus a vowel can form a syllable, as e in e-go, a consonant cannot.
When two vowels are pronounced so quickly as to be included in the same syllable, they are called a Diphthong. Thus, in poe-nae punishments oe and ae are diphthongs, because we pronounce poe-nae. In poeta poet, on the other hand, oe is not a diphthong, because we pronounce po-eta. ”

“ Gender.—Gender is the Class (gĕnŭs) to which a Noun belongs. There are three Genders—Masculine (Masc. or M.) , Feminine (Fem. or F.) , and Neuter (Neut. or N.) . The names of male persons are Masculine, the names of female persons are Feminine, the names of things may be either Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter. Words which can be used both as Masculine and as Feminine are said to be Common.
The Gender of Nouns is shown by the Termination of the Adjectives which go with them. Thus in mōns altŭs a high mountain, the -ŭs in alt-ŭs shows us that mōns is masc. ”

“ The Passive Voice is a conversion of the Active. He is loved by me and I love him are two ways of saying the same thing.
§ 169. Conversion of Transitive Verbs.—The Direct Object of the Active becomes the Subject of the Passive Verb, and the Subject of the Active Verb is put into the Ablative (of the Agent) with ā or ăb. Thus: Brūtŭs Caesărem interfēcit Brutus killed Cæsar becomes Caesăr ā Brūtō interfectŭs est Cæsar was killed by Brutus.
It is the Nominative and Accusative of the Direct Object only that are changed in the conversion of a sentence to the Passive form. ”

“ The Imperative.—An action commanded is put in the Imperative; as, ăbi go away, ăbītō let-him-go away.
The heavier forms of the Second Person Imperative, as ămātō (sing ămātōtĕ (plur.) , give an order less bluntly and directly than the shorter forms, but more authoritatively. They are often used in relation to the future, and are called by some Future Imperatives.
An action forbidden is not put in the Imperative. See § 191.
The Subjunctive. ”

“ Adjectives and the Adverbs formed from them take the Genitive, Dative, and Ablative of Nouns.
§ 126. Verbs.—All Verbs which give a complete sense by themselves, as stō I-stand, do not affect the construction of other words in the sentence.
Transitive Verbs in the Active take the Accusative of their Object, and often a Noun in some other oblique case as well.
Intransitive Verbs which do not give a complete sense by themselves are of two kinds:
(i) Those which require a Noun as Complement (§ 115) to complete their sense. ”

“ The Imperative commands; as, vĕnī come!
The Subjunctive has many usages, which will be explained in the Syntax.
A Verb in any of these moods is called Finite.
§ 59. Voice.—There are two Voices of Verbs: Active and Passive.
Of Active Verbs the person who does the action is the subject; as, ămō I-love.
Of Passive Verbs the person to whom the action is done is the subject; as, ămŏr I-am-loved.
Active Verbs are either Transitive or Intransitive. Those which express an action directly affecting some object are Transitive; and these only have complete inflexions in the Passive. ”

“ The Protasis and Apodosis must not consist of forms which are inconsistent with each other. Thus if the Indicative is used in the Protasis, the Indicative must be used in the Apodosis, and vice versa. If Primary or Secondary tenses of the Subjunctive are used in the Protasis, Primary or Secondary tenses of the Subjunctive must be used in the Apodosis.
§ 237. (A) —Indicative in Conditional Statements.—If we use the Indicative in a Conditional Statement, we treat the events as if they were facts. We do not concern ourselves with the question as to whether they do actually occur or not. ”

“ Latin uses the Perfect Aorist after postquam and other Temporal Conjunctions, if one action is simply marked as that after or before which some other action occurs, while English often uses the Pluperfect postquam cēnāvĭmŭs, Attĭcŭs advēnĭt after we had dined, Atticus came. ”

“ Predicative Dative.—The Dative of Abstract Nouns is used as a Predicate, 'generally with essĕ, to show what function the Subject performs or what result it effects. A Dat. of the Person is generally added : exĭtĭō est ăvĭdum mărĕ nautīs the greedy sea is destructive to sailors, lit. for a destruction, cūrae sunt atquĕ lăbōrī they cause care and toil.
Genitive.
§ 142. The commonest use of the Genitive is to qualify Nouns. It is also used as a complement to Adjectives and Verbs. ”

“ A word is said to agree with the word or words to which its inflexions are conformed.
Agreement of one word with one other is called Simple Agreement.
Agreement of one word with more than one other word is called Composite Agreement.
Rules for Simple Agreement.
§ 120. I. Adjectives, used as Attributes or Predicates, agree with their Nouns in Gender, Number, and Case: vĭr bŏnŭs est the-man is good.
Under other circumstances they agree with them in Gender, or in Gender and Number, according to the sense: optĭmĕ rēgum best of kings! ”

“ The Genitive used Predicatively.—Most of the above Genitives can be used as the Predicate of a Noun: hortī sunt Caesăris the gardens are Cæsar's, rēs māgnī lăbōrĭs dūcĭtŭr the-affair is considered one of-great labour.
§ 145.—Genitive of the Object.—When a Genitive depends on a Noun which implies an action, it often denotes the object of the action, and corresponds to the Complement after a Verb § 115. Thus ămŏr ătrĭs the loce of-a-father may mean that someone loves a-father. This is called the "Objective" Genitive, ămŏr pătrĭs, may, however, also mean that a father loves someone, and the Gen. ”

“ After a Primary tense, however, the Secondary tenses to the Direct Quotation remain unchanged: Clōdĭŭs īrāscēbātŭr quŏd falsă allātă ĕrant Clodius was angry because false tidings had been brought to him, is in the Indirect Quotation dīcĭt Clōdĭum irāscī quŏd falsă allātă essent.
In immediate construction after a Present, an Imperfect or Perfect Aorist is generally given by a Perfect Subjunctive : laudăt Afrĭcānum Pănaetĭŭs quod fŭĕrĭt abstĭnēns Panaetius praises Africanus because he was moderate. ”

“ The tenses of the Verbs in Dependent Sentences (§§ 224, 225) , and of the Infinitive (§ 204) , and the Participles (§ 364) generally express time dependent on that of their leading Verb.
§ 174. Tenses which refer to the present or future are called Primary Tenses; those which refer to the past are called Secondary or Historic Tenses.
Primary: Present, Perfect Proper, Future, Future-Perfect.
Secondary: Perfect Aorist, Imperfect, Pluperfect.
The Perfect, Pluperfect, and Future Perfect, are often called the Completed Tenses, because they necessarily denote an action already finished ”

“ Adjectives without Nouns.—Adjectives are found without Nouns where these can be readily supplied from the context: lēgātōs comprŏhendunt, noxĭōs interfĭcĭŭnt they arrest the- ambassadors, they put-to-death the guilty-ones.
158. Adjectives as Nouns. —Adjectives (and Pronouns) are often used by themselves in the Masculine gender to denote Males or Persons generally, in the Feminine to denote Females, and in the Neuter to denote Things: quĭd mĭnŭs lībĕrō dīgnum? what (thing) is less worthy of a free man? ”

“ If the Subject is not expressed with the Infinitive, an Adjectival Complement is still often introduced, agreeing with the word from which the Subject is to be supplied; cŭpĭō ăbīrĕ incŏlŭmĭs I wish to go away unharmed; lĭcĕt mĭhĭ incŏlŭmī ăbīrĕ I am permitted to go away unharmed.
§ 206. Infinitive in Dependent Statement.
After Verbs and phrases of saying, thinking, and feeling, the Infinitive with the Ace. is used instead of a Dependent clause: nūntĭăt Caesărem rĕdĭissĕ he reports that Cæsar has returned; sēnsī prŏcellara advĕnīrĕ I perceived a storm was approaching ”

“ Complements are added to Verbs and Adjectives to show how they are limited in respect to Time, Place, Circumstances, Manner, Degree, and the like. In the Simple sentence, Adverbs and Oblique cases of Nouns (with or without attributes and prepositions) only are so used. Examples: postrīdĭē on-the-next-day (Time) Caesăr advēnĭt Cæsar arrived cum multā vī armātōrum with a-large force of-armed-men (Circumstance) .
CONSTRUCTION.
§ 118. It is impossible to read or write Latin without carefully attending to the Inflexions of words. ”

“ These Verbs are conjugated like īrĕ. The Imperative, and the Participle, Supine, Gerund, and Gerundive are wanting. The only forms occurring, except very rarely, in the Classical period are:
Pres. Ind. quĕō; nĕquĕō, nĕquĭt, nĕquĕunt
Pres. Subj. quĕam, &c.; nĕquĕam, &c.
§ 91. fĭĕrī to become, to be made.
This Verb, though Active in form (except in Inf.) , is used as the Passive of făcĭō, fēcī, factum, făcĕrĕ make.
The Compound tenses are supplied by factŭs, the Perf. Participle of făcĭō, and fĕrĕ as the Fut. Inf. The Gerundive is făcĭendŭs. fŭtūrŭs is used as the Fut. Part. ”

“ General Rules of Declension.—In Neuter Nouns the Nom., Voc., and Acc. are always alike, and the Nom., Voc., and Acc. Plur. always end in ă.
The Nom. and Voc. of all Genders are alike, except in the Masc. Sing. of the Second Declension.
The Dat. and Abl. Plur. are always alike.
First Declension.
§ 18. The Nom. Sing. ends in -ă, except certain Greek nouns. See § 267.
Gender.—Feminine, except a few Nouns denoting male persons, as pŏētă poet. ”

“ The Sing. and Plur. are alike, and there is no distinction of Gender.
§ 48. Possessive Pronouns.
mĕŭs, mĕă, mĕum my, mine; my own.
nostĕr, nostră, nostrum our, ours; our own.
tŭŭs, tŭă, tŭum thy, thine; thine own; your, yours; your own.
vestĕr, vestră, vestrum your, yours; your own.
sŭŭs, sŭă, sŭum his, her, hers, its, their, theirs; his own, etc.
These Pronouns are declined like Adjectives in -ŭs or -ĕr. But the Voc. Masc. of mĕŭs is mī or, rarely, mĕŭs; tŭŭs and sŭŭs have no Voc.
sŭŭs, like sē, is Reflexive, and only used of the Subject of the sentence; see also § 338. ”

“ Origin.—Iŏvĕ prōgnātŭs descended from-Jupiter.
"Ablaltive of the Agent" with ā or ăb.—The Ablative with ăb or ā (lit. from) is used with Passive Verbs of the Person who is the Source of the Action, that is the Agent; laudāmŭr ăb hīs, culpāmŭr ăb illīs we-are-praiscd by these-persons, we-are-blamed by those.
Abl. of Separation.—With Verbs signifying Removing, Depriving, etc., especially when compounded with the Prepositions ăb and dē, ex and sē: pellĕrĕ cāstrīs to drive from-the-camp, armīs spŏlĭārĕ to strip of-his-armour; urbĕ exīrĕ to-go-out of-the-town. ”

“ The Supine in -um denotes Purpose, and is used with Verbs which imply Motion: audītum ĕō Cĭcĕrōnem I-go to-hear (I-go a-hearing) Cicero.
This Supine is used with īrī, the Infinitive of ītŭr people go (see § 202) , to form a Future Infinitive Passive: dīcĭt sē occīsum īrī he says that he will be killed, lit. that people-are-going to-kill him.
§ 195. The Supine in -ū is used after Adjectives: horrendum audītū fearful to-hear (in the hearing) . For more see the Addendum. ”

“ Double Accusative.—Some Verbs take two Accusatives, one of the person and one of the thing : as hōc tē rŏg{subst:o-}} I ask you this. For a list of them see § 306.
Dative.
§ 137. General Meaning of Dative.—The Dative denotes:
A. The Person Interested in an action.
B. The Use or Purpose which anything serves.
§ 138. A. Dative of Person Interested.—The person whose interests are involved in any action is put in the Dative, generally translated for: bŏnă omnĭă pŏpŭlō Rōmānō prĕcantŭr they pray-for all blessings for the Roman people. ”

“ Adjectives in -ĕr of the Second Class.—Most of these form N.V. Fem. by adding -ĭs, and N.V.A. Neut. by adding -ĕ to the base. Thus they have three terminations in N.V. Sing. only.
Exx. cĕlĕr, cĕlĕr-ĭs, cĕlĕr-ĕ, base cĕlĕr- swift;
ācĕr, ācr-ĭs, ācr-ĕ, base ācr- keen.
§ 34. Comparative Adjectives (§ 35) are declined thus:
Ex. māiŏr greater.
Comparison of Adjectives.
§ 35. There are three Degrees of Comparison, the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative. The Positive denotes simply that a thing (or person) has a certain quality, as făcĭlĭs easy. ”