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Passive Periphrastic


Castor

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Read Horace's Ode to Cleopatra. He begins with the passive periphrastic:

 

Nunc est bibendum! - Now it must be drunk!

 

They are really quite simple. Take the present stem + ndus, nda, ndum couple it with a form of esse (make sure it agrees in Gender Number and Case) and put the obliged in the dative.

 

Haec lingua tibi discenda est.

 

This language must be learned by you.

 

That said, don't worry about it, you are only in Latin 1. Spend your energy memorizing your principal parts and your endings.

Edited by Lucius Calpurnius Capitolinus
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  • 2 months later...
Its similar to the way the gerund is formed in Spanish

 

Hablar:to speak Hablando:speaking

Comer:toeat Comiendo: eating

Vivir:to live Viviendo:living

 

Not even slightly. Hablando/Comiendo/Viviendo are present participles, and are used in progressive constructions. There is nothing remotely passive about them.

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