Infinitives Uses

INFINITIVES, THEIR USES, AND INDIRECT STATEMENT Infinitives An infinitive, simply put, is a verbal form that is composed of to + ___________. There are four conjugations in Latin, which usually fall into patterns, as follows: 2nd PP 3rd PP 4th 1st PP PP Pres. Act. Indic. “I __________” “____ed”

1st:

Perf. Act. Indic. Supine “I __________”

-o,

-āre,

-āvi,

amo, onero,

amāre, onerāre,

amāvi, onerāvi,

2nd: -eo, moneo, teneo,

3rd: -o,

4th:

Pres. Act. Inf. “to ________”

-ēre,

-ui, monēre, tenerē,

-atum amatum oneratum

-(i)tum monui, tenui,

monitum tentum

-ere,

-i,

-tum

dico, duco,

dicere, ducere,

dixi, duxi,

dictum ductum

-io,

-ire,

eo, venio,

īre venīre,

-(iv)i, ivi vēni

-itum itum ventum

In Latin, infinitives, like Participles, have Tense and Voice, but they do not decline like participles. There are six infinitive forms in Latin, which are as follows: Active

Passive

Pres.

-āre, -ēre, -ere, -īre “to ________”

-āri, -ēri, -i, -īri “to be _____ed”

Perf.

3rd PP Stem + isse “to have _____ed”

Fut.

Fut. Act. Part. + esse

4th PP + esse “to have been ___ed” 4th PP + iri

The infinitive may be used in any of the following ways: 1) complementary infinitive (such as with possum or debeo) The students want to learn Latin. Discipuli desiderant discere linguam Latinam. 2) a noun (usually only as the subject of a sentence) To teach you all is a joy. Docēre vos est gaudium. 3) in Indirect Statement Laocoon said that the horse was a trick. Laocoon dixit equum esse dolum.

Indirect Statement The infinitive is used with the Accusative case in indirect statement, which does not use quotation marks (or inquit). You can usually tell an indirect statement in English, since it often has “that” (which is not found in the Latin). In Latin, you can usually spot an indirect statement with the following types of verbs: Speaking: Knowing: Thinking: Feeling:

dico, ait, nuntio, narro, scribo scio, nescio, intellego, disco cogito, credo, puto, spero audio, video, sentio

In indirect statements, you don’t translate the infinitive simply according to its tense. Rather, how you translate the infinitive is relative to the original tense of the main verb. if the main verb is perfect, and the infinitive is present then the infinitive is translated as happening at the same time as the main verb. o ex: Lacoon dixit equum esse dolum. “Lacoon said that the horse was a trick.) if the main verb is perfect, and the infinitive is perfect, then the infinitive is translated as happening before the main verb. o ex: Lacoon dixit equum fuisse dolum. “Lacoon said that the horse had been a trick.