Latin III/Gerunds Lesson 1
Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. This lesson introduces the gerund, a verbal noun that expresses ongoing action. Think of it as the "-ing" form of the verb when used as a noun in English, as in "Running is good exercise" or "I am fond of reading."
The Gerund
[edit | edit source]The gerund is formed by adding -nd- plus case endings to the present stem of the verb (remove -ō from first principal part for 1st and 2nd conjugation; for 3rd and 4th, remove -ō and add 'e'). The gerund only exists in the neuter singular, and lacks a nominative case - the infinitive is used instead. For example:
From amō (1):
- Gen: amandī = of loving
- Dat: amandō = for/to loving
- Acc: amandum = loving (only used with prepositions)
- Abl: amandō = by/with loving
From moneō (2):
- Gen: monendī = of warning
- Dat: monendō = for/to warning
- Acc: monendum = warning
- Abl: monendō = by/with warning
From regō (3):
- Gen: regendī = of ruling
- Dat: regendō = for/to ruling
- Acc: regendum = ruling
- Abl: regendō = by/with ruling
From audiō (4):
- Gen: audiendī = of hearing
- Dat: audiendō = for/to hearing
- Acc: audiendum = hearing
- Abl: audiendō = by/with hearing
New Vocabulary
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ars, artis, f. | art, skill | |
| difficultās, difficultātis, f. | difficulty | |
| facultās, facultātis, f. | ability, opportunity | |
| studium, studiī, n. | zeal, enthusiasm, study | |
| ūtilis, ūtile | useful |
New Sentences
[edit | edit source]| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Legere est ūtile. | Reading (to read) is useful. | Infinitive used for nominative |
| Ars scribendī difficilis est. | The art of writing is difficult. | Genitive gerund |
| Tempus legendī venit. | The time for reading has come. | |
| Cupidus sum discendī. | I am eager for learning. | Genitive with adjective |
| Aqua ūtilis est bibendō. | Water is useful for drinking. | Dative of purpose |
| Ad docendum parātus sum. | I am prepared for teaching. | Accusative with ad |
| Docendō discimus. | By teaching, we learn. | Ablative of means |
| Mārcus facultātem legendī habet. | Marcus has the ability of reading. | |
| Difficultātem scrībendī superāvit. | He overcame the difficulty of writing. | |
| Dē vivendo cogitō. | I think about living. | Ablative with preposition |
| In legendō tempus consumit. | He spends time in reading. | |
| Studium discendī utile est. | The enthusiasm for learning is useful. | |
| Sine legendō nōn est doctrina. | Without reading there is no learning. | |
| Causā docendī vēnit. | He came for the sake of teaching. | Purpose with causā |
Practice
[edit | edit source]| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Step one | First learn the words using this lesson: |
| Step two | Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: |
| Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function) | |
In our next lesson, we will explore the gerundive and more complex uses of the gerund. Valēte omnēs!