Chapter 17
RULE 1: A relative pronoun agrees with
its antecedent in number and gender, but not case;
it derives its case from its use in its own clause.
I. Grammar
This lesson centers on the relative pronoun, a form you've used all your
life but may not have thought about how it really functions.
A. The Relative Pronoun(s) in English
A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause, so called because the
pronoun "relates" the clause to the main sentence, e.g. "She
is the girl who loves me." In this sentence, who
links the relative clause (who loves me) to the main sentence
(She is the girl). There are no fewer than five ways to represent
the relative pronoun in English:
1. Who: I have a friend who eats
fish.
2. Which: And I have a fish which
eats friends.
3. That: It's a piranha that eats
people.
4. What: What my piranha eats is none
of your business.
5. Zero: Unless you're my friend, why do you care about
the food my piranha eats? [The omission of the relative pronoun here
is parallel to the omission of that, a common practice in English,
e.g. "Go ahead and jump in. I assure you <that>
this is a friendly fish."]
B. The Formation of the Latin Relative Pronoun
The formation of qui, quae, quod, the relative pronoun in Latin,
is relatively simple: the base qu- + first/second declension
endings, with the usual pronoun exceptions. Note the following:
1. qui is masculine nominative singular and
plural;
2. the irregular form quae does double duty, as expected, for
both feminative nominative singular and neuter nominative/accusative
plural (cf. -a in first/second declension), but the same form
also serves as the feminative nominative plural form;
3. like illud, aliud, istud and id,
the neuter nominative/accusative singular quod ends in -d;
4. the endings, -ius and -i, of the genitive and dative
singular are the usual forms seen in the pronoun;
5. quem and quibus exhibit third-declension endings;
6. and finally, there are no mandatory long marks.
C. The Syntax of the Relative Pronoun in Latin
Relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause. Subordinate clauses
have their own "grammar" (subject, verb, possibly also objects
and prepositional phrases) and, though linked into a main sentence in
some way, they do not serve as part of it. The relative pronoun which
introduces the relative clause links the clause to the sentence through
its antecedent, a word (usually a noun) in the main sentence, for instance:
Judge, here is the student who murdered his Latin
teacher.
In this sentence, Here is the student is the main sentence which
stands on its own grammatically and, while who murdered his Latin
teacher has its own subject and verb, it is not an independent statement
but a (relative) clause. This who is to be distinguished from
the interrogative who which asks a question and tends to come
at the front of a sentence or thought, e.g. "Who murdered the Latin
teacher?"
While strictly not part of the main sentence, a relative clause is linked
to the main sentence grammatically through the relative pronoun which
straddles both. The relative clause in the example above is who murdered
his Latin teacher, and its antecedent is the student which
it describes or modifies (i.e. the relative clause tells you more about
the student). The clause has its own subject (who), verb (murdered)
and direct object (teacher). The who links this mini-sentence
to the antecedent (student) in the main sentence. In Latin, the
verb of the relative clause and everything else in the relative clause
except the relative pronoun will be constructed just as if it were in
a regular sentence, so the only thing that's really new about Latin relative
clauses at this point is how to form the relative pronoun properly. So,
that's what we'll focus on.
Since the relative pronoun functions in both its own clause and the main
sentence, it is a creature of two worlds and its loyalties are naturally
divided. So, what case should a Latin relative pronoun take: the case
of its antecedent so that like other pronouns (e.g. hic, ille,
iste) it agrees in number, gender and case with the noun it goes
with; or the case that its own clause requires (i.e. nominative if it's
the subject in its own clause)? Which loyalty do you think ought to be
stronger, the outward pull toward its antecedent or the inward attraction
of its own clause's grammar? Sometimes it's not a problem, as in the case
of the sentence above ("Judge, here is the student . . ."),
because the antecedent happens to be in the same case as that which the
relative clause requires. But what if it's not? Consider this example:
Judge, I accuse this student, who killed his Latin
teacher, of murder in the first declension!
Now the antecedent (student) is the direct object of the main
sentence and should therefore be accusative, but the relative pronoun
is the subject in its own clause (who killed)
and should therefore be nominative. Which case is the better choice? Considering
(1) that it is often no problem in actual practice to determine what noun
is the antecedent of the relative pronoun—context and common sense
frequently make it clear which noun must serve as the relative pronoun's
antecedent—(2) that the relative pronoun will agree with its antecedent
in number and gender no matter which option is chosen and that alone will
often delimit the possible antecedents considerably; and (3) that one
has no other guideline for construing the use of a relative pronoun in
its own clause except by its case ending, the choice must be to make the
relative pronoun reflect its use in its own clause rather than take the
case of its antecedent. If for some reason there is difficulty determining
what noun is a relative pronoun's antecedent—the problem arises
rarely in actual practice—there is an unwritten rule in Latin, just
as in English, that relative clauses tend to follow their antecedents
directly, as in most of the examples above.
Thus arises the rule, as stated above: "A relative pronoun agrees
with its antecedent in number and gender, but not case;
it derives its case from its use in its own clause." Click here
for a worksheet on relative pronouns and their formation.
II. Vocabulary
aut: Latin doesn't have a separate word for
"either"; it simply uses the word aut ("or")
in both halves of the pair (aut . . . aut) to denote
"either . . . or . . ."
coepi: This verb lacks present-tense forms;
thus, linguists call it "defective." Its perfect infinitive
(a form you don't know yet) is coepisse, meaning "to begin."
It takes the place of the present infinitive as the second principal part
of this verb but supplies no particular grammatical information necessary
to the proper conjugation of the verb. This verb takes a complementary
infinitive.
incipio: = in- + capio, with
the expected vowel gradation. Just as in English, the literal Latin meaning
"to take on" implies "to begin." Like coepi,
it takes a complementary infinitive. The difference in meaning between
coepi and incipio is negligible, cf. English start
and begin.
neglego: A compound of ne(c)
+ lego ("choose"), literally "not to choose."
factum: The substantive of the perfect passive
participle of facio in the neuter, meaning literally "a
thing having been done."
III. Sentences
Practice and Review
5. Remember that quam as an adverb means "how."
8. It's best to take illa with femina, though it can
be construed with pericula.
IV. Review for Test 3
Test 3: Review
____________________________________
NOMEN TUUM
I. Please give the proper Latin form of the underlined
word(s) in each of the sentences below. Include prepositions if
they are necessary. (20 pts.)
1. God helps those who help themselves. |
___________________ |
2. The troops went across the sea. |
___________________ |
3. The rights which we once had have now been lost. |
___________________ |
4. The sons whose fathers are alive will fight for freedom. |
___________________ |
5. He is the citizen to whom we entrusted our liberty. |
___________________ |
6. The force of the troops themselves will conquer. |
___________________ |
7. He loved the memory of his own mother. |
___________________ |
8. He was helped by the opinions of wiser men. |
___________________ |
9. He spoke with truth and conviction. |
___________________ |
10. In an age like ours no one knows the difference between
who and whom. |
___________________ |
II. Translate the following verb forms -- PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION
TO TENSE! If necessary, write the tense out to the side to show
that you know it. (20 pts.)
1. coepistis
2. timent
3. current
4. dicite
5. sentire
6. iuvimus
7. iaciebam
8. traxeras
9. fuisti
10. fugerint
III. Give the proper form of the adjective which
agrees (in NUMBER, GENDER AND CASE) with the nouns to the left.
(10 pts.)
EXAMPLE: |
LONGUS |
BREVIS |
morti |
longae |
brevi |
|
|
|
|
LONGUS |
BREVIS |
1. urbe |
______________________________ |
______________________________________ |
2. nomina |
______________________________ |
______________________________________ |
3. deorum |
______________________________ |
______________________________________ |
4. iuris |
______________________________ |
______________________________________ |
5. mare |
______________________________ |
______________________________________ |
IV. Fill in the blanks with the correct PRINCIPAL
PARTS (PRESENT INDICATIVE, PRESENT INFINITIVE, PERFECT INDICATIVE,
PERFECT PARTICIPLE) of the Latin verbs below. (10 pts.)
Pres. |
Inf. |
Perf. |
Perf. Part. |
________________ |
incipere |
_________________ |
inceptum |
deleo |
________________ |
_________________ |
deletum |
committo |
committere |
_________________ |
________________________ |
iungo |
iungere |
_________________ |
________________________ |
________________ |
________________ |
ieci |
iactum |
V. Translate the following sentences into good
English which shows that you know the syntax of the Latin sentences.
Answer the grammar questions appended. (40 pts.)
1. Post haec tempora mala quibus
ipsi vitam agimus, filii filiaeque nostrae bene vivere
incipient.
What case is tempora and why? |
_____________________________________________________ |
What case is quibus and why? |
_____________________________________________________ |
What mood is vivere and why? |
_____________________________________________________ |
2. Ex Italiâ mecum fûgit,
quoniam veritatem ante Caesarem dicere non potuimus
et iram istius timuimus.
What case is Italiâ
and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
What case is me and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
What case is Caesarem and why?
|
__________________________________________________ |
3. Cives quibuscum ad Asiam veniebas regi
isti se commiserunt, et nunc omnes sunt miseri.
What case is Asiam
and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
What case is regi and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
What case is miseri and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
4. Ei qui sunt cari dis cum ratione
animisque se semper gerunt.
What case is qui
and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
What case is dis and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
What case is ratione and why? |
__________________________________________________ |
**************************************************************************
ANSWERS
I. |
1. qui |
6. ipsarum |
|
2. mare |
7. suae |
|
3. quae |
8. sententiis |
|
4. quorum |
9. cum veritate |
|
5. cui |
10. aetate |
II. |
1. you (pl.) have begun |
6. we have helped |
|
2. they fear |
7. I was throwing |
|
3. they will run |
8. you had drawn |
|
4. say! (pl.) |
9. you have been |
|
5. to feel |
10. they will have fled |
III. |
1. longâ (urbe) |
brevi (urbe) |
|
2. longa (nomina) |
brevia (nomina) |
|
3. longorum (deorum) |
brevium (deorum) |
|
4. longi (iuris) |
brevis (iuris) |
|
5. longum (mare) |
breve (mare) |
IV.
INCIPIO |
incipere |
INCEPI |
inceptum |
deleo |
DELERE |
DELEVI |
deletum |
committo |
committere |
COMMISI |
COMMISSUM |
iungo |
iungere |
IUNXI |
IUNCTUM |
IACIO |
IACERE |
ieci |
iactum |
V. 1. After these bad times in which we ourselves
are living (lit. lead life), our sons and daughters will begin to
live well.
tempora: accusative, object of post
quibus: ablative of point in time
vivere: infinitive, complementary with incipio
2. He fled with me out of Italy, since we were not able to speak
the truth in front of Caesar and feared that (grrr!) man's anger.
Italiâ: ablative, object of ex
me : ablative of accompaniment
Caesarem: accusative, object of ante
3. The citizens with whom you came to Asia entrusted themselves
to that (grrr!) king, and now they all are unhappy.
Asiam: accusative, object of ad
regi: dative, indirect object
miseri: nominative, predicate adjective
4. Those who are dear to the gods always conduct themselves with
reason and courage.
qui: nominative, subject (in its own clause)
dis: dative, with carus ("dear to
. . .")
ratione: ablative of manner |
|