Latin for Beginners · Lesson LXIX · Part 14: Participles, result and description clauses
69. The subjunctive of characteristic; the predicate accusative
Goal: Your child translates relative clauses of description ('the man to lead us') and verbs like 'make', 'choose' and 'call' with two accusatives.
You'll need
- The book (the lesson pages)
- A notebook and pencil
- Index cards from earlier lessons
What's in the book
The subjunctive of characteristic or description (§ 389) with its rule (§ 390), the predicate accusative (§ 391) with its rule (§ 392), a list of verbs that take two accusatives (§ 393), and eight Latin sentences (§ 394). The lesson heading is faint in the scan; it starts at § 389.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Your child gives one result clause in Latin and says what it means.
Describing with the subjunctive
A relative clause with the subjunctive describes what kind of person or thing is meant. Compare:
Caesar est is quī nōs dūcit
Caesar est is quī nōs dūcat
The first is a fact: Caesar is the man who is leading us. The second describes: Caesar is the man to lead us.
Set phrases
Read the book's examples aloud:
Quis est quī suam domum nōn amet?
Who is there who does not love his own home?
Erant quī hoc facere nōllent
There were some who were unwilling to do this. Erant quī and Nēmō est quī almost always take this subjunctive.
Two accusatives
'The Romans made Caesar consul': Caesarem is the object, and cōnsulem is a second accusative naming the same person. In the passive both become nominative: Caesar cōnsul factus est. Verbs that do this (§ 393): creō (choose), appellō, nōminō, vocō (call), faciō (make).
Latin to English
Translate the § 394 sentences. Two of them:
Rōmānī Galbam ducem creāvērunt et summā celeritāte profectī sunt.
Germānī nōn iī sunt quī adventum Caesaris vereantur.
A footnote reminds you that 'erant' before its subject means 'there were'.
Wrap-up
Ask your child to make up an English sentence of each kind: 'He is the man to…' and 'They elected him…'. Memorize the rules in §§ 390 and 392.
Answers to the book's problems
1. In the forests of Germany there are many kinds of wild beasts which have not been seen in other places. 2. There were two routes by which the Helvetii could leave home. 3. There was no band, no town, no garrison that could defend itself with arms. 4. All the grain having been seized, there was nothing at home with which they could ward off death. 5. The Romans chose Galba leader and set out with the greatest speed. 6. Nor was there anyone in so great a multitude who was willing to delay. 7. The Germans are not the men to fear Caesar's arrival. (Sentence 8 continues on the next page and is not included here.)
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.