36. Gerunds and Gerundives

Question 1

What does the gerund literally mean?

Answer 1

• the act of doing X

Question 2

What is the gerund? How is it formed?

Answer 2

• it’s a second declension neuter noun from the stem of the verb with the same vowel as the imperfect tense and the ending ndum
• e.g portandum, monendum, trahendum. audiendum, capiendum

Question 3

What cases can the gerund be used in? (4)

Answer 3

• Accusative after a preposition
• Genitive
• Dative
• Ablative

Question 4

What cases is the gerund NOT used in? (2) What is used in these cases?

Answer 4

• The nominative
• The accusative as direct object
• The infinitive

Question 5

What is ad + accusative gerund used to express?

Answer 5

Purpose

Question 6

The genitive of the gerund is used with various nouns and adjectives. What are the 6 most notable? What is this genitive gerund called?

Answer 6

• ars (art)
• occasio (opportunity)
• signum (signal)
• spes (hope)
• cupidus (eager)
• peritus (skilled)
• genitive of definition

Question 7

What is notable about ‘causa’ and the gerund? What does it mean?

Answer 7

• it’s the ablative single used as a preposition that comes AFTER a genitive gerund.
• for the sake of X, in order to X - with X being the preceding genitive gerund.

Question 8

Where do you often find the dative gerund?

Answer 8

• After words that take the dative

Question 9

The ablative gerund is usually what?

Answer 9

Instrumental

Question 10

What is a gerund qualified by, an adjective or an adverb?

Answer 10

Adverb

Question 11

What is the gerundive? What does it literally mean?

Answer 11

• An adjective formed from a verb that is not a participle
• needing to be X-ed

Question 12

How is the gerundive formed?

Answer 12

• The same way as the gerund but with 2-1-2 endings
• e.g portandus-a-um etc

Question 13

(in terms of the gerundive) If there is an agent, how is it expressed?

Answer 13

With the dative and no preposition

Question 14

There is an idiomatic use of the gerund with verbs of entrusting and undertaking. How is the gerundive translated in these instances and which 3 verbs are found in these idioms? What do they mean?

Answer 14

• Translated like an active infinitive or a noun
• do - give
• curo - see to, get…done
• suscipio - undertake

Question 15

In what two idioms do the gerund and gerundive seem to merge?

Answer 15

• Impersonal neuter gerundive of obligation (gerundive looking like a gerund)
• Gerundival Attraction (Gerund Changed into Gerundive)

Question 16

When does the impersonal neuter gerundive of obligation occur? What is it similar to? What does it mean?

Answer 16

• With intransitive verbs
• Works like impersonal passive (perventum est = it was arrived, an act of arriving was done)
• it needs to be X-ed, an act of X needs to be done

Question 17

With the impersonal neuter gerundive of obligation, some of the intransitive verbs used take the dative. What happens in these situations?

Answer 17

The agent is expressed by a/ab and the ablative

Question 18

What happens in cases of gerundival attraction? Give an example using “the art of writing a letter”. What is the literal translation?

Answer 18

• the gerund that takes an object it is replaced by the gerundive
• ars scribendi epistulam becomes ars epistulae scribendae
• The art of a needing to be written letter = the art of writing a letter

Question 19

What is the simplified rule of gerundival attraction?

Answer 19

• if a gerund has a direct object, that noun changes into the case of the gerund, and the gerund then changes into a gerundive agreeing with it.

Question 20

In terms of gerundival attraction, what happens when the object of the gerund is a neuter pronoun?

Answer 20

It remains unchanged

Question 21

What example of gerundival attraction are you already familiar with from GCSE?

Answer 21

• gerund with the accusative noun after ad to express purpose
• e.g legatos misit ad pacem petendam