CLT: Lesson - Grammar - Participles Review

Participles Review

Participles are a special type of adjective, formed from a verb, and so we call them verbal adjectives. There are three tenses for participles: present, perfect and future. In Latin II, we learned that present participles are always active, perfect participles always look passive, and future participles are also active. Before we discuss the new participle, which is a future passive participle, let's review the three participles from Latin II. 

Please download the following review handouts that cover basic verb formation rules and information on usage:

• Participle Formation Review Links to an external site.
• Participle Translation Review Links to an external site.

Present Active Participles

Examples from Caesar

1. Romani [conversa] signa bipertito intulerunt: prima et secunda acies, ut victis ac submotis resisteret, tertia, ut venientes sustineret.
   • ...the third line was to receive those who were incoming. (Book 1, part 25)
2. Non nulli etiam Caesari nuntiabant, cum castra moveri ac signa ferri iussisset, non fore dicto audientes milites neque propter timorem signa laturos.
   • ...the listening soldiers... (more context: that the soldiers would not be listening...) (Book 1, part 39)

Perfect Participles

Examples from Caesar

1. Romani [conversa] signa bipertito intulerunt: prima et secunda acies, ut victis ac submotis resisteret, tertia, ut venientes sustineret.
   • ...with their standards having turned around...the first and second line was to hold off those who were already defeated and driven off... (Book 1.25)
2. Nondum hieme confecta...in fines Nerviorum contendit.
   1. Though the winter was not yet over, he hastened into the territory of the Nervii. (Book 6.3)

Future Active Participles

Examples from Caesar

1. Non nulli etiam Caesari nuntiabant, cum castra moveri ac signa ferri iussisset, non fore dicto audientes milites neque propter timorem signa laturos.
   • Future participles are used with the infinitive form esse to create a future active infinitive. The two future participles in this passage, fore and laturos, are being used with esse in an indirect statement.
   • fore = a contraction of the future active infinitive for the verb esse; futurus esse -> fore (to be about to be)
   • laturos (esse) = the future participle comes from the irregular verb ferre (about to bear, bring), agreeing with milites
     • ...that the soldiers would not be listening to the command nor would they advance the standards due to their fear.