CLT: Lesson - Gerunds and Gerundives - Additional Uses

Gerunds and Gerundives - Additional Uses

Gerunds and Gerundives are occasionally used in ways that do not express purpose in the genitive, dative and ablative cases. Let's look at a few additional examples to explore these uses.

Additional Examples

Case

 Latin Example Translation
Objective Genitive
  • Caesar, Book 4.14: neque consilii habendi neque arma capiendi spatio dato perturbantur
    • habendi = gerundive
    • capiendi = gerund
  • Because time was not given for either forming plans or taking up arms
Genitive Limited by a Pronoun
  • Caesar, Book 3.6: sui colligendi...facultatem
    • colligendi = gerund
  • the means of collecting themselves (the opportunity for the recovering of themselves)
Dative with Certain Verbs
  • Cicero, In Verrem, 2.1.148: Diem praestitit operi faciendo
    • faciendo = gerundive
  • He set a day for the work to be done
Ablative with a Comparative Adjective
  • Cicero, De Officiis, 1.47: Nullum officium referenda gratia magis necessarium est.
    • referenda = gerundive
  • No responsibility is more necessary than repaying favors.

Additional Notes

Notice in the first example demonstrating an objective genitive, Caesar uses both a gerundive construction (consilii habendi) and a gerund with a direct object (arma capiendi). It is important to remember that generally gerundives were used (arma capienda would be the "normal" construction), but that Romans did rarely use a gerund with a direct object.