CIC: Lesson - Grammar - Relative Clause of Characteristic
Relative Clause of Characteristic
As we are already looking at relative clauses, let's investigate one additional, and uniquely Latin, use of the relative clause. Latin is the type of language that has some interesting constructions. The expression the type of ___ is handled in Latin with a relative clause, with the verb in the subjunctive mood. The relative clause of characteristic is used to define the antecedent as a particular type or as being "of such a character as". The antecedent is the noun that should be considered the "type of" when constructing your translation. The negative is often expressed with quin but can also use non.
- Cicero erat vir qui multum scriberet.
- Cicero was the type of man who would write a lot.
- Lege libros quos ames.
- Read the sort of books which you might like.
- Marcus nautam timuit quin ad litorem venirent.
- Marcus feared the type of sailor that avoided coming to the shore.
Relative Clause of Characteristic Examples
Below are several examples taken from authentic sources, to demonstrate the relative clause of characteristic in Latin.
|
Source |
Latin Example |
Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Cicero - Letters to his Friends | neque enim tu is es qui nescias |
for you are not the type of person who is unaware |
| Cicero - Tusculan Disputations | Sunt qui discessum animi a corpore putent esse mortem. |
There are those who think that the departure of the soul from the body is the definition of death. (Here, we see the relative pronoun acting as both antecedent and pronoun, implying "those") |
| Cicero - de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum | Multa dicunt quae vix intellegam. |
They say many things of the sort which I can barely understand. |
| Laelius - Orations | Quis est qui id non maximis efferat laudibus? | What sort of person is there who does not raise it up for the greatest praise? |