Here we see four substantives which have the same endings as the four in Cap. XV. These, therefore, are also of the Third declension. Their stems also end in a consonant, except that of Grus, which ends in u. These, therefore, are called Consonant and U-nouns of the Third declension. (1) Tecta alta pueri oppugnant. Mortuus = dead. Prohibeo = to prevent. (2) Passeres flores domini lacerabant. (3) Passeres molestos trucidamus, crabrones sævos arcemus. (4) Ego quidem pugilis operam laudabam, tu autem macrum arbitrum amabas. (5) Crabrones tauros cornigeros aqua arcent. (9) Vos, fabri improbi, passerem miserum aqua arcebatis. (10) Sævum aprum pugil jaculo arcebat, et ducem equitum servabat. (1) The master's boy was driving away the pigs and the bulls with a whip. (2) Good lords drive away wicked slaves from prison. (3) I, O kind father-in-law, will drive away the little boys from the water. (4) The maidservant was killing the large hornet and preserving the kind woman. (5) Hornets drive away horses and pigs from the pleasant water. (6) You, O good women, were washing the dead sparrow with water. (7) Large houses preserve small chests. (8) The servants were slaying the leader of the footsoldiers with daggers. (9) I, indeed, will kill the cranes, but the sparrows you will preserve, O son-in-law ! (10) Savage hornets do not attack large towns. These four words have the same endings in the Genitive, Dative, and Ablative as the words in Caps. XV. and XVI. They are therefore of the Third declension. The Nominative, Vocative, and Accusative are alike. The Nominative, Vocative, and Accusative in the plural end in a. This shows that they are of the Neuter gender (cf. Cap. VII.) Their stems end in consonants (1 in t, 2 in n, 3 and 4 in r), and they have more syllables in the Genitive singular than in the Nominative singular. These three words, then, are Neuter-consonant-substantives of the Third declension, whose Genitives in We have learnt (Cap. XII., Rule 1) that the subject of a Finite verb which is plural may be made up of two singular words joined together. Up to the present we have only met with words of the same person joined together for the subject of a Plural verb; e.g. Scriba et ancilla arcam servant. Here scriba and ancilla, which make up the subject of servant, are both Third person; therefore the whole subject is Third person, and therefore the Finite verb is also in the Third person (Cap. III., Rule 2). But if we take the sentence You and I have always been friends,' we see at once that the subject of the Finite verb 'have' is made of two words- -one of which, 'you,' is second person, and the other, 'I,' is first. What, then, is the verb to do? Again, in the sentence 'My father and I delight the world,' substitute one word for 'my father and I'; the word will be 'we,' as-' We two delight the world.' Therefore the verb 'delight' will be in the First person; therefore the verb chooses the First person before the Third. Lastly, in the sentence 'You and your father are well,' substitute one word: we have 'You two are well.' Thus the verb chooses the Second person before the Third. Rule When the subject of a Plural verb is made up of two words of different persons, put one word in the place of these two; the verb will then agree with this one word. N.B.-In English we say 'you and I'; in Latin we say 'ego et tu.' Remember that the endings of a substantive and adjective which agree together are not always the same; thus the Latin for 'a great work' is 'magnum opus.' Here magnum is Neuter gender, because it must agree with opus, which is neuter (Cap. VIII., Rule 3). |