In the thirty-eighth class of the Latin from Scratch course, we’ll study the syntax of participles, taking into account the different functions they can have.
Contents
I explain everything in the following video ():
Basic syntax
Just like adjectives, participles must agree in gender, number and case with the noun they refer to. Also, participles can be nominalized or have their own complements (since they are verbs, after all).
There are two main constructions: participle as predicate, and the ablative absolute.
Participle as predicate
These participles appear as the predicate of any noun in the sentence in any syntactic function. Since the participle agrees with the noun, the participle can appear in any case.
Most of the times, these participles can be directly translated into English, usually right after the noun they refer to; if the participle has complements, these go after the participle.
Interdiu stellas non videmus solis luce obscuratas.
During the day we don’t see the stars, darkened by the light of the sun.
Ablative absolute
Ablative absolute participles (mostly perfect) only appear in the ablative case, always without a preposition. Both the participle and the noun it refers to (as well as the complements the noun and/or the participle might have) make up a syntactic unit which is independent from the rest of the sentence, and it has the meaning of an adverbial subordinate clause.
The translation of these constructions can be a bit tricky in English, since a literal translation often feels artificial, clunky or too formal.
Cognita militum voluntate Ariminum cum ea legione proficiscitur.
The wishes of the soldiers being known, he heads for Rimini with this legion.
Having learned the wishes…
After learning the wishes…
The ablative absolute has a perfect participle most of the times, but it can also have a present participle:
Pitagoras, Tarquino regnante, in Italiam venit.
Pythagoras, Tarquin reigning, came to Italy.
… Tarquin being king…
… during the reign of Tarquin…
Last note. The ablative absolute is always in the ablative case, but not every participle in the ablative case will be an ablative absolute: it might just be a participle as predicate which happens to be in the ablative case (with or without preposition).
Ablative absolute without participle
It is not uncommon to find an ablative absolute without its participle. This is because the present participle of the verb sum (which does not exist in Latin) is assumed.
In our translations it is possible to use the English “being”, or translate in any other freer way.
There are a few frequent types.
public office
The name of a person (or referring to a person) together with a noun related to public office (or similar) in the ablative case without a preposition will be an ablative absolute:
Cicerone (et) Antonio consulibus…
Cicero and Antony being consuls…
During the consulship of Cicero and Antony…
Antonio praetore…
Antony being praetor…
When Antony was praetor…
Duce illo…
He being general…
Since he was the general…
stage of life
It is pretty much the same when we have a noun referring to a stage of life:
Me puero…
Me being a child…
When/since I was a child…
adjectives such as invitus
An adjective (such as invitus, ‑a, ‑um) can appear in a similar structure:
Me invito…
Against my will…
Participles appear quite often in Latin, so it is a good idea to go and practice with them.