-o,-m I -mus we -s you -tis you -t he, she, it -nt theyYou learned that these endings tell you the person and number of the subject, but they actually were telling you more than that, though I kept it from you. Now it's time to come clean: these endings also tell you that the subject of the verb is itself performing the action of the verb. That is to say, these endings tell you the number and person of the subject, but additionally they tell you that the verb is in the "active voice". So these endings are more than the personal endings for the present system; they are the present system "active" personal endings.
Present: I am seen. Present Progressive: I am being seen. Future: I will be seen. Imperfect: I was being seen.Can you detect this pattern: inflected form for the verb "to be" plus the passive participle of the verb you're conjugating. Notice that the verb "to be" is doing all the work.
-or I am [being] -mur we are [being] -ris [-re] you are [being] -mini you are [being] -tur he is [being] -ntur they are [being]These are the endings you add to the normal stems to form the passive voice in the present system. Do you detect the similarities? Only the second person singular and plural endings are totally different from their active counterparts. Now let's take a closer look at how all of this is going to come together.
The only apparently usual form you're going to see in all this is the second person singular of third conjugation verbs. You remember that the stem vowel of a third conjugation verb is short "-e-" and that it changes when you start adding personal endings. It becomes "-i-" and "-u-". But think back. The infinitive of third conjugation verbs isn't "-ire" but "-ere". That's because when the short "-e-" is followed by an "-r-" it stays short "-e-". So what's that going to mean for the second personal singular passive? The passive personal ending is "-ris", so, since the ending starts with an "-r-", the stem vowel will not change to "-i-" as you might expect, but it will remain short "-e-". So the form will end in "-eris", not "-iris", as you might have expected. Write out the present tense passive of all four conjugations:
laudo moneo duco capio audio __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________
lauda + be + ris = laudabris mone + be + ris = monebrisWrite out the future tense passive of the paradigm verbs, and don't forget that 3rd and 4th conjugation verbs form the future tense differently from the 1st and 2nd.
laudo moneo duco capio audio __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________
laudo moneo duco capio audio __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________
1. lauda + ri = laudari "to be praised" 2. mone + ri = moneri "to be warned" 3. duc + i = duci "to be led" 3i. cap + i = capi "to be captured" 4. audi + ri = audiri "to be taken"
PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1 _______________ _______________ _______________ 2 _______________ _______________ _______________ 3 _______________ _______________ _______________ 1 _______________ _______________ _______________ 2 _______________ _______________ _______________ 3 _______________ _______________ _______________ INFINITIVE _______________
PRESENT FUTURE IMPERFECT 1 _______________ _______________ _______________ 2 _______________ _______________ _______________ 3 _______________ _______________ _______________ 1 _______________ _______________ _______________ 2 _______________ _______________ _______________ 3 _______________ _______________ _______________ INFINITIVE _______________
(a) George kicked the ball. (b) The ball was kicked by George.Obviously, in (a) the verb is active, but in (b) it is passive. But what's the difference between the active and passive voice as a matter of presentation? The action being described in both sentences is the same. Both authors are looking at the same action. What's the difference as far as the speakers' emphases are concerned? When we listen to or read English, we attach a certain priority to the subject of the verb. So in sentence (a) the speaker (or writer) relating the event, but with the focus of his attention on what George is doing. In sentence (b), however, the principle emphasis is on what is being done to the ball, and the fact that George is the one who kick the ball is attached only as further detail.
The order of rhetorical importance begins with the subject, next comes the action performed on it, and then finally the agent who actually performed the action. The sentence would still have been a completed thought even if George's agency had not been mentioned: "The ball was kicked". Similarly, the order of priority in sentence (a) begins with the subject of the verb, then the verb, and finally the object of the action of the verb.
You've probably been told sometime in your education experience to eschew the passive voice. That's probably good advice in general, but when you do use it, make sure that your emphasis in the passive voice construction reflects the real subordination of ideas in your narrative in general. Latin tends to be more skittish of the passive voice than English is, and, as you'll see, it definitely avoided our impersonal passive constructions like "it seems that" or "it is asked that" and so on.
In the passive voice construction in Latin, the agent of the action, if it is mentioned, is expressed by the preposition "ab" + the ablative case. Wheelock gives you a stern warning: the "Ablative of Personal Agent" is not the "Ablative of Means" (or the "Instrumental Ablative"). The "Ablative of Means" expresses the instrument with which the agent accomplished the action of the verb; the "Ablative of Personal Agent" expresses the agent itself in a passive construction.
"Nulli tyranni ab Romanis laudabantur". (No tyrants used to be praised by the Romans.) "Multae rosae puellis ab poetis dabuntur". (Many roses will be given to the girls by the poets.)But when the agent of a passive voice is not animate, then Latin uses the Ablative of Means.
"Omnes his periculis terrentur". (Everyone is frightened by these dangers.) "Multae urbes vi pecuniae capientur". (Many cities will be captured by the force of money.)But
"Omnes a malis terrentur". (Everyone is frightened by the evil [men].) "Multae urbes istis tyrannis capientur". (Many cities will be captured by those tyrants.)
1. Illi libri nos adiuvabunt. ____________________________________________________________ 2. Haec pericula vos terrebant. ____________________________________________________________ 3. Hi libri a discipulis meis cum celeritate legentur. ____________________________________________________________ 4. Te in via videbo. ____________________________________________________________ 5. Magna ira cives movent. ____________________________________________________________
videor, -eri, visus sum The passive voice of the verb "video" takes on a special meaning; one that is not entirely predictable simply by knowing the rules of translating the Latin passive voice into English. To be sure, "videor" can mean "I am seen", but more often it comes to mean "I seem" or "I appear" and is often followed by an infinitive: "videor legere" = "I seem to be reading". For your future reference, the third person impersonal passive of "video" -- "videtur" does not equal our popular construction "it seems"; rather it means "it seems right". Latin never says "it seem that George is sick"; it says "George seems to be sick".01/08/93