CHAPTER 32

"Adverbs: Formation and Comparison; Volo"

ADVERBS

Adverbs, of course, are words which modify verbs; that is, they tell you something about the way in which, or the conditions under which, the action of the verb is undertaken: "quickly", "stupidly", "easily", "suddenly" and so forth. And because they don't agree with their verb in any way, adverbs don't decline or take on a variety of endings to match them with their verbs.

The adverbs you've been working with up to now are, shall we say, "obvious" adverbs. Adverbs like "tamen" or "tum" aren't morphologically related at all to any other words in any way. They aren't derived from adjectives or nouns; they are only adverbs. But if you look at an English adverb like "quickly", you can clearly see how this is a form derived from the adjective "quick". To turn it into an adverb, English simply attaches the ending "-ly".

This may not seem like a monumental discovery, but it does have an important consequence. Since "quickly" is a form which is derivable from "quick" according to a rather straight-forward rule of English grammar, an English dictionary will not list "quickly" as a separate word. You'll find it mentioned in passing only under the entry for "quick", which is its ancestor, so to speak.

Latin also has a set of rules for deriving adverbs from adjectives, and it is important that you know them -- for the same reason it's important to know the English rules of creating adverbs from adjectives: because an adverb which is a derived form from an adjective will not be given a separate dictionary listing. To look up a derived adverb, you'll first have deconstruct it, by undoing the rules that made it an adverb in the first place. You have to reduce the adverb to the original adjective; then you can look the adjective up. Once you have the meaning of the adjective, then you can go back to your sentence and "adverbize" the meaning of the adjective. Let's get started.

Just as there are three degrees of adjectives, so also there are three degrees of adverbs. An adverb in the positive degree is formed off the positive degree stem of the adjective; the comparative degree of the adverb is formed from the comparative degree stem of the adjective; and the superlative degree of the adverb is formed from the superlative degree stem of the adjective. As a brief refresher, here are the rules for forming the degrees of adjectives.

COMPARATIVE DEGREE OF ADJECTIVES


                     stem     +       -ior, -ius



            ADJECTIVE              STEM          COMPARATIVE DEGREE



      longus, -a, -um              long-           longior, -ius

      miser, -a, -um               miser-          miserior, -ius

      pulcher, -chra, -chrum       pulchr-         pulchrior, -ior

      acer, acris, acre            acr-            acrior, -ius

      fortis,-e                    fort-           fortior, -ius

SUPERLATIVE DEGREE OF ADJECTIVES


     A.    For adjectives whose stem does not end in "-r"



                  stem     +     -issimus, -a, -um





            ADJECTIVE              STEM          SUPERLATIVE DEGREE



          longus, -a, -um          long-       longissimus, -a, -um

          fortis, -e               fort-       fortissimus, -a, -um

          potens, -ntis            potent-     potentissmus, -a, um





     B.    For adjectives whose stem ends in "-r"



                   stem     +     -rimus, -a, -um



            ADJECTIVE              STEM           SUPERLATIVE FORM



     miser, -a, -um               miser-       miserrimus, -a, -um

     pulcher, -chra, -chrum       pulcher-     pulcherrimus, -a, um

     acer, acris, acre            acer-        acerrimus, -a, -um





     C.    For the six exceptions whose stem ends in "-l":

           similis, -e; dissimilis, -e; facilis, -e; difficilis,

           -e; gracilis, -e; humilis, -e.



                   stem     +     -limus, -a, -um





            ADJECTIVE              STEM           SUPERLATIVE FORM



           facilis, -e            facil-         facillimus, -a, -um

           similis, -e            simil-         simillimus, -a, -um
Of course, you mustn't forget the adjectives, most of them very common, which form their degrees irregularly. 

       POSITIVE            COMPARATIVE          SUPERLATIVE



   bonus, -a, -um        melior, -ius        optimus, -a, -um

   magnus, -a, -um       maior, -ius         maximus, -a, -um

   malus, -a, -um        peior, -ius         pessimus, -a, -um

   multus, -a, -um       -----, plus         plurimus, -a, -um

   parvus, -a, -um       minor, minus        minimus, -a, -um

   ---------------       prior, -ius         primus, -a, -um

   superus, -a, -um      superior, -ius      summus, -a, -um

                                             supremus, -a, -um

ADVERBS IN THE POSITIVE DEGREE

Now let's have a look at how Latin "adverbized" an adjective. In English, as you know, we can easily turn most adjectives into adverbs simply by added "-ly" to the stem: "quickly", "speedily", "ferociously", et cetera. In Latin, to form an adverb in the positive degree, you start with the stem of the positive degree of the adjective. For adverbs derived from adjectives of the first and second declension, the rule is simple: 

                     stem     +     -e
For adverbs derived from third declension adjectives: 

                     stem     +     -iter
For adverbs derived from third declension adjectives whose stem ends in "-nt-": 

                     stem     +     -er
This is fairly easy, but let's try a few exercises: Form the positive degree of the following adverbs. 

	  ADJECTIVE              STEM            POSITIVE ADVERB





	acer, -cris, -re  ____________________ ____________________



	sapiens, -ntis    ____________________ ____________________



	fortis, -e        ____________________ ____________________



	iucundus, -a, -um ____________________ ____________________



	liber, -a, -um    ____________________ ____________________



	clarus, -a, -um   ____________________ ____________________



	celer, -is, -e    ____________________ ____________________

COMPARATIVE DEGREE OF ADVERBS

In English, we compare adverbs by using the word "more" placed in front of the adverb in the positive degree: "more quickly". Latin forms a comparative adverb simply by using the comparative adjective in the neuter accusative singular form. So to say "more beautifully", or "rather beautifully", or "too beautifully", Romans said "pulchrius". Let's try a few out. 

	  ADJECTIVE              STEM          COMPARATIVE ADVERB





	acer, -cris, -re ____________________ ____________________



	sapiens, -ntis   ____________________ ____________________



	fortis, -e       ____________________ ____________________



	iucundus, -a, -um ___________________ ____________________



	liber, -a, -um   ____________________ ____________________



	clarus, -a, -um  ____________________ ____________________



	celer, -is, -e   ____________________ ____________________

SUPERLATIVE DEGREE OF ADVERBS

The English superlative adverb is "most" plus the adverb in the positive degree. To form the superlative degree of an adverb, you simply use the stem of the superlative degree of the adjective and add a "-e". To say "most beautifully", or "very beautifully", Romans said "pulcherrime". Let's have a look. 

	  ADJECTIVE              STEM          SUPERLATIVE ADVERB





	acer, -cris, -re  ___________________ ____________________



	sapiens, -ntis    ___________________ ____________________



	fortis, -e        ___________________ ____________________



	iucundus, -a, -um ___________________ ____________________



	liber, -a, -um    ___________________ ____________________



	clarus, -a, -um   ___________________ ____________________



	celer, -is, -e    ___________________ ____________________

DRILLS

Write out the positive, comparative and superlative degree adverbs derived from the following adjectives. 

	ADJECTIVE           POSITIVE     COMPARATIVE    SUPERLATIVE





	longus, -a, -um ________________________________________________



	miser, -a, -um  ________________________________________________



	pulcher, -chra, -chrum  ________________________________________



	felix, -icis    ________________________________________________



	potens, -ntis   ________________________________________________



	facilis, -e     ________________________________________________

DEGREES OF ADVERBS FROM IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

As you know, there are some common adjectives which form their degrees irregularly. We would hope that the adverbs would just use the irregular stems to form their degrees. And sometimes that's what happens. But sometimes other irregularities start to creep in. Let's look at them. Here are some of irregular adjectives in their three degrees. Try to write them out first on your own.

IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES


	ADJECTIVE      POSITIVE       COMPARATIVE     SUPERLATIVE



	bonus, -a, -um _______________________________________________



	malus, -a, -um _______________________________________________



	magnus, -a, -um_______________________________________________



	multus, -a, -um_______________________________________________



	parvus, -a, -um_______________________________________________



	(prae, pro)    _______________________________________________
  1. From bonus, -a, -um

    Starting with "bonus, -a, -um", if we were to follow the rules for deriving the positive degree adverb, we'd get a form like this: "bone". And that's pretty close to the actual form "ben". The comparative degree of the adjective is "melior, -ius", so, following the standard rules, what would be the comparative adverb? The rule says to use the neuter, accusative singular of the comparative adjective for the comparative adverb, so the form would be "melius". And that is in fact the real form. For the superlative, the form of the adverb would be "optime", and that's what the real form is. Now fill in the spaces in the table above with the degree of the adverb derived from "bonus".

  2. From malus, -a, -um

    The adverbs derived from "malus" are entirely regular -- once you remember the irregular degrees of the adjective itself. Fill in the next row of blanks.

  3. From magnus, -a, -um

    The adverbs in the positive and comparative degrees from "magnus" a very odd: "magnopere" for the positive degree (not "magne") and "magis" for the comparative degree (not "maius"). But the superlative degree follows the rules. Fill them in.

  4. From multus, -a, -um

    The adverbs from "multus" are odd, too. Just "multum" for the adverb in the positive degree, "plus" for the comparative degree, and "plurimum" (not the expected "plurime") in the superlative degree.

  5. From parvus, -a, -um

    The adverbs from "parvus" follow the rule, except for the positive degree, where we have "parum", instead of "parve".

  6. From prior, -ius

    As you might expect, there is no adverb for "before"; Latin instead uses a subordinating conjunction and a subordinate clause for that. The comparative degree of the adverb is regular; the superlative degree is either "primum" or "primo", (not "prime").

  7. "For a long (longer) (longest) time"

    Wheelock also shows you degree of an adverbs which means "for a long time", "for rather long time", and "for a very long time". This adverb is not derived from an adjective, but it does show degrees as if it were. Besides, it's a very common adverb, so you need to recognize it: 

    
              diu          diutius          diutissime
  8. Magnopere, magis, maxime

    Wheelock gives you another set of adverbs which are also derived from the adjective "multus, -a, -um". The meanings are straight-foward enough -- "greatly, more, and most" -- but there is a fine distinction is usage of these forms from the other adverbs derived from "multus", "multum, plus, and plurimum". In the comparative, "plus" is used to compare amounts of action undertaken: "Video plus quam tu" (I see more than you). "Magis", however, is used to compare certain adjectives: "Hoc idoneum est quam illud" (This is more suitable than that.) This may seem odd, because you learned in Chapter 26 that comparative adjectives are formed by adding the suffixes "-ior, -ius" to the stem. This rules holds except for adjectives whose stem ends in "-e-", as "idoneus, -a, -um" does. These adjectives use the comparative adverb "magis" to form their comparative degree. Similiarly, the superlative degree of these adjectives is "maxime" plus the positive degree. (You won't see "magis" or "maxime" much in this book.)

THE IRREGULAR VERB Volo, velle, volui, -----

The verb "to wish" has some irregularities in the present system of tenses, it has no passive voice in either the present or the perfect system. (Hence no fourth principal part.) The perfect system active, however, is entirely regular. Unfortunately, there isn't any way to predict or explain many of these oddities, so you simply must memorize them. Basically "volo" is a third conjugation verb, so you should be noting how it differs from a regular third conjugation verb. That will give you some standard against which to compare it. In the following tables, I'll fill in the irregular forms; you fill in the rest. 

I.   THE PRESENT SYSTEM



     (a)   Indicative



             PRESENT          FUTURE          IMPERFECT



  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd        vis       ________________________________________



  3rd        vult      ________________________________________





  1st        volumus   ________________________________________



  2nd        vultis    ________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  (b)  Subjunctive



             PRESENT          FUTURE          IMPERFECT



  1st        velim                             vellem



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





II.  PERFECT SYSTEM



     (a)   Indicative



             PERFECT      FUTURE PERFECT     PLUPERFECT



  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd ____________________________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd ____________________________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  (b)  Subjunctive



             PERFECT      FUTURE PERFECT     PLUPERFECT



  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





III.  INFINITIVES



                  ACTIVE              PASSIVE



  PRESENT  ____________________



  PERFECT  ____________________



  FUTURE





IV.  PARTICIPLES



                  ACTIVE               PASSIVE



  PRESENT  ____________________



  PERFECT



  FUTURE





V.   IMPERATIVES (No imperative forms)

THE RELATED IRREGULAR VERBS Nolo AND Malo

The two irregular verbs "nolo" (not to want) and "malo" (to prefer) are derivatives of "volo". "Nolo" is a kind of contraction of "ne + volo", meaning literally "I don't want", and "malo" comes from "magis + volo", meaning literally "I wish more". Because these verbs are so closely related, therefore, to the irregular verb "volo", Wheelock thinks it right to put them together in the same chapter. Why not? Write out the conjugations of these two verbs. Again, I'll put in the irregular forms; you should be able to produce the forms that aren't irregular on your own.

Nolo, nolle, nolui, -----


I.   THE PRESENT SYSTEM



     (a)   Indicative



             PRESENT          FUTURE          IMPERFECT



  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd       non vis    ________________________________________



  3rd       non vult   ________________________________________





  1st        nolumus   ________________________________________



  2nd      non vultis  ________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  (b)  Subjunctive



             PRESENT          FUTURE          IMPERFECT



  1st        nolim                            nollem



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





II.  PERFECT SYSTEM



  (a)  Indicative



             PERFECT      FUTURE PERFECT     PLUPERFECT



  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd ____________________________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd ____________________________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  (b)  Subjunctive



             PERFECT      FUTURE PERFECT     PLUPERFECT



  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





III.  INFINITIVES



                  ACTIVE               PASSIVE



  PRESENT  ____________________



  PERFECT  ____________________



  FUTURE





IV.  PARTICIPLES



                  ACTIVE               PASSIVE



  PRESENT  ____________________



  PERFECT



  FUTURE





V.   IMPERATIVES



     SINGULAR   noli



     PLURAL     nolite

Malo, malle, malui, -----


I.   THE PRESENT SYSTEM



     (a)   Indicative



             PRESENT          FUTURE          IMPERFECT



  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd        mavis     ________________________________________



  3rd        mavult    ________________________________________





  1st        malumus   ________________________________________



  2nd       mavultis   ________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  (b)  Subjunctive



             PRESENT          FUTURE          IMPERFECT



  1st         malim                            mallem



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





II.  PERFECT SYSTEM



     (a)   Indicative



             PERFECT      FUTURE PERFECT     PLUPERFECT



  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd ____________________________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  1st ____________________________________________________________



  2nd ____________________________________________________________



  3rd ____________________________________________________________





  (b)  Subjunctive



             PERFECT      FUTURE PERFECT     PLUPERFECT



  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





  1st ____________________              ____________________



  2nd ____________________              ____________________



  3rd ____________________              ____________________





III.  INFINITIVES



                  ACTIVE               PASSIVE



  PRESENT  ____________________



  PERFECT  ____________________



  FUTURE





IV.  PARTICIPLES (No participles)



V.   IMPERATIVES (No imperative forms)

VOCABULARY PUZZLES

divitiae, -arum (f) The noun has no singular forms, and students often confuse this noun with adjective "dives, divitis (ditis)" meaning "wealthy rich".
dives, divitis (ditis) This is a third declension adjective of one termination, which also has two possible stems: "divit-" or "dit-". You must work hard to keep the form derived from the stem "divit-" and the noun for "riches" ("divitiae, -arum (f)") distinct.
pauper, pauperis Another third declension adjective of one termination. It is very often used to mean "a poor person", or "the poor".
par, paris Once again, a third declension adjective of one termination. Don't confuse this with the noun "pars, partis (f)". "Par" means "equal" and takes the dative case: "equal to". (Remember the parisyllabic (equal syllable) rule?)
honor, -oris (m) It very often means "public office"; a position with the government.
lex, legis (f) Wheelock reminds you to contrast (c.p.) "lex", which means a written law, with "ius", which means "right, justice" Not all rights become written law, and justice is often not entirely recognized in law. "Leges" attempt to codify "iura", but they don't always succeed.
01/10/93