Chapter V.—Syntax of Verbs. Agreement. With One Subject.

254. 1. Agreement in Number and Person. A Finite Verb agrees with its subject in Number and Person; as,—

vōs vidētis, you see;

pater fīliōs īnstituit, the father trains his sons.

2. Agreement in Gender. In the compound forms of the verb the participle regularly agrees with its subject in gender; as,—

sēditiō repressa est, the mutiny was checked.

3. But when a predicate noun is of different gender or number from its subject, the verb usually agrees with its nearest substantive; as,—

Tarquiniī māterna patria erat, Tarquinii was his native country on his mother's side;

nōn omnis error stultitia est dīcenda, not every error is to be called folly.

a. Less frequently the verb agrees with an appositive; as,—

Coriolī, oppidum Volscōrum, captum est, Corioli, a town of the Volsci, was captured.

4. Construction according to Sense. Sometimes the verb agrees with its subject according to sense instead of strict grammatical form. Thus:—

a) In Number; as,—

multitūdō hominum convēnerant, a crowd of men had gathered.

b) In Gender; as,—

duo mīlia crucibus adfīxī sunt, two thousand (men) were crucified.

With Two or More Subjects.

255. 1. Agreement in Number. With two or more subjects the verb is regularly plural; as,—

pater et fīlius mortuī sunt, the father and son died.

2. But sometimes the verb agrees with the nearest subject; viz.,—

a) When the verb precedes both subjects or stands between them; as,—

mortuus est pater et fīlius;

pater mortuus est et fīlius.

b) When the subjects are connected by aut; aut ... aut; vel ... vel; neque ... neque; as,—

neque pater neque fīlius mortuus est, neither father nor son died.

3. When the different subjects are felt together as constituting a whole, the singular is used; as,—

temeritās ignōrātiōque vitiōsa est, rashness and ignorance are bad.

a. This is regularly the case in senātus populusque Rōmānus.

4. Agreement in Person. With compound subjects of different persons the verb always takes the first person rather than the second, and the second rather than the third; as,—

sī tū et Tullia valētis, ego et Cicerō valēmus, if you and Tullia are well, Cicero and I are well.

5. Agreement in Gender. With subjects of different genders the participle in the compound tenses follows the same principles as laid down for predicate adjectives. See § 235, B, 2.

Voices.

256. 1. The Passive Voice sometimes retains traces of its original middle or reflexive meaning; as,—

ego nōn patiar eum dēfendī, I shall not allow him to defend himself.

2. In imitation of Greek usage many perfect passive participles are used by the poets as indirect middles, i.e. the subject is viewed as acting not upon itself, but as doing something in his own interest; as,—

vēlātus tempora, having veiled his temples.

a. Occasionally finite forms of the verb are thus used; as,—

tunicā indūcitur artūs, he covers his limbs with a tunic.

3. Intransitive Verbs may be used impersonally in the passive; as,—

curritur, people run (lit. it is run);

ventum est, he (they, etc.) came (lit. it was come).