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Introducing 91 Rules of Latin Grammar

Starting next week, I will be releasing a new series called "91 Rules", in which I will review the most basic and essential parts of Latin grammar. Stay tuned!

91 rules of grammar

Rule 2: Noun-Adjective Agreement

The second rule of Latin grammar is that adjectives will agree with the nouns they describe in case, number, and gender. But this rule can lead to some interesting situations, and allows for great flexibility in Latin word order. From here comes some of the great beauty of poetry.

91 rules of grammar adjectives nouns

Rule 3: Some Adjectives Describe Part of their Noun

The third rule of Latin grammar is that some adjectives describe just part of their noun. These adjectives are primarily superlatives, like summus or ultimus, but also include medius, ceterus, and reliquus. It's best to translate them with "of" or "part of".

91 rules of grammar adjectives

Rule 4: The Genitives of nos and vos

The personal pronouns nos and vos have two different genitive plurals. Huh, that's interesting. This video covers when to use nostri/vestri and when to use nostrum/vestrum. It's not as complicated as it looks, but it helps to know your uses of the genitive.

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 5: The Third Person Reflexive Pronoun

The third person pronoun suī, sibi, sē, sē is used only when we are referring to the (third person) subject. And related to this pronoun is the possessive adjective suus, -a, -um, which likewise refers back to the (third person) subject.

91 rules of grammar adjectives nouns

Rule 6: Possession with Pronouns

The genitive of possession is not used with personal pronouns. That is, you would never describe something like this, "the house of me" (domus meī). Instead to show possession, we use the possessive adjective. So "my house" (domus mea).

91 rules of grammar adjectives nouns

Rule 7: Possessive Adjectives and the Genitive

We run into a bit of a problem when we want to use an adjective to modify a possessive adjective, since the personal pronoun can't be used to show possession. So instead we take that adjective and put it into the genitive case so that it agrees with the implied pronoun. It's a bit of complicated grammar, but I hope I did a good job of explaining it well.

91 rules of grammar adjectives nouns

Rule 8: Case, Number, and Gender of the Relative Pronoun

The case, number, and gender of the relative pronoun comes from two different sources. This video intends to illuminate this bipartite origin, while simultaneously reviewing the relative. Watch and learn!

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 9: Subject Verb Agreement

The basis of verb conjugation in Latin comes down to its subject. Is it first person, second person, or third person, and singular or plural? This will change the ending of the verb and thus its meaning.

91 rules of grammar nouns verbs

Rule 10: What Adverbs Modify

Adverbs in Latin and English do more than just modify verbs (although that is where you will see them mostly). An adverb can also modify adjectives and even other adverbs. I'll show you how in this video.

91 rules of grammar adjectives verbs

Rule 11: Yes or No Questions

Forming a yes or no question in Latin can be relatively simple. You add the enclitic interrogative particle -ne to the end of the first or most important word in the sentence. It's not like English where word order determines everything (does it? It does!).

91 rules of grammar

Rule 12: Nōnne and Num

In the last video, we covered yes or no questions. This video adds on to that just a little bit, with expectation. Nōnne is used for questions that expect a "yes" answer, while num is used for those that expect a "no" answer.

91 rules of grammar

Rule 13: The Nominative Case

We save maybe the most basic rule of them all for lucky number 13 - the noun that controls the verb (also known as the subject) is put in the nominative case. Learn more about the basic use of the nominative here!

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 14: The Vocative Case

The vocative case is used for identifying the person or thing you're speaking to. It doesn't have a role in the rest of the sentence. And yet, for the most part, the vocative is identical to the nominative in form. Hey you, learn more about the vocative in this video, with some fun poems by Martial.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 15: The Basics of the Genitive Case

The genitive case is used when one noun limits the other. We often translation this limiting (or dependent) noun with the word "of", but, as we see in this video, the genitive case in Latin can be much more colorful that just a simple translation. This video covers the basic concept of the genitive. We will get into more specific uses in future videos.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 16: The Genitive of Possession

The main use of the genitive case is for possession, and this is where we can use both the "of" translation as well as the apostrophe s. But should we always use the genitive to show possession? This video explains when to use it and when not to.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 17: The Genitive of Material

The substance that a material is made from can be put into the genitive case. So a house of straw (not as strong as a house of brick) would be casa straminis. Related to this use of the genitive is the ablative of material. In this video, I discuss both of these uses.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 18: The Genitive of Description

Another use of the genitive is to show description. When you use the genitive, you MUST have an accompanying adjective that also describes the genitive. Included in this rule is the genitive of measure, which is how Latin would resolve distances and age.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 19: The Genitive of the Whole

Another one of these rules is the genitive of the whole, which has four different categories, based on the noun that governs the genitive. This is also known as the partitive genitive. The big key for this genitive, don't be too wedded to the "of" translation of the genitive case.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 20: The Objective Genitive

What if you could make a noun the object of another noun? That's precisely what the objective genitive shows, and this rule discusses when you'd see it. It's similar to the possessive genitive, but not quite from the same perspective.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 21: The Genitive with Adjectives

The genitive case is also used with adjectives denoting desire, knowledge, memory, fullness, power, sharing, guilt, and their opposites, participles when used as plain adjectives, and adjectives ending in -āx (like tenāx and capāx). Whew, that's a mouthful. Why not watch this video and learn more?

91 rules of grammar adjectives cases nouns

Rule 22: The Genitive with Verbs of Memory

In Rule 21, we explored how adjectives of memory (among others) take the genitive case. In this video, we discuss the verbs of memory memini and obliviscor, and how they can take both the objective genitive and the accusative case. It all comes down to fondness and warmth.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns verbs

Rule 24: The Genitive of the Charge/Penalty

The last of our major uses of the genitive is the genitive of the charge or penalty. When dealing with charges, this makes perfect sense, as the genitive case flows naturally in phrases like "he accuses me of theft" (arguit mē fūrtī). We get into issues of idioms when we deal with the penalty, however.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 25: The Dative of Indirect Object

Perhaps the simplest and most important use of the dative is the indirect object - this is the dative that's used with verbs of giving or showing, and we commonly translate it into English with the preposition "to". This video covers this use, as we start our investigation into the dative case with the 91 Rules.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 26: Dative with Special Verbs

When is the verb's object not in the accusative case? When it's a special verb! (Then it's in the dative case) This video covers some of the more common special verbs that annoyingly have their object in the dative where we'd expect it to be in the accusative. This is an important concept, and often the first one that students learn on the theme of, "remember that thing I just taught you? Well, this time you're going to learn the opposite."

91 rules of grammar cases nouns verbs

Rule 27: The Dative of Compounds

A long time ago when I was in college, my professor noticed that I had trouble with compound verbs that take the dative, so he wrote on a slip of paper the following: ad, ante, con, in, inter, ob, post, prae, prō, sub, super, and sometimes circum and rē. Verbs compounded with these prefixes, where the meaning of the new verb changes significantly enough, take their object in the dative, rather than the accusative, case. This video explores this concept in greater detail.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns verbs

Rule 28: The Dative of Possession

Without knowing it, you might have already used the dative of possession on your very first day of learning Latin. This video covers both this first use (mihi nomen est...) and other uses of this dative, including both literal and figurative (i.e., better) translations.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 29: The Dative of Agent

The gerundive of obligation/passive periphrastic often requires the dative of agent (rather than the ablative) when identifying who must do the action. This dative is related to the dative of possession or reference.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 23: The Genitive with Verbs of Reminding

In contrast to verbs of remembering, verbs of reminding take both the accusative of who is being reminded, along with the genitive of what they are being reminded of. The translation into English flows rather naturally, and this rule shouldn't be too much of a burden (except for neuter pronouns, the one exception).

91 rules of grammar cases

Rule 30: The Dative of Reference

There are two big uses of the dative case - the dative as the indirect object and the dative of reference. This video looks at the latter, which we most commonly translate with as "for". This use of the dative differs significantly from the indirect object, which you will learn about in this video!

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 31: The Dative of Separation

Similar to both the ablative of separation and dative of reference is the dative of separation. This use of the dative case comes often with verbs prefixed with ab, dē, or ex, and is used with people.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 32: The Double Dative and Dative of Purpose

The double dative is a peculiar beast seen only rarely in the wild. This use involves the dative of purpose (also discussed at length in this video) along with a dative of reference. The translation of the double dative is idiomatic at best, and literal at worst.

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 33: The Dative with Adjectives

The final use of the dative case in the 91 Rules series is when the dative is used after certain adjectives. This video covers which adjectives, and why it really makes sense from the meaning of the adjective itself.

91 rules of grammar adjectives nouns

Rule 34: The Direct Object Accusative

Latin, unlike English, uses the endings of nouns to identify the role that a noun is playing in the sentence. The direct object - the noun receiving the action of the verb - is put into the accusative case. This is one of the most basic and important rules in all of Latin, especially for English speakers who don't normally have to worry about cases of nouns. Learn more about the accusative case with this video!

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 35: The Cognate Accusative

In both English and Latin, there exists a certain type of object that's used after intransitive verbs, which don't normally take direct objects. This is the cognate accusative, and found in phrases like "he lives a worthwhile life". The cognate accusative also takes on a sort of adverbial meaning in many different situations.

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 36: The Predicate Accusative

Verbs of calling, naming, and the like can take two different accusatives, one that is the direct object and the other the predicate accusative. So, "the teacher calls Julia her favorite" would have the direct object accusative as "Julia", and the predicate accusative as "her favorite".

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 37: The Accusative with Compound Verbs

Some compound verbs (and by some, I mean four) can take two different accusatives, with the second accusative dependent on the prepositional prefix at the beginning of the verb. This rule is commonly seen with verbs compounded with trans, and Caesar especially likes to use this when crossing rivers and such. But be careful, this rule is "some verbs" and "sometimes", since even these verbs don't always follow this rule.

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 38: The Accusative with Verbs of Teaching and Showing

In the last two videos, I've been covering verbs that take two accusatives, and this is the final video on that topic: verbs of teaching and showing can take two different objects, one of the person being taught/shown, and one of the thing being taught/shown. I am teaching you (acc of person) Latin (acc of thing).

91 rules of grammar nouns verbs

Rule 1: Apposition

The first rule of Latin grammar is that two nouns that refer to the same thing are going to be in the same case. This is called apposition, and it's commonly used with names and titles (like king). This video explores how Latin uses apposition.

91 rules of grammar nouns

Rule 39: The Accusative Subject of an Infinitive

The accusative case can function as more than a direct object - it can be the subject of certain infinitives. This rule applies to the infinitive when it's being used as an object of certain verbs like iubeo and veto, as well as the infinitive in an indirect statement.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 40: The Accusative with Time and Space

In our final review of the accusative case, we look at the how the accusative can be used without a preposition to show the extent or duration of time and space. These really are a single use of the accusative - learn more in this video, which should only last "for three minutes" or so.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 41: The Ablative of Separation

We begin our review of the ablative case by talking about the original use of the ablative: separation. This use is the "from" translation of the ablative case, and is used with verbs that suggest separation, along with verbs prefixed with ab, dē, and ex. This video also begins with a brief introduction to the ablative case, since this is the first of about 20 videos that discuss how the ablative is used in Latin.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 42: The Ablative of Source/Material

We stick with the separative ablative as we explore the ablative of source - namely the object that an ablative comes from, like the source of a river or a parent. Connected to this ablative of source is the material that an object is made from, like how a temple can be made of marble.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 43: The Ablative of Cause

The ablative case can be used to show the cause of the action, in the sense of "we were praised because of our kindness". This stems from the ablative of separation, where the cause originates "from" a specific act, characteristic, etc. Also part of this ablative are the prepositions causā and grātiā, which take a preceding genitive, e.g., exemplī grātiā.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 44: The Ablative of Agent

We often see the ablative of agent with passive verbs, identifying who the doer of the action is (since the subject in a passive sentence receives the action). In Latin, the ablative of agent always follows the preposition ab/ā, which makes it different from the ablative of means (itself found in passive sentences). Learn more about this ablative and how it different from other uses of the ablative, accusative, and dative.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 45: The Ablative of Comparison

Part of the ablative of separation is the ablative with comparisons, which is commonly translated in English with "than". It's also important to know that quam, "than", is also used with comparisons. This video goes in depth about when to use the ablative and when to use quam, as well as explaining its origin as an ablative of separation.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 46: Comparisons with Quam

We will take a break from our review of the ablative case to look a bit more closely at comparisons. We previously had learned about how the ablative case can be used to show comparison, but quam, meaning "than", is much more common and useful in this regard. This video covers all the uses of quam with the comparative, and is meant to be paired with rule number 45, on the ablative of comparison.

91 rules of grammar adjectives cases nouns

Rule 47: The Ablative of Means/Instrument

We move on from our survey of the separative ablative by looking at the ablative when used as means or instrument. This use originates in the old instrumental case, not found in Latin, so the ablative case is used instead. We translate the ablative of means with a "by" or "with" ("by means of" is literal). In this video, I discuss how the ablative of means differs from the ablative of agent, which is used in similar situations.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 48: The Ablative with PUFF-V Deponents

There are five deponent verbs which take their object in the ablative case, rather than the accusative case. These are the PUFF-V, potior, utor, fruor, fungor, and vēscor, and this ablative is an ablative of means. In this video, we also explore more about what makes a verb deponent and why this ablative makes sense.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns verbs

Rule 49: The Ablative with opus and ūsus

Similar to the previous rule with ūtor and the other PUFF-V deponents, the words opus and ūsus, when they signify need, take the ablative case. This is technically the ablative of means, and has a variety of different variations, including substantive perfect participles and the ablative supine.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 50: The Ablative of Manner

Many uses of the ablative case are the noun used adverbially, and the ablative of manner, used with the preposition cum, illustrates this very easily. She arrived "with great speed" might be better translated with the adverb "very quickly". This video is the first of two that explore the use of cum, meaning "with".

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 51: The Ablative of Accompaniment

One of the more common prepositions in Latin is cum, meaning "with". When it's used to show a companion to some action, we see the ablative of accompaniment. But be careful, sometimes the cum is omitted, especially in Caesar.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 52: The Ablative of Degree of Difference

There are two types of ablatives that you can find around comparisons, the ablative of comparison that means "than", and the ablative of degree of difference, a mouthful to say, in which the ablative modifies the comparison. It's very common to treat this ablative like an adverb, multō, meaning "much" (or literally, "by much"). This video explains the nuts and bolts behind this.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 53: The Ablative of Description

Most uses of the ablative case are adverbial - that is, they function in ways similar to adverbs. Not so with the ablative of description, which is more like an adjective. This use is pretty similar to the genitive of description, but much more common and used more with physical characteristics.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 54: The Ablative of Price

If you want to buy something for a couple of bucks, in Latin you'd use the ablative case. This is similar to a use of the genitive, called the genitive of value, although we use the ablative for more definitive prices. And in this video, we learn about the favorite phrase of many a Latin student, floccī nōn faciō, "I don't give a hoot" (or "I don't care at all"). Let's hope you do about Latin and this video!

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 55: The Ablative of Respect/Specification

The ablative case is used to give more specific information about an action (verb) or adjective. This is called either the ablative of respect or specification, and it's best understood, in my opinion, through examples. This video also touches upon the ablative supine, which is also an ablative of respect.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 56: The Ablative with dignus and indignus

This video is a sequel to rule 55, since the adjectives dignus and indignus take an ablative of respect (also known as the ablative of specification), to show what something is worth (or unworthy) of. I hope this video is worthy of your time, and I'm worthy of your views!

91 rules of grammar adjectives cases nouns

Rule 57: The Ablative Absolute

The ablative absolute is arguably the most important bit of complex grammar in Latin. It combines cases with participles, can show a lot of different things, and doesn't have an easy way to make a good translation in English. In this video, I cover the ablative absolute both in its basic forms as well as by looking at its more complicated edge cases. With this video watched, you will learn more about this concept!

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 58: Time with the Ablative and Accusative

How did the Romans tell time? One way to answer this is with a sundial, but a different way is with the accusative and ablative cases. This video explores what each case illustrates with respect to time words. And you can think of time as a function of space, so the accusative shows movement through time, while the ablative shows a moment in time.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 59: Relations of Place with the Ablative and Accusative

For the most part, Latin shows relations of place like location and motion with different prepositions. There is a pattern, though. Prepositions that show motion toward take the accusative case, while those that show location and motion from take the ablative case.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 60: Nouns that Take the Locative

This video comes right on the heels of learning about relations of place with prepositions. Names of cities, towns, and small islands (along with a few special words like domus and rūs), show location with the old locative case. This video discusses not just how we form the locative case, but also how we treat location, motion to and from with these special nouns.

91 rules of grammar cases nouns

Rule 61: The Jussive Subjunctive

The jussive subjunctive, also known as the hortatory, is commonly understood as an urging, or gentle command. Let us explore this concept in greater detail with this video! lettuce by Oliver Gomez from the Noun Project

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood verbs

Rule 62: The Optative Subjunctive

This video continues our look at some of the independent uses of the subjunctive. The optative subjunctive is used when you wish to convey a wish. Look for the utinam as a clue for when this subjunctive is being used!

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood verbs

Rule 63: The Deliberative Subjunctive

What should we learn next? The deliberative subjunctive is used in questions where the speaker expresses some doubt or even generally a bit of self-reflection. It likely arose from the jussive, another main clause subjunctive use, which is discussed in this video.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood verbs

Rule 64: The Potential Subjunctive

We wrap up the final of four uses of the subjunctive in the main clause with the potential subjunctive. This is used when expressing a conceivable or potential action, and takes either the present or perfect subjunctive for future actions, and the imperfect subjunctive for past actions. You could perhaps learn a lot from these rules videos, and when you have watched them all, you might have spent your time wisely!

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood verbs

Rule 65: Commands in Latin

The imperative mood is used for issuing commands in Latin. This video covers the basic formation of the imperative, while also going into more detail about unusual forms and uses of this very important mood. Watch this video!

91 rules of grammar verbs

Rule 66: Negative Commands

In the last rule, we looked at how we form the imperative mood in Latin. But what about prohibitions or negative commands? It's not as simple as adding a "not" in Latin. This video looks at the three most common ways Latin shows a prohibition.

91 rules of grammar verbs

Rule 67: The Infinitive as a Subject

In Latin, the infinitive is used in several different ways. In this video, I will discuss how the infinitive can be used as the subject of a verb, in the neuter gender. This works primarily with the verb sum, esse, but there are several other verbs that regularly take an infinitive subject. And in addition, there are many instances where the infinitive doesn't appear to be a subject, as in Horace's famous quote, dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, "it is sweet and proper to die for your country."

91 rules of grammar infinitives

Rule 68: The Complementary Infinitive

In Latin there are a set of verbs that aren't complete just by themselves. Claudia potest, "Claudia is able," needs something else to finish up the thought, and that is where the complementary infinitive comes in. We can think of this infinitive as required to describe the entire action as done by the subject: Claudia potest discere, "Claudia is able to learn."

91 rules of grammar infinitives

Rule 69: The Infinitive in Indirect Statement

Indirect discourse (or more specifically indirect statement) is a hugely important topic in Latin, and a complicated one at that. This video covers how the infinitive is used as the main action in an indirect statement, along with a head verb and subject accusative, and the basic idea that the infinitive tense is relative to the main verb. And in accordance with its importance, this topic is covered in several other videos throughout this rules series.

91 rules of grammar infinitives

Rule 70: The Historical Infinitive

The infinitive, which often has its subject in the accusative case, can take a nominative subject in place of an imperfect tense verb. This is known as the historical infinitive because it is often found in the writers of history to show a vivid reporting of actions. That said, the historical infinitive is found in works of all genres, from Vergil to Plautus to Sallust. Its origins are unclear, but we may understand the historical infinitive by thinking about it as a noun in apposition to another noun.

91 rules of grammar infinitives verbs

Rule 71: Sequence of Tenses

There are four tenses of the subjunctive (present, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect), but in any given sentence, you have just two to choose from. Welcome to the concept of sequence of tenses, which exposes the relativistic nature of the subjunctive mood, where the present and imperfect subjunctive show an action happening at the same time as the main verb, while the perfect and pluperfect subjunctive show an action that is already completed when the main verb takes place. This video will teach you how to know what each tense means, and how to parse and Latin sentence to understand this relationship between the main and subordinate clase.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood verbs

Rule 72: The Relative Time of Participles

Participles in Latin have three tenses: present, perfect, and future. But these terms can be misleading, because they don't refer to the absolute time of the participle, but how the participle time relates to the tense of the main verb. The present participle shows an action that is in progress when the main verb occurs (some call it "same time"). The perfect participle shows an action that is already completed when the main verb happens (some call this "time before"). The future participle shows an action that is yet to occur when the main verb happens (some call this "time after"). But while these tense names can be confusing, the more you work with participles, the easier they get to understand.

91 rules of grammar adjectives participles

Rule 73: Gerunds and Gerundives

We continue learning about verbal nouns and adjectives by exploring the use of gerunds and gerundives in the genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative cases. The gerund is a noun and the gerundive is an adjective, and their translation (especially that of the gerundive) can be a bit more idiomatic than literal. This video will discuss the differences between these two forms, when Latin prefers to use each, and how we can show purpose with these words.

91 rules of grammar adjectives nouns verbs

Rule 74: The Accusative Supine

The supine is a fourth declension verbal noun that is almost entirely unique to Latin. We commonly see it as the fourth principal part of a verb, and it is found in only two cases, the accusative and ablative. This video discusses the accusative supine, also known as the supine in -um, which is found after verbs of motion to express purpose.

91 rules of grammar nouns verbs

Rule 75: The Ablative Supine

The supine is a fourth declension verbal noun that is almost entirely unique to Latin. We commonly see it as the fourth principal part of a verb, and it is found in only two cases, the accusative and ablative. This video discusses the ablative supine, also known as the supine in -ū, which is found after certain nouns and adjectives to show respect or specification. Is it actually ablative? Well, that's a topic for debate!

91 rules of grammar nouns verbs

Rule 76: Proviso Clauses

A proviso is a type of condition that must be fulfilled for the event of the main clause to happen. Latin introduces a proviso clause with one of three conjunctions, dum, modo, or dummodo (a combination of the other two words), and the verb in the proviso clause must be in the subjunctive mood. We can translate each of these with the simple "provided that". This video will explore this clause in its different forms, including negative provisos, as well as the origin of this clause.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 77: Purpose Clauses

Latin expresses purpose in a multitude of ways, including using the gerund/gerundive and supine. But perhaps the most common way to show purpose is the purpose clause, a clause with a verb in the subjunctive mood introduced by ut, nē, the relative pronoun, or a relative adverb like ubi. These clauses give the reason why the main clause was done and answer the question "why?" This video explores the different types of purpose clauses, and shows how we can translate these into English properly.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 78: Relative Clauses of Characteristic

The relative clause with a verb in the subjunctive can show a general characteristic, especially when the antecedent (that is, the word the qui, quae, quod is referring to) is general or unknown. This video explores this concept of general characteristic in relative clauses, including phrases like sunt qui, there are those who, and quis est qui, who is there who.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 79: Words of Worth with the Subjunctive

The adjectives dignus, indignus, aptus, and idōneus can take a relative clause with the subjunctive - this is really an extension of the relative clause of characteristic, which we will explore in greater detail in this video. While poets might prefer to use an infinitive phrase, this specific type of relative clause is common in prose.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 80: Result Clauses

The result clause is just one of many introduced by ut. As its name suggests, a result clause shows the result of the action in the main clause. In Latin, you will often look for an intensifying word in the main clause that will suggest that a result clause will come. This video also compares the result clause to the purpose clause, which shows the purpose of the action in the main clause.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 81: Causal Clauses

Causal clauses are those that tell the reason why the main clause happened or was done. In Latin, these are introduced by quod, quia, and quoniam (among others). This video discusses when the indicative mood is used in these clauses, and when the subjunctive verb. Hint: it all comes down to how much you can trust the information given in the clause!

91 rules of grammar indicative mood subjunctive mood

Rule 82: Temporal Clauses

Temporal clauses are those that relate to time, and in Latin these clauses exclusively have a verb in the indicative mood. This video will cover examples of such clauses, especially those introduced by postquam, ubi, ut, and simul atque, all of which mean "after" or "when".

91 rules of grammar indicative mood verbs

Rule 83: Temporal cum Clauses

The conjunction cum can introduce temporal clauses when the verb in the clause is in the indicative mood. In other words, cum means "when" and shows the precise time of the main clause when the verb is in the mood used for factual actions. This video explores this concept with examples from the ancient world.

91 rules of grammar indicative mood

Rule 84: Circumstantial cum Clauses

The conjunction cum can introduce clauses that show the general circumstances surrounding an action. When it does so, we still can translate it as "when" (although "after" or "while" can sometimes work) and the verb in the clause is in the subjunctive mood, usually the imperfect or pluperfect. This video looks at the so-called circumstantial cum clause, and explores how this clause differs from a temporal cum clause, which takes its verb in the indicative mood.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 85: Causal and Concessive cum Clauses

Rounding out our discussion of cum clauses are the causal and concessive (or adversative). While cum often means "when", a cum clause can also show the cause of the main clause, and in this case we would translate cum as "since". And sometimes the cum clause operates in opposition to the main clause, often with a tamen, "still" in the main clause. In this case, we translate cum as "although". This video will discuss these two uses, and summarize all four types of cum clauses at the end.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 86: Indirect Statement

If you want to read ancient works of Latin, you need to understand the concept of indirect statement - when the author reports speech in an indirect way. Latin will put the subject of the indirect speech into the accusative case, and the action will be an infinitive. Any subordinate clause in indirect speech puts its verb in the subjunctive mood. This video explores this idea in a very basic way, and the videos that follow in the 91 Rules series will go more in depth with indirect discourse (oratio obliqua).

91 rules of grammar infinitives

Rule 87: Tenses in Indirect Statement

As we continue exploring indirect speech in Latin, it's important to think about the tense of the verb / infinitive in an indirect statement. Infinitives have only three tenses, and we need to think about these tenses as reflecting relative rather than absolute time. So a present infinitive shows an action happening at the same time as the head verb, a perfect infinitive an action has is already complete with the head verb occurs, and a future infinitive an action that has yet to happen.

91 rules of grammar infinitives

Rule 88: Questions in Indirect Speech

The last few rules have been discussing indirect statements, and this video covers how questions are relayed in indirect speech. Unlike indirect statements which use an infinitive, indirect questions use a verb in the subjunctive mood, even when operating in extended indirect speech. But if the question is rhetorical and no real answer is expected? Then we use the standard accusative plus infinitive construction.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 89: Commands in Indirect Speech

As we work through indirect speech, this video will focus on commands, both standard indirect commands and commands in extended indirect dialogue. The good news is that commands will always use the subjunctive when relayed indirectly. This video moves through several different examples of commands in indirect speech.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 90: Subordinate Clauses with the Subjunctive

When does a subordinate use the subjunctive mood? This video looks at some examples that rely on the authority of the information presented. When the speaker or writer is the source, we use the indicative. But when someone else is the source of our information, well, that's when we use the subjunctive mood.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

Rule 91: Clauses Depending on Subjunctive Clauses

The last of our 91 rules discusses the subjunctive of attraction. In short, when a subordinate clause depends on another subjunctive clause, the verb in that clause will likely be in the subjunctive as well. That said, this isn't a hard and fast rule, and you can easily find examples in Latin that don't follow this rule.

91 rules of grammar subjunctive mood

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