Latin for beginners (1911)/Part II/Lesson LVIII

by Benjamin Leonard D'Ooge

Layout 2

LESSON LVIII

NUMERALS • THE PARTITIVE GENITIVE

327. The Latin numeral adjectives may be classified as follows:

1. Cardinal Numerals, answering the question how many?

as, ūnus, one; duo, two; etc.

1. Ordinal Numerals, derived in most cases from the cardinals

and answering the question in what order? as, prīmus, first; secundus, second; etc.

1. Distributive Numerals, answering the question how many at a time? as, singulī, one at a time.

328. The Cardinal Numerals. The first twenty of the cardinals are as follows:

1 ūnus	6,	sex	11 ūndecim	16, sēdecim
2, duo	7,	septem	12, duodecim	17 septendecim
3, trēs	8,	octō	13, tredecim	18 duodēvīgintī
4 quattuor	9,	novem	14 quattuordecim	19, ūndēvīgintī
5, quīnque	10,	decem	15, quīndecim	20, vīgintī

a. Learn also centum = 100, ducentī = 200, mīlle = 1000.

329. Declension of the Cardinals. Of the cardinals only ūnus, duo, trēs, the hundreds above one hundred, and mīlle used as a noun, are declinable. a. ūnus is one of the nine irregular adjectives, and is declined like nūllus (cf. §§ 109, 470). The plural of ūnus is used to agree with a plural noun of a singular meaning, as, ūna castra, one camp; and with other nouns in the sense of only, as, Gallī ūnī, only the Gauls.

b. Learn the declension of duo, two; trēs, three; and mīlle, a thousand (§ 479.)

c. The hundreds above one hundred are declined like the plural of bonus; as,

ducentī, -ae, -a
ducentōrum, -ārum, -ōrum
etc.   etc.   etc.

330. We have already become familiar with sentences like the following:

Omnium avium aquila est vēlōcissima

Of all birds the eagle is the swiftest

Hoc ōrāculum erat omnium clārissimum

This oracle was the most famous of all

I.such sentences the genitive denotes the whole, and the word it modifies denotes a part of that whole. Such a genitive, denoting the whole of which a part is taken, is called a partitive genitive.

331. Rule. Partitive Genitive. Words denoting a part are often used with the genitive of the whole, known as the partitive genitive.

a. Words denoting a part are especially pronouns, numerals, and other adjectives. But cardinal numbers excepting mīlle regularly take the ablative with ex or dē instead of the partitive genitive.

b. Mīlle, a thousand, in the singular is usually an indeclinable adjective (as, mīlle mīlitēs, a thousand soldiers), but in the plural it is a declinable noun and takes the partitive genitive (as, decem mīlia mīlitum, ten thousand soldiers).

Examples:

Fortissimī hōrum sunt Germānī

The bravest of these are the Germans

Decem mīlia hostium interfecta sunt

Ten thousand (lit. thousands) of the enemy were slain

Ūna ex captīvīs erat soror rēgis

One of the captives was the king’s sister

332.

EXERCISES

First learn the special vocabulary, p. 297.

I.

1. Caesar maximam partem aedificiōrum incendit. 2. Magna pars mūnītiōnis aquā flūminis dēlēta est.
2. Gallī huius regiōnis quīnque mīlia hominum coēgerant.
3. Duo ex meīs frātribus eundem rūmōrem audīvērunt.
4. Quis Rōmānōrum erat clarior Caesare?
5. Quīnque cohortēs ex illā legiōne castra quam fortissimē dēfendēbant.
6. Hic locus aberat aequō spatiō^[1] ab castrīs Caesaris et castrīs Germānōrum.
7. Caesar simul atque pervēnit, plūs commeātūs ab sociīs postulāvit.
8. Nōnne mercātōrēs magnitūdinem īnsulae cognōverant? Longitūdinem sed nōn lātitūdinem cognōverant.
9. Paucī hostium obtinēbant collem quem explōrātōrēs nostrī vīdērunt.

II.

1. I have two brothers, and one of them lives at Rome.
2. Cæsar stormed that very town with three legions.
3. In one hour he destroyed a great part of the fortification.
4. When the enemy could no longer^[2] defend the gates, they retreated to a hill which was not far distant.Latin, was distant by a small space.
5. There three thousand of them bravely resisted the Romans.^[3]

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References

1. Ablative of the measure of difference.
2. Not longius. Why?
3. Not the accusative.