stupid infinitives
-
Ummmmm
- Textkit Neophyte
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:00 pm
stupid infinitives
hi. im wondering when exactly to use the words posse and esse. I believe those are the infinitives of "to be" and "able to be". but im not sure when to use them. i went through the all of the exercises in the wheelocks chapter where they are introduced, without once using those two words, while im sure i should have. so when would posse and esse be used?
-
benissimus
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 2733
- Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
- Location: Berkeley, California
- Contact:
esse does mean "to be", but posse means "to be able" (not "to be able to be"). esse and posse should be used of course when you wish to say "to be" or "to be able". An example of esse could be rex esse volo "I wish to be king". An example of posse could be credo id posse nos delere "I believe it to to able to destroy us".
Last edited by benissimus on Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae