Hi all,
I'm working through a passage and I have to identify verbs, their forms and their subject and object.
I'm having trouble with a side comment: "neque erat difficile scire" (and it was not difficult to know)
I know that my main verb is erat and the object is the predicate adjective difficile. So that suggests to me that "erat" is a copulative (linking) verb with an internal subject. Or is this an impersonal verb? Or is there another term for this kind of construction.
So very, very confused.
Help identifying a technical form - understood subjects.
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Re: Help identifying a technical form - understood subjects.
scire is the subject here, erat is its verb. Very straightforward sentence; similar English construction. I don't see your problem.
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Re: Help identifying a technical form - understood subjects.
Ah, my "problem" was that I wasn't aware that an infinitive could function as a subject. Just because you found it simple doesn't mean everybody else does.
Thank you for the help though. Makes much more sense.
Thank you for the help though. Makes much more sense.
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Re: Help identifying a technical form - understood subjects.
I agree. We are all at different levels of understanding or learning, and what may seem simple to one person may appear very complex to another. There is no utility in a dismissive type of response. It limits discussion and sets up barriers for asking questions, to the detriment of us all.
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Re: Help identifying a technical form - understood subjects.
Non intellexi rogantis difficultatem.