Salve pmda!
Prius circum Siciliam tibi navigandum est.
The expression
tibi navigandum est is a passive periphrastic construction using the gerundive +
esse. The gerundive (in this case that of the verb
navigare) has the full set of endings for all genders. The gerundive (a verbal adjective and in this case a predicate adjective) agrees with the subject of
esse, e.g.
Puella laudanda est. The dative (in your sentence
tibi) is called dative of agent and indicates the person (here "you") who ought to do something (in this case
navigare).
Why neuter gender? As I said,
navigandum takes its gender from the subject of
esse (or in this case
est). But there is no "proper" subject to be found here, therefore the neuter gender (also used when the subject is an entire statement or a verb).
LatinLibrary.com has quite a few example phrases which
can be found here. All these have in common that the gerundive takes the gender from a subject which in an active construction would be in the accusative, e.g.
- Passive: Senatui Romano hae litterae mittendae sunt.
- Active: [Aliquis] senatui Romano has litteras mittit.
Vale,
Carolus Raeticus
by pmda » Mon Dec 24, 2012 6:13 pm