Marcus magistrum scribere (?)

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pmda
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Marcus magistrum scribere (?)

Post by pmda »

In Orberg LLPSI he has: 'Marcus magistrum scribere animadvertit eumque interrogat: "Quid tu scribis, magister?"

I would have written this 'Marcus magistrum scribentem animadvertit....' Why is 'scribere' in the present infinitive? Surely it's a participle and should be written 'scribentem'?? Or is this some version of infinitive + accusative...but it doesn't make sense to me because that's only used when the action is being reported or commented on by a third person: Marcus 'magistrum scribere' dicit.

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furrykef
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Re: Marcus magistrum scribere (?)

Post by furrykef »

pmda wrote:In Orberg LLPSI he has: 'Marcus magistrum scribere animadvertit eumque interrogat: "Quid tu scribis, magister?"

I would have written this 'Marcus magistrum scribentem animadvertit....' Why is 'scribere' in the present infinitive? Surely it's a participle and should be written 'scribentem'??
Mārcus magistrum scrībere animadvertit: "Marcus notices that the teacher is writing"
Mārcus magistrum scrībentem animadvertit: "Marcus notices the writing teacher", or maybe "Marcus notices the teacher as he writes"

Does this help? Compare e.g. "Videō tē scrībere", "I see that you are writing".

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pmda
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Re: Marcus magistrum scribere (?)

Post by pmda »

Thanks furrykef - that makes perfect sense.

Craig_Thomas
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Re: Marcus magistrum scribere (?)

Post by Craig_Thomas »

The acc. + inf. construction isn't just for speech, but also for various types of perception and mental action. It's found pretty much anywhere where in English you say "he [verb] that", e.g., he saw that..., he heard that..., he imagined that..., he thought that..., he knew that..., he hoped that..., he discovered that..., he threatened that..., he promised that..., etc. It's very common.

pmda
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Re: Marcus magistrum scribere (?)

Post by pmda »

Thanks Craig...very helpful..

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