accusative

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Lavrentivs
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accusative

Post by Lavrentivs »

Quid est apertius quam Deum esse?

I do not understand why Deus should stand in the accusative here and not in the nominative.

adrianus
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Re: accusative

Post by adrianus »

A&G, §455 wrote:"With impersonal verbs and expressions that take the infinitive as an apparent subject, the personal subject of the action may be expressed...2. By an Accusative expressed as the subject of the infinitive or the object of the impersonal..."
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

Lavrentivs
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Re: accusative

Post by Lavrentivs »

adrianus wrote:
A&G, §455 wrote:"With impersonal verbs and expressions that take the infinitive as an apparent subject, the personal subject of the action may be expressed...2. By an Accusative expressed as the subject of the infinitive or the object of the impersonal..."
(Quid est apertius quam Deum esse?)

Are you saying that "esse" is an apparent subject? In a.c.i. constructions, I understand the i. to be subordinate to the a. -- otherwise they should be called i.c.a. constructions. On this basis, I find it odd, that the correct expression is not "Quid est apertius quam Deus esse". I do not doubt that the accusative is correct, but I was wondering whether others find this as odd as I do.

flamendialis
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Re: accusative

Post by flamendialis »

i am a beginner in latin , i suppose the subject is the one "quid est apertius" when towards god lives or exists

just trying

adrianus
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Re: accusative

Post by adrianus »

Quid est apertius quam [est] Deum esse? = "What is more evident/clear than [is] God to be?" -> "...than that God exists?"
Deum esse est apertum. = "God to be is evident." = "That God exists is evident."
Subjectum = "Deum esse"

Oratione obliquâ, alienane tibi videtur talia constructio (scilicet "deum esse")?
Would the construction "Deum esse" be strange to you in indirect speech?

Quid est apertius quam [est] Deus [sic] esse? = "What is more evident than God is to be?" !!!??? = not Latin, or not good Latin // non latinum, saltem soloecismus
You don't say "Deus est esse" // "Deus est esse" non dicitur.
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

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