I’m quite new to the language and am still learning, probably, quite basic, syntax. I’ve been reading ‘New Latin Grammar’ by Allen and Greenough. Following a response to a previous query on the forum, I’m focussing on the substantive use of adjectives.
In Sec 289 ‘Neuter Adjectives are used substantively…’. One of the special circumstances sited is… d. A neuter adjective may be used as an attributive or a predicative adjective with an infinitive or substantive clause;
Then a number of examples are given…
1 istuc ipsum non esse.
That very “not to be.”
I’m, once more, at a total loss as to what’s going on here? Is ‘istuc’ (an adverb) being used as an adjective (Sec 321) and ‘neuter’ because it agrees with ‘ipsum’?
Any, and all, clues will be appreciated and I hope everyone else enjoys this puzzle as much as I’m doing (no sarcasm intended).
Hi,
istuc here is the neuter nom. sing. of istic, a demonstrative pronoun (from iste + demonstrative particle -ce). ipsum, which intensifies it, is in agreement. In the example, istuc ipsum is being used attributively with (or perhaps in apposition to) non esse. The next example, “humanum est errare” has humanum acting as a predicate adjective to the infinitive “errare”.
These are special uses of neuter adjectives and something you will encounter somewhat farther down the road. One of the challenges of trying to learn a language from a grammar is that it’s hard to determine what needs to be learnt first. Greenough’s examples are excellent, but as in the case of “istuc ipsum non esse”, without context, they can be hard to understand. This comes from Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations, where they are discussing what is a more wretched state of “not existing”.