How would I say “I have come to kill you” with a gerund or a ‘um’-supine? Te necatum veni sound quite odd to me, so does Te necandi causa veni. You could of course say Veni ut te necem, but I’d like to know how to say it differently.
Thanks,
Dingbats
I’ve only seen the supine alone usually and not with direct objects. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen the supine with a d.o.
The gerund, when it has a d.o., commonly takes on its gerundive form, so “tui necandi causa” is more likely. You could also say “ad te necandum”- “ad” with the gerund or gerundive to express purpose.
I like “ut” clauses myself.
They do sound overused, due to latin using KILL too often. I like the ring of Necatum temet veni but I adore supines!
Mihi iucundum lectu est ut modus supinus tibi gratissimus sit, Episcope. Et ego admiror.
I wonder why supines are relatively rare in Latin… That would be nice to know… In English I reckon the use of infinitives where Latin would have had a supine is common enough, is it not?
When you use an accusative gerund with ad, you are writing of the limit/end of motion yes? Well supine is just that an accusative with verbs of motion, denoting the end. Thus you can’t use it in a substantive clause of purpose if you do not have such a dynamic verb. You can’t use it after orare ut etc. Obviously as you demonstrated the ablative of the supine corresponds to the ablative of respect “good in the respect of reading” = good to read.
I think that latin would become rather monotonous if we all used such sentences as “eo iere aliqua aedificatum” = “…ut aedificarent” etc. The slight difference being the former meaning “to[wards] building”, the latter “that they might build”.
When you write a significant piece of original prose in latin you will find yourself to be desirous of less banal ways of expressing yourself; thus, should you wish to be succinct with purpose after a verb of motion, an effective choice would indeed be the supine.
In other cases ut (or if you are oooh cheekay just omit it imply it with subjunctive) causa, gratia, ad, in etc + gerunds (preferred gerundive with objects of course) or if you are really clever, careful use of participles. (whereof one simple example would as you know be the future active participle, again commoner with verbs of motion - ‘milites allocuturus surrexit’, he got up to speak to the soldiers)
Thanks for your replies! 