Hello there,
Another fairly simple one here. I’m doing an English-Latin translation exercise in my textbook. M+F Unit 13 Exercises II. 1.
Will anyone pardon him? He will not be pardoned by anyone.
The second sentence includes negation but of the verb more than of the pronoun, this got me thinking as to whether ab quoquam would be used here, or whether ab aliquo would be more suitable?
Many thanks for your help!
Tom.
Hi Tom,
In the second sentence, I think you can safely rule out ab aliquo. Remember, aliquis = someone. ‘a quoquam’ is more appropriate in a negative sentence, because ‘any’ is being used to exclude anyone who might pardon him. If ‘any’ was inclusive, (‘he could be pardoned by anyone’) you could use quovis or quolibet.
ignoscere usually takes the dative of the person pardoned, not an accusative direct object. So the person pardoned generally can’t be the nominative subject of a passive form of ignoscere, unlike English “pardon.” You would have to say, Num quis ei ignoscet? nemo ei ignoscet.
ignoscere can take an accusative direct object, but the direct object is the offense, e.g. num quis ei culpam ignoscet? The offense can be the nominative subject of a passive form of ignoscere: Num quis ei culpam ignoscet? culpa a nemine ei ignoscetur.
I think a quovis/quolibet with a negative wouldn’t work in a sentence like this. quivis and quilibet don’t just mean “anyone”: they mean something like “anyone you please, it doesn’t matter who”.
non quisquam seems very strange to me, but nec/neque quisquam, “and not anyone” occurs, equivalent to et nemo.
Hi Tom,
Hylander is far more knowledgeable in this area than me, so I’d go with whatever help he gives you.
Thank you both for your detailed answers! I appreciate it!
Rethinking this, you could use the passive of ignosco impersonally. a quoquam would be the agent pronoun. Ei non ignoscetur a quoquam. Ab aliquo would mean “by someone“.
OK, thank you for explaining the distinction!