The Grammar of Grammar

Latin Learning Latin
1

I’m a bit confused about the description of grammar in Latin.

For example Orberg has in Exercitia Latina the following: Plusquamperfectum passivi constat ex participio perfecti et praeterito imperfecto verbi ‘esse’.

I get confused as to when / whether / if words like ‘passivi’ and ‘imperfecto’ have to be used the way he uses them. To explain my question. I had written ‘Plusquamperfectum passivum’ - thus ‘passivum’ as an adjective. So he has ‘passivi’ to show the meaning ‘Pluperfect OF the passive’, right? But then he has ‘…et praeterito imperfecto…’. Could I have written ‘…et praeterito imperfecti…’?

Is there a good overview of the grammar of discussing grammar (I see a chapter later in LLPSI dealing with grammar so perhaps I should wait for this..)?? I’d be grateful for any thoughts… Because I’d like to be able to use more or even all latin when discussing grammar on this forum but I’m not clear about whether things have to be written as they are…

2

I’m sure someone here (Adrianus?) can give you a good reference for Latin grammatical terms–after all, we have the words of plenty Latin grammarians from various eras.

I think Orberg is relying on unstated nouns, here.

“Plusquamperfectum passivi [verbi] constat ex participio perfecti [verbi] et praeterito imperfecto verbi ‘esse’.”

“The pluperfect of a passive [verb] consists of the participle of the perfect [verb] and the past imperfect of the verb ‘esse.’”

I don’t see a problem with the way you did it. It’s a question of whether to use the adjectives as adjectives, or to use them substantively. “Plusquamperfectum passivum,” “participio perfecto,” and “praeterito imperfecti verbi” all make sense to me. But perhaps this violates a precept of Latin style of which I’m unaware…

3

This for example // Exempli gratiâ hoc: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QjF0jRivSRoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Elucidata_Grammatica_Latina_ad_strictam&source=bl&ots=90BGE5OywC&sig=vNyb3XrahLd7_ZeAm_hNQrFgo0E&hl=en&ei=R31ETZHfL5OxhQeg0pjoAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

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thesaurus / adrianus, gratias vobis ago.