How do Latin Gerundives work without a object?
Like if you say ’sibi laborandum est’ without an object that he/she must do to?
My latin teacher said that it isn’t something we should think about or understand now until we learn Latin at A level or beyond. Why do Latin Gerundives without an object work? And is the gerundive always in the same form for it?
It seems to me that you mean the subject, not the object. Although the action of the gerundive is to be performed on the subject, it’s a passive construction, so that the recipient of the action IS the subject. A famous Latin statement using this construction is "Carthago delenda est"–"Carthage must (is to be) destroyed," which Cato the Censor said at the end of every speech he made in the Senate until finally it penetrated or the Senate got tired of hearing him say it, and Rome destroyed Carthage.
The dative word in such a construction is known as the "dative of agent" and refers to the person who must do the action. Such a sentence COULD be translated with the dative as the subject and the real subject as the object, which would certainly be better English. If Cato had said, "Carthago Romae delenda est," he would have literally been saying, "Carthage must be destroyed by Rome," but we might translate the statement as "Rome must destroy Carthage."
If the verb is intransitive, then there’s no need for a subject/object. What would be a direct object of "work"? Yes, we can both think of situations in which there could be one, but there are many more in which there wouldn’t. So the only problem I have with the sentence you offered is "sibi." Without a context, one would puzzle over who "himself" is.
Content now to wait until A-level time?
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/luschnig/Latin%20Grammar/10.htm
References :
‘Laboro’ is probably not a great example because it isn’t a verb used much in that way-such-and-such must be worked/labored.
‘Timeo’ is a good example: (non) timendum est = it is (not) to be feared/must be feared, and is often used with a dative of personal agent (but doesn’t have to be–’Timendum est’ is perfectly complete and grammatical): Mihi timendum est = It is to be feared by me, I must fear it [if you aren't concerned about being literal and you don't mind changing the voice to make it less cumbersome in English when you translate].
The gerundive is an adjective (my old grammar calls it a passive verbal adjective), and unlike the gerund is declined both in the singular and plural, and in the nominative and oblique cases.
For the rest, you should probably wait until your teacher is ready to introduce the material because the gerundive is a pretty large topic and I don’t want to overload you or confuse you if you aren’t there yet.
References :
It seems to me that you mean the subject, not the object. Although the action of the gerundive is to be performed on the subject, it’s a passive construction, so that the recipient of the action IS the subject. A famous Latin statement using this construction is "Carthago delenda est"–"Carthage must (is to be) destroyed," which Cato the Censor said at the end of every speech he made in the Senate until finally it penetrated or the Senate got tired of hearing him say it, and Rome destroyed Carthage.
The dative word in such a construction is known as the "dative of agent" and refers to the person who must do the action. Such a sentence COULD be translated with the dative as the subject and the real subject as the object, which would certainly be better English. If Cato had said, "Carthago Romae delenda est," he would have literally been saying, "Carthage must be destroyed by Rome," but we might translate the statement as "Rome must destroy Carthage."
If the verb is intransitive, then there’s no need for a subject/object. What would be a direct object of "work"? Yes, we can both think of situations in which there could be one, but there are many more in which there wouldn’t. So the only problem I have with the sentence you offered is "sibi." Without a context, one would puzzle over who "himself" is.
Content now to wait until A-level time?
References :
Majored in (read) Latin.