Bennett's New Latin Grammar is a book, now in the public domain, written by the famous Charles E. Bennett. I have made this version available online. Of course there may be errors, so use at your own risk.
233. 1. The word with which an Adjective agrees is called its Subject.
2. Attributive and Predicate Adjectives. An Attributive Adjective is one that limits its subject directly; as, -
vir sapiēns, a wise man.
A Predicate Adjective is one that limits its subject through the medium of a verb (usually esse); as, -
vir est sapiēns, the man is wise;
vir vidēbātur sapiēns, the man seemed wise;
vir jūdicātus est sapiēns, the man was judged wise;
hunc virum sapientem jūdicāvimus, we adjudged this man wise.
3. Participles and Adjective Pronouns have the construction of Adjectives.
234. Agreement with One Noun. When an Adjective limits one noun it agrees with it in Gender, Number, and Case.
1. Two Adjectives in the Singular may limit a noun in the Plural, as; prīma et vīcēsima legiōnēs, the first and twentieth legions.
2. A Predicate Adjective may stand in the Neuter when its Subject is Masculine or Feminine and denotes a thing; as, -
omnium rērum mors est extrēmum, death is the end of all things.
235. Agreement with Two or More Nouns.
A. AGREEMENT AS TO NUMBER.
1. When the Adjective is Attributive, it regularly agrees in number with the nearest noun; as, -
pater tuus et māter, your father and mother;
eadem alacritās et studium, the same eagerness and zeal.
2. When the Adjective is Predicative, it is regularly Plural; as, -
pāx et concordia sunt pulchrae, peace and concord are glorious.
B. AGREEMENT AS TO GENDER.
1. When the Adjective is Attributive, it regularly agrees in gender with the nearest noun; as, -
rēs operae multae ac labōris, a matter of much effort and labor.
2. When the Adjective is Predicative -
a) If the nouns are of the same gender, the Adjective agrees with them in gender; as, -
pater et fīlius captī sunt, father and son were captured.
Yet with feminine abstract nouns, the Adjective is more frequently Neuter; as, -
stultitia et timiditās fugienda sunt, folly and cowardice must be shunned.
b) If the nouns are of different gender; then, -
α) In case they denote persons, the Adjective is Masculine; as, -
pater et māter mortuī sunt, the father and mother have died.
β) In case they denote things, the Adjective is Neuter; as, -
honōrēs et victōriae fortuīta sunt, honors and victories are accidental.
γ) In case they include both persons and things, the Adjective is, -
αα) Sometimes Masculine; as, -
domus, uxor, līberī inventī sunt, home, wife, and children are secured.
ββ) Sometimes Neuter; as, -
parentēs, līberōs, domōs vīlia habēre, to hold parents, children, houses cheap.
γγ) Sometimes it agrees with the nearest noun; as, -
populī prōvinciaeque līberātae sunt, nations and provinces were liberated.
c) Construction according to Sense. Sometimes an Adjective does not agree with a noun according to strict grammatical form, but according to sense; as, -
pars bēstiīs objectī sunt, part (of the men) were thrown to beasts.
236. 1. PLURAL ADJECTIVES USED SUBSTANTIVELY. Adjectives are quite freely used as Substantives in the Plural. The Masculine denotes persons; the Neuter denotes things; as, -
| doctī, scholars; | parva, small things; | |
| malī, the wicked; | magna, great things; | |
| Graecī, the Greeks; | ūtilia, useful things; | |
| nostrī, our men. | ||
2. Neuter Plural Adjectives thus used are confined mainly to the Nominative and Accusative cases. Such forms as magnōrum, omnium; magnīs, omnibus, would ordinarily lead to ambiguity; yet where there is no ambiguity, they sometimes occur; as, -
parvīs compōnere magna, to compare great things with small
Otherwise the Latin says: magnārum rērum, magnīs rēbus, etc.
237. SINGULAR ADJECTIVES USED SUBSTANTIVELY. Adjectives are less freely used as Substantives in the Singular than in the Plural.
1. Masculine Adjectives occur only occasionally in this use; as, -
probus invidet nēminī, the honest man envies nobody.
a. Usually vir, homō, or some similar word is employed; as, -
homō doctus, a scholar;
vir Rōmānus, a Roman.
b. But when limited by a pronoun any adjective may be so used; as, -
hīc doctus, this scholar;
doctus quīdam, a certain scholar.
2. Neuters are likewise infrequent; as, -
vērum, truth;
jūstum, justice;
honestum, virtue.
a. This substantive use of Neuter Singulars is commonest in the construction of the Genitive of the Whole, and after Prepositions; as, -
aliquid vērī, something true;
nihil novī, nothing new;
in mediō, in the midst.
238. From Adjectives which, like the above, occasionally admit the substantive use, must be carefully distinguished certain others which have become nouns; as, -
| adversārius, opponent; | hīberna, winter quarters; | |
| aequālis, contemporary; | propinquus, relative; | |
| amīcus, friend; | socius, partner; | |
| cognātus, kinsman; | sodālis, comrade; | |
| vīcīnus, neighbor; etc. | ||
239. The Latin often uses an Adjective where the English idiom employs an Adverb or an adverbial phrase; as, -
senātus frequēns convēnit, the senate assembled in great numbers;
fuit assiduus mēcum, he was constantly with me.
240. 1. The Comparative often corresponds to the English Positive with 'rather,' 'somewhat,' 'too'; as, -
senectūs est loquācior, old age is rather talkative.
2. So the Superlative often corresponds to the Positive with 'very'; as, -
vir fortissimus, a very brave man.
3. Strengthening Words. Vel and quam are often used with the Superlative as strengthening particles, vel with the force of 'very,' and quam with the force of 'as possible'; as, -
vel maximus, the very greatest;
quam maximae cōpiae, as great forces as possible.
4. Phrases of the type 'more rich than brave' regularly take the Comparative in both members; as, -
exercitus erat dītior quam fortior, the army was more rich than brave.
241. 1. Certain Adjectives may be used to denote a part of an object, chiefly prīmus, extrēmus, summus, medius, īnfimus, īmus; as, -
summus mōns, the top of the mountain;
extrēmā hieme, in the last part of the winter.
2. Prior, prīmus, ultimus, and postrēmus are frequently equivalent to a relative clause; as, -
prīmus eam vīdī, I was the first who saw her;
ultimus dēcessit, he was the last who withdrew.
3. When multus and another adjective both limit the same noun et is generally used; as, -
multae et magnae cōgitātiōnēs, many (and) great thoughts.