Grammar & Syntax

Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs

Trōiae is 1st declension: here genitive singular, "of Troy", modifying the unstated antecedent implied before quī ("[he] who [came] first from the shores of Troy").

rosa, rosae, rosae, rosam, rosā

The textbook model noun, "rose" — every regular 1st-declension noun follows this pattern exactly.

arma virumque canō

arma is neuter plural (2nd declension -um nouns exist mostly in the plural for this word, "arms/weapons"); virum is masculine accusative singular, "the man" — direct objects of canō, "I sing".

dominus, dominī, dominō, dominum, dominō

"Master, lord" — the model masculine -us noun; bellum, bellī, bellō, bellum, bellō is the model neuter.

rēx, rēgis (m.) — homō, hominis (m.) — corpus, corporis (n.) — turris, turris (f.)

Four representative patterns: a stem consonant shift (rēx/rēg-), a hidden nasal (homō/homin-), rhotacism (corpus/corpor-), and a feminine i-stem with genitive plural in -ium.

saevae memorem Iūnōnis

Iūnōnis is 3rd declension (Iūnō, Iūnōnis, f.) genitive singular, with the same hidden -n- stem seen in homō/hominis above; memorem is the one-termination 3rd-declension adjective agreeing with the accusative īram later in the same line, not with Iūnōnis.

adventus, adventūs (m.) — rēs, reī (f.) — diēs, diēī (m./f.)

"Arrival", "thing", and "day" — the three most common nouns of these two declensions.

pius Aenēās

pius, -a, -um, "dutiful" — a 1st/2nd-declension adjective in the nominative masculine singular, agreeing with Aenēās.

bonus, bona, bonum

Declines exactly like dominus/rosa/bellum in every case and number — there is no separate adjective paradigm to learn beyond the noun endings already known.

vī superum saevae memorem Iūnōnis ob īram

memorem is a 3rd-declension one-termination adjective (memor, gen. memoris, "mindful, unforgetting") modifying īram, feminine accusative singular. saevae is 1st/2nd declension (saevus, -a, -um) modifying Iūnōnis.

altior, altius (comparative) — altissimus, -a, -um (superlative)

From altus, -a, -um, "high, deep" — a fully regular 1st/2nd-declension adjective forming its degrees the ordinary way.

amō, amās, amat, amāmus, amātis, amant

The model verb for the entire conjugation — every regular 1st-conjugation verb inflects exactly this way in every tense.

multa quoque et bellō passus

Not itself 1st conjugation (passus is from patior, a deponent), but bellō here shows the 2nd-declension noun this construction depends on — worth contrasting with a true 1st-conjugation form in the same line's vocabulary.

moneō, monēre, monuī, monitum

"To warn, advise" — the model 2nd-conjugation verb.

ipse ego … videō

videō, "I see" — 2nd conjugation with an irregular perfect vīdī, contrasted with the regular pattern above.

regō, regere, rēxī, rēctum — capiō, capere, cēpī, captum

regō, "to rule", shows the plain pattern; capiō, "to take, seize", shows the -iō subgroup — note the shared -ere infinitive despite the different present-tense vowel pattern.

audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum

"To hear, listen to" — the model 4th-conjugation verb.

sum, es, est, sumus, estis, sunt

Committed to memory before any other verb in a beginning course, since it underlies the perfect passive system, the periphrastics, and most sentences with a predicate noun or adjective.

fertur … Aenēān … acciri

fertur, 3rd singular present passive of ferō, idiomatically "he is said" — one of the most common idiomatic uses of this irregular verb's passive.

mē, mihi, tē, tibi, sē, sibi

The oblique-case forms of the first, second, and reflexive third person — memorised as a set, since none of the three declines like an ordinary noun.

Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs / … vēnit

The antecedent of quī is exactly this kind of unstated is — understood as "[he] who came first…" with no separate pronoun written.

Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs

quī is nominative because it is the subject of vēnit in its own clause (line 2) — its antecedent is an unstated "he", not Trōiae, which is genitive.

ab ōrīs … ob īram

ab governs the ablative ōrīs ("from the shores"); ob governs the accusative īram ("because of the anger") — one word from each of the two governing groups, both from the poem's own opening.

Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs

prīmus, -a, -um, "first" — an ordinal, here a 1st/2nd-declension adjective modifying the unstated subject of vēnit, not a cardinal number.

parcere subiectīs

parcō governs the dative, so subiectīs is dative plural even though English makes "the conquered" a direct object. Contrast superbōs in the same line, which is accusative after dēbellāre.

hae tibi erunt artēs

Dative of possession with erunt: literally "these will be arts for you", idiomatically "these will be your arts".

pācīque impōnere mōrem

pācī is dative with the compound verb impōnere: "to impose the custom UPON peace". Reversing the two nouns is a common error.

vī superum

Ablative of means or cause with a syncopated genitive plural: "by the violence of the gods above". Note it is NOT an ablative of agent — there is no ā/ab, and vīs is a thing.

inūsitātā et magnitūdine et speciē

Two ablatives of respect joined by et … et, with inūsitātā agreeing across both: "unusual both in size and in appearance".

promissā barbā horrentī capillō

Two ablatives of description, asyndetically joined: "with a flowing beard, with bristling hair". They describe the ghost, they are not absolutes — there is no separate subject for a participle to agree with.

ūsus ille sōle

sōle is ablative because ūtor takes the ablative, not because it is a means. AP will ask for the reason, so name the verb.

inūsitātā et magnitūdine et speciē

Ablative of description (already covered under "uses of the ablative") for contrast — the equivalent genitive of description would be spelled with -ae/-ī rather than -ā/-e but carries the identical function.

multōs annōs bellum gessērunt

"They waged war for many years" — annōs is accusative of duration of time, no preposition needed or permitted.

Mūsa, mihī causās memorā

Mūsa is vocative (identical to the nominative here, since it is 1st declension) — direct address of the Muse at the start of the poem's invocation.

multum ille et terrīs iactātus et altō

iactātus is a perfect passive participle agreeing with ille, not a finite verb: "he, much buffeted". The whole of 1.3–5 hangs on participles, which is why the sentence runs so long.

multa quoque et bellō passus

passus is deponent, so active in meaning with multa as its object: "having suffered many things also in war". Translating it passively is the classic deponent error.

ūsus ille sōle, mox frīgidā

ūsus is the deponent perfect participle of ūtor, governing the ablative: "having taken a sunbath, then a cold bath". Both the deponent sense and the ablative with ūtor are testable points.

senex maciē et squālōre cōnfectus

cōnfectus is a genuine perfect PASSIVE participle in apposition to senex, with two ablatives of means: "an old man worn out by emaciation and squalor".

fandō ēnumerāre valēs

fandō is an ablative gerund of the deponent for, fārī: "in speaking, by speaking". It has no noun to agree with, which is what identifies it as a gerund rather than a gerundive.

iubet Liburnicam aptārī

Not a gerundive: aptārī is a present passive infinitive after iubeō. Distinguishing an infinitive in -ārī from a gerundive in -andus is a routine form-identification question.

lēgātōs ad Caesarem mittunt rogātum auxilium

"They send envoys to Caesar to ask for help" — rogātum is an accusative supine of purpose after the verb of motion mittunt.

multa quoque et bellō passus

passus is the perfect participle of the deponent patior, patī, passus sum, "to suffer, endure" — active in sense ("having suffered"), despite its passive-looking -us ending built the same way any passive participle is.

mihi placet domī manēre

"It is pleasing to me to stay home" / "I like to stay home" — placet is impersonal, taking a dative experiencer (mihi) and the infinitive manēre as its logical subject.

clāmāre virī, mulierēs plōrāre, omnēs undique currere

"The men kept shouting, the women kept wailing, everyone kept running from every side" — three historical infinitives (clāmāre, plōrāre, currere) each with a nominative subject, all substituting for imperfect indicatives.

Carthāgō dēlenda est

The single most famous passive periphrastic in the language: dēlenda est, "must be destroyed" — gerundive of dēleō agreeing with the feminine Carthāgō, no agent expressed because none is needed for the rhetorical point.

sī attenderēs ācrius

Generalising second person, not contrary to fact: "if you listened more closely" — anyone who listened did hear it. Treating it as unreal reverses the sense of the ghost story.

quid virtūs et quid possit

Indirect question: an interrogative word plus the subjunctive, after a verb of asking, knowing or perceiving. English keeps the ordinary indicative: "what courage can do".

dum conderet urbem

Anticipatory dum: the subjunctive marks purpose or expectation, "until he might found". This is the single most-tested subjunctive in the proem.

sī mēns nōn laeva fuisset

Past contrary to fact with the pluperfect subjunctive: "if our minds had not been perverse" — and they were, so Troy fell. The apodosis (impulerat) is indicative, a vivid poetic variation on the expected pluperfect subjunctive.

sī attenderēs ācrius

Same imperfect-subjunctive form, different construction: this is a generalising "if you listened", not a contrary-to-fact "if you were listening". Context, not form, decides.

dīxerit aliquis: "quid tum?"

"Someone might say, 'so what?'" — dīxerit is a perfect potential subjunctive with no subordinating word, functioning as its own main clause.

quid faciam? Rōmamne veniam, an hīc maneam?

"What am I to do? Should I come to Rome, or stay here?" — faciam, veniam, maneam are all deliberative subjunctives with no subordinating conjunction.

quibus rēbus cognitīs

rēbus is ablative, cognitīs is a perfect passive participle agreeing with it: "these things having been learned" → "when this became known". The connecting relative quibus links to the previous sentence and does not affect the construction.

Vesuvium fuisse posteā cognitum est

Not an ablative absolute — a useful contrast. Here cognitum est is a genuine passive main verb with an indirect statement (Vesuvium fuisse) as its subject. The lesson: a perfect participle plus a form of sum is a finite passive verb, not an absolute.

ēlāta in altum quibusdam rāmīs diffundēbātur

quibusdam rāmīs is ablative but is a means/respect ablative with diffundēbātur ("was spreading out into certain branches"), not an absolute — there is no participle agreeing with rāmīs. Deciding this correctly is exactly the kind of judgement AP tests.

mater mea indicat eī appārēre nūbem

indicat is the head verb, nūbem the accusative subject, appārēre the present infinitive: "my mother points out to him that a cloud was appearing." Reading nūbem as the direct object of indicat leaves appārēre with no function.

ego tē … numquam … negābō prōmeritam

tē is the accusative subject and prōmeritam the perfect participle with esse understood: "I shall never deny that you have deserved well." The whole indirect statement hangs on a participle with its infinitive omitted — a very Vergilian compression.

neque ego hanc abscondere furtō spērāvī … fugam

spērō here takes a simple complementary infinitive with the same subject, so there is no accusative subject: "nor did I hope to conceal this flight". Distinguishing this from a full indirect statement is a common exam question.

ut aquam habeant

Purpose: the money is to be spent so that the people of Nicomedia may have water. There is no tam or ita in the main clause, and the sense is a goal, not a consequence.

ut … dēscendere in lītus … statuērent

A substantive clause after a verb of deciding — closely related to purpose in form, and translated with "to". AP will accept a description of it as an indirect command or a noun clause of purpose.

dum conderet urbem

Not ut, but doing purpose-like work: dum with the subjunctive expresses anticipation, "until he might found a city". With the indicative dum would be plain contemporaneous time.

statimque timēbō cum lēgerō

cum with the future perfect indicative, purely temporal: "and I shall begin to fear again as soon as I have read". The indicative dates the action rather than colouring it, and the future perfect makes the reading prior to the fearing.

cum apparuit … balteus

Inverse cum with the perfect indicative: the cum clause carries the decisive event, not the background. English needs "when suddenly the baldric appeared", because the main clause is what is being interrupted.

hortātur eōs ut fortiter pugnent

"He urges them to fight bravely" — fortiter pugnent is present subjunctive after the primary-sequence hortātur, introduced by ut.

iubet Liburnicam aptārī

iubeō itself takes an infinitive (aptārī, passive) with an accusative subject, not ut + subjunctive — the standard exception worth contrasting against the ordinary pattern above.

nesciō quid virtūs et quid possit fortūna

"I do not know what worth and what fortune can do" — quid…possit is present subjunctive in an indirect question after nesciō.

nēmō est quī hoc nesciat

"There is no one of the kind who does not know this" — nesciat is subjunctive because the clause describes the general characteristic of "no one," not a specific fact about a named person.

timeō nē hostēs veniant

"I fear that the enemy will come" — nē is affirmative in force after a verb of fearing, the reverse of its usual negative sense.

nōn dubitō quīn vēra dīcās

"I do not doubt that you are speaking the truth" — dīcās is present subjunctive after quīn, triggered by the negated dubitō.

īrātus est quod discesserāmus

"He was angry because we had left" — discesserāmus is pluperfect INDICATIVE: the writer vouches for the departure as plain fact.

īrātus est quod discessissēmus

The same sentence with pluperfect SUBJUNCTIVE instead: "he was angry [on the grounds] that we had left" — now it is only his stated reason being reported, not necessarily the writer's own assertion of fact.

quamquam sunt sub aquā, sub aquā maledīcere temptant

"Although they are under water, they try to curse even under water" — quamquam + indicative (sunt) conceding a plain fact.

dum conderet urbem

A dum clause with imperfect subjunctive conderet, expressing purpose/anticipation within the "while" ("while he might found a city") — already covered on the purpose/result page as an example of dum's subjunctive-taking sense, cross-referenced here for the full range of temporal connectors.

tam vēlōciter fūgit quam sī hostem vīdisset

"He fled as fast as if he had seen the enemy" — vīdisset is pluperfect subjunctive after quam sī, an unreal comparison.