So, for example, the verb timere means "to fear, to be afraid," so timendum means "fearing, being afraid," or you can even just translate it as "fear." You very rarely see the gerund in the nominative form (you'll learn why later on), but you will often see the gerund in other cases, including the genitive. You form the genitive in the usual way for a second-declension noun: remove the -um to get the stem, and then add the -i genitive ending: timendum has the stem timendi-, so the genitive is: timendi, "of fearing, of fear."
All of today's sayings have gerunds, and four of the sayings come from a famous passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Vulgate, which is the Latin translation of the Bible. You might know it from this song by The Byrds: Turn Turn Turn.
So, here are today's sayings with gerunds:
1. Dolendi modus, non est timendi.
(There is a) limit to grieving, but not to fearing.
do-LEN-di modus, non est ti-MEN-di
The genitive gerund dolendi is from the verb dolere, "to grieve." You've already seen another noun from this same root, dolor, in this saying: Ubi amor, ibi dolor.
1. Dolendi modus, non est timendi.
(There is a) limit to grieving, but not to fearing.
do-LEN-di modus, non est ti-MEN-di
The genitive gerund dolendi is from the verb dolere, "to grieve." You've already seen another noun from this same root, dolor, in this saying: Ubi amor, ibi dolor.
The noun modus, "measure, limit, manner" gives us the English word "mode." You might know this Latin phrase used in English: modus operandi, a "way of working," which is another one of these gerund phrases!
The genitive gerund timendi is from the verb timere, "to fear, be afraid." You can see this root in English "timid."
The idea is that eventually grief comes to an end, but people can be afraid all their lives. Thanks to Google, I learned that this motto is inscribed over the entrance to the Chernobyl Museum in Kyiv.
2. Tempus flendi et tempus ridendi.
(There is a time) of weeping and (a) time of laughing.
tempus flendi et tempus ri-DEN-di
This is the first of the sayings that come from the Book of Ecclesiastes mentioned above.
2. Tempus flendi et tempus ridendi.
(There is a time) of weeping and (a) time of laughing.
tempus flendi et tempus ri-DEN-di
This is the first of the sayings that come from the Book of Ecclesiastes mentioned above.
The genitive gerund flendi is from the verb flere, "to weep," so flendum means "weeping."
The genitive gerund ridendi is from the verb ridere, "to laugh." You've seen another noun formed from this same verb stem already, risus, "laughter," in the saying: Risus optima medicina.
3. Tempus tacendi et tempus loquendi.
(There is a time) of keeping silent and (a) time of speaking.
tempus ta-CEN-di et tempus lo-QUEN-di
You've seen tempus in several sayings already, such as Tempus est vitae magister.
3. Tempus tacendi et tempus loquendi.
(There is a time) of keeping silent and (a) time of speaking.
tempus ta-CEN-di et tempus lo-QUEN-di
You've seen tempus in several sayings already, such as Tempus est vitae magister.
The genitive gerund tacendi is from the verb tacere, "to be silent, not speak." This is the origin of English "tacit."
The genitive gerund loquendi is from the verb loqui, "to speak." You can see this root in English "loquacious."
4. Tempus nascendi et tempus moriendi.
(There is a time) of being born and (a) time of dying.
tempus nas-CEN-di et tempus mori-EN-di
The genitive gerund nascendi is from the verb nasci, "to be born, begin life." Another form of this verb is natus, "born," which you have seen before: Nemo magister natus.
4. Tempus nascendi et tempus moriendi.
(There is a time) of being born and (a) time of dying.
tempus nas-CEN-di et tempus mori-EN-di
The genitive gerund nascendi is from the verb nasci, "to be born, begin life." Another form of this verb is natus, "born," which you have seen before: Nemo magister natus.
The genitive gerund moriendi is from the verb mori, "to die." You've seen the noun mors, "death," in several proverbs already, like this one: Mors corona vitae.
5. Tempus plangendi et tempus saltandi.
(There is a time) of mourning and (a) time of dancing.
tempus plan-GEN-di et tempus sal-TAN-di
The genitive gerund plangendi is from the verb plangere, "to mourn, lament." The literal meaning of plangere is to beat or strike, and because people would beat their breast as a sign of mourning, that eventually became the most common meaning of the verb, from which we get English "plangent."
The genitive gerund saltandi is from the verb saltare, "to leap, dance." From this root we get English "somersault." The Salii were the "leaping priests" of ancient Rome; you can read more about them at Wikipedia.
Here's a recap:
And here is today's audio:
Plus the LOLCats!
5. Tempus plangendi et tempus saltandi.
(There is a time) of mourning and (a) time of dancing.
tempus plan-GEN-di et tempus sal-TAN-di
The genitive gerund plangendi is from the verb plangere, "to mourn, lament." The literal meaning of plangere is to beat or strike, and because people would beat their breast as a sign of mourning, that eventually became the most common meaning of the verb, from which we get English "plangent."
The genitive gerund saltandi is from the verb saltare, "to leap, dance." From this root we get English "somersault." The Salii were the "leaping priests" of ancient Rome; you can read more about them at Wikipedia.
Here's a recap:
- Dolendi modus, non est timendi.
- Tempus flendi et tempus ridendi.
- Tempus tacendi et tempus loquendi.
- Tempus nascendi et tempus moriendi.
- Tempus plangendi et tempus saltandi.
Plus the LOLCats!
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