Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #162: Agents of passive verbs

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with passive verbs and prepositional phrases. You've seen all the prepositions here before, but one of them, a (ab before a vowel), sometimes has a special meaning when used with passive verbs: a / ab can express the agent of the passive verb. Here's what that means, using an example from one of today's sayings:

Vetulus bos lugetur a nemine.
The old ox is mourned by nobody.

The old ox is the subject of the passive verb: vetulus bos lugetur. And the phrase a nemine gives you the agent of the passive verb: "by nobody." You could also turn that around, making nemo the subject of the the active verb luget, and making the vetulus bos into the object of that active verb in the accusative case:

Nemo luget vetulum bovem.
Nobody mourns the old ox.

I hope that makes sense! Not all passive verbs have an agent, but when a passive verb does have an agent, that means you can turn the passive verb into an active verb, with the agent now as the subject of that verb. See today's sayings for another example like this one!

But first, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Ex cultro cognoscitur coquus.
From (the) knife, (the) cook is-known.
ex cultro cog-NOS-citur coquus.

The word cognoscitur, "is known," is the passive form of the verb cognoscit.

The word cultro is the ablative form of the masculine noun culter, "knife," which is ultimately the source of English "cutlery." The preposition ex takes the ablative.

Compare the English saying, "A good carpenter is known by his tools."

2. Homo a suo socio cognoscitur.
(A) person is-known by-means-of their associate.
homo a suo SO-cio cog-NOS-citur.

The word socio is the ablative form of the masculine adjective socius, "partner, comrade," and you can see that root in English "associate." The adjective suo is also in the ablative case, agreeing with masculine socio. The preposition a takes the ablative.

Compare the English saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."

3. Vetulus bos lugetur a nemine.
(The) old ox is-mourned by nobody.
VE-tulus bos lu-GE-tur a NE-mine.

The word lugetur, "is mourned," is the passive form of the verb luget. Remember that 2nd-conjugation verbs have their stress on the theme vowel in the passive form: lu-GE-tur.

The subject is bos, and vetulus, "old," is a masculine adjective agreeing with bos. You haven't see this adjective before, but you have seen an adjective made from the same root: inveteratus, "grown old."

The word nemine is the ablative form of nemo, and it is the agent of the passive verb; see note above.

You've seen a saying like this before: Senex bos non lugetur.

4. Invidus a propria roditur invidia.
(An) envious (person) is-gnawed by their-own envy.
IN-vidus a PRO-pria RO-ditur in-VI-dia.

The word roditur, "is gnawed," is the passive form of the verb rodit, "gnaws." This Latin word gives us English "rodent."

The word invidus is a masculine adjective, "envious," being used as a noun: "(an) envious (person)." You have not seen this adjective before, but you have seen the related noun before, which also appears in this saying: invidia, "envy."

The word invidia is in the ablative case, with a long final a: invidiā. The adjective propria is also in the above case, agreeing with invidia. Notice how the prepositional phrase, a propria invidia, wraps around the verb.

Because invidia is the agent of the passive verb, you could turn this into an active statement: Invidia rodit invidum, "Envy gnaws the envious man."

5. Panis non conficitur sine farina.
Bread isn't made without flour.
panis non con-FI-citur sine fa-RI-na.

You already know all the words in this saying!

The word conficitur, "is made," is the passive form of the verb conficit.

The word farina is another feminine noun in the ablative case, with a long final a: farinā, with the preposition sine, which takes the ablative.

Here's a recap: