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ad (+ acc.) = to |
Participles: The Future Participle
Latin has 3 participles:
The Past Participle (PASSIVE)
The Future Participle (Active)
III The Future Participle, like the past participle, is made from the supine of the verb,by removing -um and adding the ending -urus.
Thus the verb eo, ire, ivi, itum (to go) has a future
participle iturus (meaning "about to go")
The verb caedo, caedere, cecidi, caesum has a future participle caesurus
(meaning "about to kill")
This participle also behaves like a second/first declension adjective like bonus, -a, -um.
You must remember how this participle is made so that when you consult the wordlist you know that it will be listed under the present tense of the verb it comes from.
This participle translates as "about to ....." or
"on the point of ....."
e.g. if you wanted to say in Latin "The soldiers were on the point of
surrendering when reinforcements arrived.", 'on the point of surrendering'
would be translated by the future participle and it would agree with the
word 'soldiers'.
This is the rarest of the three participles, but you will see it again when you meet the future infinitive. Until then try to memorise the following sentence which was spoken by the gladiators when they saluted the emperor befor competing in the amphitheatre:
nos morituri te, Caesar, salutamus. = We, who are about to die, salute you, Caesar.
Try this translation exercise to see if you have the hang of it.
To check your answers click here.