(per)territus, -a, -um: (really) frightened
satisfactus, -a, -um: satisfied
These two work quite happily as
adjectives and, at this stage, I wouldn’t go any further with them. They are,
however, “knocking on the door” of a far larger topic, yet to be discussed in
the group but one which is on the way at Level 2, and beyond. Therefore, here
are some brief notes on them.
English:
You’ll need to pay for that broken window. [ = a
window that has been broken]; Latin: frāctus, -a, -um
(broken)
Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare. [= a
play that has been written by Shakepspeare.]; Latin: scrīptus,
-a, -um (written)
The ambulance took the injured motorcyclist [ = the
motorcyclist who had been injured] to hospital.; Latin: vulnerātus,
-a, -um (injured)
What you see in those examples
above are called in Latin perfect passive participles, they describe
something that has been done to the noun:
a frightened cat = a cat that has been frightened;
Latin: territus, -a, -um
a satsified customer = a customer who has been
satisfied; Latin: satisfactus, -a, -um
The Latin words come from the fourth and final principal
part of a verb. When you look up a verb in the dictionary you will – for most
of them – see four parts, three of which have already been covered in detail in
the posts. Here are the three principal parts for the verb ‘to break’:
First principal part: frangō │ Second principal part: frangere
│ Third principal part: frēgī
Image #1: Now look at the entries
from two different dictionaries. The fourth principal part can be confusing
because it will be listed either as [i] frāct¦us or [ii] frāct¦um. If the
dictionary lists frāctus (broken) that is the perfect passive participle
(which is what is being used here), but if it lists frāctum that is a
form known as the supine, a form that should be left until later. However, it doesn’t matter: if the 4th
principal part ends in -us, then you’re ready to go > frāctus, -a, -um. If
it ends in -um, change it to -us and you’re still ready to go.
Here are some other things that could have happened to cats!
The passive participles are important because, while the Romans never talked
much about what happened to cats, they did talk about what happened to
themselves: injured, murdered, carried off, poisoned, mistrusted, locked up etc.
cattus vulnerātus: an injured cat
cattus venēnātus: a poisoned cat
cattus necātus: a murdered cat
cattus suspicātus: a mistrusted cat
cattus numquam amātus: a “never having been loved”
cat = that has never been loved
cattus ab omnibus laudātus: a cat praised by
everybody
cattus ā fūribus ablātus: a cat stolen by
thieves
cattus in caveā clausus: a cat locked up in a
cage
The Latin Tutorial video will give you more information at
the moment:
