[a] negō, -āre,
-āvī, -ātus [1] [i] deny; [ii] refuse
This verb is also
used to create a negative statement [literally: say … not] for example:
He does not
understand. │ Nōn intellegit.
> He says
¦ that he does not understand. │ Negat ¦ sē intellegere.
i.e. the concept
of ‘not’ in the indirect statement is already contained in the verb negat;
nōn is not required
Examples;
sometimes ‘deny’ is an alternative translation:
Haec negat
sē tuam esse mātrem. (Plautus)│ She denies that she is your
mother = She says that she is not your mother.
Negāvī mē scīre (Cicero) │ I said
that I did not know.
Hostēs negāvērunt
sē arma dissimilia habēre. │The enemies denied that they had
different weapons = the enemies said that they did not have
different weapons.
Magister negāvit
sē discipulum verberāvisse. │ The teacher denied that he had
beaten the pupil = the teacher said that he had not beaten
the pupil.
Negāvit sē mihi pecūniam dedisse. │ He denied
that he had given me the money = he said that he had not
given me the money.
Nōn it, negat sē
itūram [esse]* (Plautus) │ She’s not going, she says that
she will not go.
*Note the omission
of esse; this is a feature to look out for in original literature.
Marītus negāvit
sē Rōmae mānsūrum esse. │ The husband said that he would not
stay at Rome.
[b]
Look at the
following English example and the different ways in which the same idea can be
expressed:
[i] He said that
he hadn’t ever [not + ever] seen a more faithful servant than her.
[ii] He said that
he had never seen a more faithful servant than her.
Latin conveys the
idea using the equivalent of [i] above:
quicquam /
quidquam: anything
quisquam: anybody
ūllus, -a, -um:
any
umquam: ever
usquam: anywhere
By using negō,
-āre, which already contains the idea of ‘not’, those pronouns and
adverbs become negative i.e. in translation they change to nothing,
nobody, no (not any), never, nowhere.
Examples:
Negat ¦ sē umquam in Ītaliā fuisse │ He denies that he has ever been in Italy = He
says that he has not ever been in Italy = he says that he has never
been in Italy.
Negāvit sē umquam
vīdisse servam fidēliōrem quam hanc. │ He denied that he had ever seen = He said that he had not ever
seen = he said that he had never seen ¦ a more faithful servant than
her.
Negāvit umquam
sē bibisse iūcundius. (Cicero) │ He said that he had not ever
drunk = he said that he had never drunk ¦ (anything) more pleasant.
Negāvit quemquam
esse in cīvitāte praeter sē quī id efficere posset (Cicero) │ He said
that there was not anybody = he said that there was nobody
¦ in the city apart from himself who could carry it out.
Negat quicquam
esse … efficācius (Seneca) │ He says that there is not anything
more effective = he says that there is nothing more effective.
Negat ūllum
esse tempus … (Cicero) │ He says that there is not any time = he
says that there is no time …
Negō usquam
umquam fuisse maiōrēs (Cicero) │ I say that there never was a time or place
where they had more = Literally: I say that there was not ever
(and) not anywhere, where they had more.
Exercise: complete
the Latin with the words listed below.
[1] He says that
he did not do this. │ Hoc sē __________ negat.
[2] [i] I say
that [ii] he has not done this. │ [i] __________ [ii] __________
hoc fēcisse.
[3] He says that [i]
he (referring to himself) is not [ii] ready. │ [i] __________ [ii]
__________ esse negat.
[4] He says he has
done nothing. │ Negat sē __________ fēcisse.
[5] He said that
he would [i] never [ii] do this. │ Sē hoc [i] __________
[ii] __________ negāvit.
[6] He says that
it was not by this man that your brother [i] was [ii] killed. │ Ab
hōc homine [ii] __________ [i] __________ frātrem tuum negat.
[7] [i] He denies
that Caesar [ii] has been in Gaul. │[i] __________ Caesarem in
Galliā [ii] __________.
[8] He said
that Caesar had not been in Gaul. │ __________ Caesarem in Galliā
fuisse.
[9] [i] We deny
that [ii] we [iii] have received a benefit. │ [i] __________ [ii]
__________ beneficium [iii] __________ (Seneca)
[10] He denies
that he has [i] ever [iii] seen such wonders [ii] anywhere.
│ Negat sē [i] __________ [ii] __________ tanta mīra [iii] __________.
(Plautus: adapted)
[11] The
Carthaginians [i] said that they would not [ii] accept unfair
terms of peace. │ Carthāginiēnsēs [i] __________ sē inīquās condiciōnēs
pācis [ii] __________ esse.
[12] They denied
that they had heard about the arrival of the king. │ Negāvērunt sē dē
rēgis adventū __________.
[13] [i] Surely
you don’t [ii] deny that [iii] you [iv] did not know these
things? │ [i] __________ [ii] __________ [iii] __________
haec [iv] __________?
negāmus; negās;
negat; negāvērunt; negāvit; negō
eum; nōs; sē;
tē
accēpisse;
acceptūrōs; audīvisse; esse; factūrum; fēcisse; fuisse; interfectum; parātum;
scīvisse; vīdisse
num; quidquam; umquam;
umquam; usquam
____________________
[1] Hoc
sē fēcisse negat.
[2] [i]
Negō [ii] eum hoc fēcisse.
[3] [i]
Sē [ii] parātum esse negat.
[4] Negat
sē quidquam fēcisse.
[5] Sē
hoc [i] umquam [ii] factūrum negāvit.
[6] Ab
hōc homine [ii] interfectum [i] esse frātrem tuum negat.
[7] [i]
Negat Caesarem in Galliā [ii] fuisse.
[8] Negāvit
Caesarem in Galliā fuisse.
[9] [i]
Negāmus [ii] nōs beneficium [iii] accēpisse (Seneca)
[10]
Negat sē [i] umquam [ii] usquam tanta mīra [iii] vīdisse.
[11]
Carthāginiēnsēs [i] negāvērunt sē inīquās condiciōnēs pācis [ii] acceptūrōs
esse.
[12]
Negāvērunt sē dē rēgis adventū audīvisse.
[13] [i] Num [ii] negās [iii] tē haec [iv] scīvisse?
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