Thomas Aquinas

On Heresy

Latin Grammar: The Passive Periphrastic

Respondeo dicendum quod circa haereticos duo sunt consideranda, unum quidem ex parte ipsorum; aliud ex parte Ecclesiae. Ex parte quidem ipsorum est peccatum per quod meruerunt non solum ab Ecclesia per excommunicationem separari, sed etiam per mortem a mundo excludi.

The Passive Periphrastic

In Latin, the passive periphrastic construction combines the gerundive (the future passive participle) with the verb sum in order to express obligation or necessity, rather than just futurity.

The passive periphrastic is commonly translated with "has to," "must," "should," or "ought." In the passive periphrastic construction, the participle always agrees with the subject of sum in gender, number, and case.

Practice translating the passive periphrastic by rendering the following English sentences into Latin (Note: Use "must", and omit punctuation).

1. Id faciendum est. .

2. Ille hoc dicendus est. .

3. Ea facienda sunt. .

4. Liber legendus est. .

5. Ea facienda erunt. .

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