Richard Rufus of Cornwall

On Eve

Latin Grammar: Deponent and passive verbs

Patet ergo quod hypocrisis vult aestimari, vana gloria laudari, avaritia ditari.  Sed superbia per haec omnia vult dominari, et ita non sunt idem.

Deponent and passive verbs
As you can see from the passage above, because deponent verbs look like passives it can sometimes be difficult to tell them apart. You will often need to use context to help you identify deponents with which you are not already familiar.

Exercise: Identify the verbs below as P (passive) or D (deponent).

Hypocritas obsidetur cupidine adsectari amorem, etiam si non eum meritus est . Non illum paenitet blandiri aut polliceri aliquid falsum, si amor potest inveniri .

Aliqui vana gloria suadentur amicis aemulari et veram amicitiam aspernari ut laudantur et laude fruantur . Alii, qui avaritia pereuntur , non cunctantur praedari innocentes et inique pacisci cum rudibus.