AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are either Attributive or Predicate.

1. An Attributive Adjective simply qualifies its noun without the intervention of a verb or participle, expressed or implied: as, —bonus imperātor, a good commander; stellae lūcidae, bright stars; verbum Graecum, a Greek word.
2. All other adjectives are called Predicate Adjectives:—

1. stellae lūcidaeerant, the stars were bright.
2. sit Scīpiō clārus (Cat. 4.21), let Scipio be illustrious.
3. hominēsmītīs reddidit (Inv. 1.2), has rendered men mild.
4. tria praedia Capitōnīpropria trāduntur (Rosc. Am. 21), three farms are handed over to Capito as his own.
5. cōnsilium cēpēruntplēnum sceleris (id. 28), they formed a plan full of villany.

Adjectives, Adjective Pronouns, and Participles agree with their nouns in Gender, Number, and Case:—

1. vir fortis, a brave man.
2. illa mulier, that woman.
3. urbium māgnārum, of great cities.
4. cum ducentīs mīlitibus, with two hundred soldiers.
5. imperātor victus est, the general was beaten.
6. secūtae sunt tempestātēs, storms followed.

With two or more nouns the adjective is regularly plural, but often agrees with the nearest (especially when attributive):—

1. Nīsus et Euryalus prīmī (Aen. 5.294), Nisus and Euryalus first.
2. Caesaris omnī et grātiā et opibus fruor (Fam. 1.9.21), I enjoy all Cæsar's favor and resources.

A collective noun may take an adjective of a different gender and number agreeing with the gender and number of the individuals implied (synesis, § 280. a):—

1. pars certāre parātī (Aen. 5.108), a part ready to contend.
2. colōniae aliquot dēductae, Prīscī Latīnī appellātī (Liv. 1.3), several colonies were planted (led out) [of men] called Old Latins.
3. multitūdō convictī sunt (Tac. Ann. 15.44), a multitude were convicted.
4. māgna pars raptae (id. 1.9), a large part [of the women] were seized.

One adjective may belong in sense to two or more nouns of different genders. In such cases,—

1. An Attributive Adjective agrees with the nearest noun:—
   1. multae operae ac labōris, of much trouble and toil.
   2. vīta mōrēsque meī, my life and character.
   3. sī rēs, sī vir, sī tempusūllum dīgnum fuit (Mil. 19), if any thing, if any man, if any time was fit.
2. A Predicate Adjective may agree with the nearest noun, if the Nouns form one connected idea:—
   1. factus est strepitus et admurmurātiō; (Verr. 1.45), a noise of assent was made (noise and murmur).
3. But generally, a Predicate Adjective will be masculine, if nouns of different genders mean living beings; neuter, if things without life:—
   1. uxor deinde ac līberī amplexī (Liv. 2.40), then his wife and children embraced him.
   2. labor (M.) voluptāsque (F.) societāte quādam inter sē nātūrālī sunt iūncta (N.) (id. 5.4), labor and delight are bound together by a certain natural alliance.
4. If nouns of different genders include both living beings and things without life, a Predicate Adjective is sometimes masculine (or feminine), sometimes neuter, and sometimes agrees in gender with the nearest if that is plural:—
   1. rēx rēgiaque classis ūnā profectī (Liv. 21.50), the king and the royal fleet set out together.
   2. nātūrāinimīca sunt lībera cīvitās et rēx (id. 44.24), by nature a free state and a king are hostile.
   3. lēgātōs sortēsque ōrāculī exspectandās (id. 5.15), that the ambassadors and the replies of the oracle should be waited for.

Two or more abstract nouns of the same gender may have a Predicate Adjective in the neuter plural (cf. § 289. c):—

1. stultitia et temeritās et iniūstitia ... sunt fugienda (Fin. 3.39), foliy, rashness, and injustice are [things] to be shunned.

Adjectives are often used as Nouns (substantively), the masculine usually to denote men or people in general of that kind, the feminine women, and the neuter things:—

Certain adjectives have become practically nouns, and are often modified by other adjectives or by the possessive genitive:—

1. tuus vīcīnus proximus, your next-door neighbor.
2. propinquī cēterī, his other relatives.
3. meus aequālis, a man of my own age.
4. êius familiāris Catilīna (Har. Resp. 5), his intimate friend Catiline.
5. Leptae nostrī familiārissimus (Fam. 9.13.2), a very close friend of our friend Lepta.

When ambiguity would arise from the substantive use of an adjective, a noun must be added:—

1. bonī, the good; omnia, everything (all things); but,—
2. potentia omnium rērum, power over everything.

Many adjectives are used substantively either in the singular or the plural, with the added meaning of some noun which is understood from constant association:—

1. āfricus [ventus], the southwest wind; Iānuārius [mēnsis], January; vitulīna [carō], veal (calf's flesh); fera [bēstia], a wild beast; patria [terra], the fatherland; Gallia [terra], Gaul (the land of the Gallī); hīberna [castra], winter quarters; trirēmis [nāvis], a three-banked galley, trireme; argentārius [faber], a silversmith; rēgia [domus], the palace; Latīnae [fēriae], the Latin festival.

For Nouns used as Adjectives, see § 321. c.

For Adverbs used like Adjectives, see § 321. d.

An adjective, agreeing with the subject or object, is often used to qualify the action of the verb, and so has the force of an adverb:—

1. prīmus vēnit, he was the first to come (came first).
2. nūllus dubitō, I no way doubt.
3. laetī audiēre, they were glad to hear.
4. erat Rōmae frequēns (Rosc. Am. 16), he was often at Rome.
5. sērus in caelum redeās (Hor. Od. 1.2.45), mayst thou return late to heaven.

Besides their regular signification (as in English), the forms of comparison are used as follows:—

The Comparative denotes a considerable or excessive degree of a quality: as,—brevior, rather short; audācior, too bold.

The Superlative (of eminence) often denotes a very high degree of a quality without implying a distinct comparison: as,—mōns altissimus, a very high mountain.

With quam, vel, or ūnus the Superlative denotes the highest possible degree:—

1. quam plūrimī, as many as possible.
2. quam maximē potest (maximē quam potest), as much as can be.
3. vel minimus, the very least.
4. vir ūnus doctissimus, the one most learned man.

For the Superlative with quisque, see § 313. b. For the construction of a substantive after a Comparative, see §§ 406, 407; for that of a clause, see § 535. c, 571. a. For the Ablative of Degree of Difference with a Comparative (multō etc.), see § 414.

When two qualities of an object are compared, both adjectives are in the Comparative:—

1. longior quam lātior aciēs erat (Liv. 27.48), the line was longer than it was broad (or, rather long than broad).
2. vērior quam grātior (id. 22.38), more true than agreeable.

Where magis is used, both adjectives are in the positive:—

1. disertus magis quam sapiēns (Att. 10.1.4), eloquent rather than wise.
2. clārī magis quam honestī (Iug. 8), more renowned than honorable.

1. clārīs mâiōribus quam vetustīs (Tac. Ann. 4.61), of a family more famous than old.
2. vehementius quam cautē (Tac. Agr. 4), with more fury than good heed.

Superlatives (and more rarely Comparatives) denoting order and succession—also medius, [cēterus], reliquus—usually designate not what object, but what part of it, is meant:—

1. summus mōns, the top of the hill.
2. in ultimā plateā, at the end of the place.
3. prior āctiō, the earlier part of an action.
4. reliquī captīvī, the rest of the prisoners.
5. in colle mediō (B. G. 1.24), half way up the hill (on the middle of the hill).
6. inter cēteram plānitiem (Iug. 92), in a region elsewhere level.