'Moving forward' in Latin

December 10, 2009 2:09 AM

LatinFilter: What is the gerund form of 'promovere'?

If 'promovere' is the Latin word for 'move forward,' what is the Latin word for 'moving forward'?

posted by syzygy to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

Look here.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:22 AM on December 10, 2009

Promovēns is the participle. It's what you'd use as a modifier ("the guy who's moving things foward") or a predicate ("He's moving things forward").

Promovendus is the gerund. It's a noun, meaning "the act of moving something forward," as in "Moving things forward is rewarding."
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:29 AM on December 10, 2009

(Damn. Beaten to the punch, and with a snazzy chart....)
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:30 AM on December 10, 2009

Response by poster: I had seen the site, but what was confusing me was that there is no listing for the gerund in the nominative case (or at least I don't see it).

nebulawindphone: So promovendus is the nominitave case gerund?
posted by syzygy at 2:39 AM on December 10, 2009

Response by poster: According to this site (which I'd also seen but somehow overlooked the gerund label at the very top of the chart), promovendum is the gerund (I guess in nominative form) and promovendus is the gerundive.

Could I get a confirmation that promovendum is the nominative gerund?
posted by syzygy at 2:50 AM on December 10, 2009

Best answer: There is no nominative gerund. You probably want to use an infinitive form instead.
posted by nat at 3:04 AM on December 10, 2009

Yes, sorry, I botched that and nat's right. The gerund only has oblique cases, but it has oblique cases that look like those of a normal neuter noun in -us: genetive promovendi, dative promovendo, accusative promovendum, ablative promovendo.

Here, let's do it this way. What's the sentence you're trying to translate?
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:10 AM on December 10, 2009

(Bah. Neuter noun in -um. I'm going to bed.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:11 AM on December 10, 2009

Best answer: Yes, as nat says, if you want it in the nominative, use the infinitive, as a neuter noun. "Moving forward is a good thing" = "bonum est promovere".
posted by Casuistry at 8:18 AM on December 10, 2009

The nominative gerund does not exist, but the future passive participle certainly does. That is to say, provomendus is a legitimate construction, to the best of my knowledge.

These nominative constructions were certainly used at least some of the time: it is where we get the names Amandus and Amanda (he/she deserving of love).

What I mean is that you might see this form in a text and it is legitimate...just not a gerund, I guess.
posted by hiteleven at 8:48 AM on December 10, 2009

Response by poster: Ok, that was my next guess - that there was no nominative gerund form. Makes sense that the infinitive is used there. That's exactly what I needed to know.

Thanks!
posted by syzygy at 8:53 AM on December 10, 2009