Part 49

2218. The present infinitive represents action as going on, the perfect as completed, and the future as not yet begun, at the time of the action of the verb to which the infinitive is attached.

The forms of the infinitive are commonly and conveniently called tenses, though this designation is not strictly applicable.

THE PRESENT TENSE.

2219. In itself, the present infinitive denotes action merely as going on, without any reference to time. With some verbs, however, which look to the future, the present relates to action in the immediate future. With verbs of perceiving, knowing, thinking, and saying, it denotes

## action as going on at the time of the verb: as,

(_a._) #facinus est vincīre cīvem Rōmānum#, _V._ 5, 170, _it is a crime to put a Roman in irons_. (_b._) #audīre cupiō#, _Caec._ 33, _I am eager to hear_. #Antium mē recipere cōgitō a. d. V Nōn. Māi.#, _Att._ 2, 9, 4, _I am meditating going back to Antium the third of May_. (_c._) #errāre eōs dīcunt#, 5, 41, 5, _they say those people are mistaken_. #tempus dīxī esse#, T. _Hec._ 687, _I said it was time_. #dīcēs tibī̆ Siculōs esse amīcōs?# _V._ 2, 155, _will you say the Sicilians are friends of yours?_

2220. The present infinitive is sometimes used with #meminī#, #recordor#, #memoriā teneō#, and with some analogous expressions, such as #accēpimus#, #fertur#, &c., to represent merely the occurrence of

## action really completed, without indicating its completion: as,

#meminī ad mē tē scrībere#, _D._ 38, _I remember your writing to me_. #meministis fierī senātūs cōnsultum#, _Mur._ 51, _you remember a decree of the senate being passed_. #sed ego īdem recordor longē omnibus anteferre Dēmosthenem#, _O._ 23, _and yet I remember putting Demosthenes far above everybody else_. #hanc accēpimus agrōs et nemora peragrāre#, _HR._ 24, _we have heard of this goddess’s scouring fields and groves_. #Q. Maximum accēpimus facile cēlāre, tacēre#, _Off._ 1, 108, _we have heard of Fabius’s ready cleverness in keeping dark and holding his tongue_. But the perfect is used when the action is to be distinctly marked as completed: as, #meministis mē ita distribuisse causam#, _RA._ 122, _you remember that I arranged the case thus_. Sometimes present and perfect are united: as, #Helenē capere arma fertur, nec frātrēs ērubuisse deōs#, Prop. 3, 14, 19 (4, 13, 19), _Helen is said to fly to arms, and not to have blushed in presence of her brother gods_. Here #capere# relates to the same completed action as the more exact #ērubuisse#.

2221. With verbs of saying, used in the narrower sense of promising, the present infinitive sometimes stands for the future (2236): as,

#crās māne argentum mihī̆ mīles dare sē dīxit#, T. _Ph._ 531, _the soldier spoke of paying me the money early in the morning_. #mē a͡ibat accersere#, Pl. _Ps._ 1118, _he said he’d fetch me_ (2186). #quae imperārentur facere dīxērunt#, 2, 32, 3, _they agreed to do what was commanded_.

2222. The present infinitive dependent on a past tense of #dēbeō#, #oportet#, #possum#, often requires the English perfect infinitive in translation: as, #quid enim facere poterāmus?# _Pis._ 13, _for what else could we have done?_ See, however, 1495. For the infinitive perfect, see 2230.

THE PERFECT TENSE.

2223. (1.) The perfect active infinitive sometimes serves as a complement of #dēbeō#, #volō#, #possum#, &c. (2168): as,

#tametsī statim vīcisse dēbeō, tamen dē meō iūre dēcēdam#, _RA._ 73, _though I am entitled to come off victorious at once, yet I will waive my right_; compare #vīcī#, _I am victorious_, 1608. #nīl vetitum fēcisse volet#, J. 14, 185, _nothing forbidden will he wish to have done_; compare #fēcī#, _I am guilty_. #unde illa potuit didicisse?# _Div._ 2, 51, _from what source could he have all that information acquired?_ #bellum quod possumus ante hiemem perfēcisse#, L. 37, 19, 5, _the war which we can have ended up before winter_.

2224. (2.) In prohibitions, the perfect active infinitive often serves as a complement of #nōlō# or #volō# (2168).

Thus, in old Latin, #nōlītō dēvellisse#, Pl. _Poen._ 872, _do not have had it plucked_. Particularly so when dependent on #nē velit# or #nē vellet#, in legal style: as, #nē quis convēnisse sacrōrum causā velit#, L. 39, 14, 8, _that nobody may presume to have banded with others for the observance of the mysteries_. BACAS · VIR · NEQVIS · ADIESE · VELET, CIL. I, 196, 7, inscription of 186 B.C., _that no male should presume to have had resort to the Bacchants_ (765; 48). #nē quid ēmisse velit īnsciente dominō#, Cato, _RR._ 5, 4, _he must not venture to have bought anything without his master’s knowledge_, of a head farm-steward.

2225. In poetry of the Augustan age, the complementary perfect infinitive active is sometimes dependent on a verb of will or effort, such as #cūrō#, #labōrō#, #tendō#: as, #tendentēs opācō Pēlion inposuisse Olympō#, H. 3, 4, 51, _on shadowy Olympus striving Pelion to have piled_.

2226. Any past tense of the indicative, when made dependent on a verb of perceiving, knowing, thinking, or saying, is represented by the perfect infinitive.

Thus, in #Theophrastus scrībit Cīmōnem hospitālem fuisse: ita enim vīlicīs imperāvisse, ut omnia praebērentur#, _Off._ 2, 64, _Theophrastus says in his book that Cimon was the soul of hospitality: he had directed his stewards to furnish everything required_; the #fuisse# represents #erat# or #fuit#, and the #imperāvisse# may represent #imperābat#, #imperāvit#, or perhaps #imperāverat#, of direct discourse. #praecō dīxisse prōnūntiat#, _V._ 2, 75, _the crier proclaims ‘speaking finished’_ (1605).

2227. The perfect infinitive passive with #fuisse# denotes a past resulting state: as,

#dīcō Mithridātī cōpiās omnibus rēbus ōrnātās atque īnstrūctās fuisse, urbemque obsessam esse#, _IP._ 20, _I must tell you that Mithridates’s troops were completely armed and equipped, and that the town was under siege_. Here #ōrnātās fuisse# represents #ōrnātae erant# (1615), and #obsessam esse# represents #obsidēbātur# (1595).

2228. (1.) The perfect active infinitive is sometimes used with #nōlō# or #volō#, especially in poetry, when the subject of the infinitive is not the same as that of the verb (2189): as,

#hanc tē ad cēterās virtūtēs adiēcisse velim#, L. 30, 14, 6, _I only wish you had this good quality added to the rest_.

2229. (2.) #volō# often has an emphatic perfect passive infinitive, usually without #esse# (2230); less frequently #cupiō# and rarely #nōlō#: as,

#factum volō#, Pl. _B._ 495, _As._ 685, _I want it done_, i.e. I will. #illōs monitōs etiam atque etiam volō#, _C._ 2, 27, _I want those people cautioned over and over_. Particularly common in Cicero, not in Caesar or Sallust. Also with impersonal infinitives (1479): as #oblīvīscere illum adversāriō tuō voluisse cōnsultum#, _Att._ 16, 16^c, 10, _you must forget that the man wanted your enemy provided for_.

2230. The perfect infinitive passive or deponent, commonly without #esse#, is often used in Plautus, Terence, and Cicero, by assimilation with past tenses of verbs of propriety, such as #aequum est#, #convenit#, #decet#, and #oportet#: as, #nōn oportuit relīctās#, T. _Hau._ 247, _they shouldn’t have been left_. #tē Iovī comprecātam oportuit#, Pl. _Am._ 739, _you should have said your prayers to Jove_. The perfect active is less common: as, #cāvisse oportuit#, Pl. _Am._ 944, _you should have been upon your guard_. For #volō#, #cupiō#, #nōlō#, see 2229.

2231. The perfect infinitive of completed action is very common with such expressions as #satis est#, #satis habeō#, #iuvat#, #melius est#, #paenitet#, &c., also with verbs of emotion, such as #gaudeō#, &c.: as, #mē quoque iuvat ad fīnem bellī Pūnicī pervēnisse#, L. 31, 1, 1, _I am delighted myself to have reached the end of the Punic war_. Oftentimes, however, in verse, the use of the perfect is partly due to the metre.

THE FUTURE TENSE.

2232. The future infinitive is only used as a representative of the indicative, and not as a substantive.

2233. For the future infinitive active or passive, a circumlocution with #fore# or #futūrum esse# with #ut# and the subjunctive present or imperfect is often used. This construction is necessary when the verb has no future participle or supine: as,

#spērō fore ut contingat id nōbīs#, _TD._ 1, 82, _I hope we may be so fortunate_. #clāmābant fore ut ipsī sē dī ulcīscerentur#, _V._ 4, 87, _they cried out that the gods would avenge themselves_.

2234. #fore# with the perfect participle of a passive or deponent, represents the future perfect of direct discourse: as, #dēbellātum mox fore rēbantur#, L. 23, 13, 6, _they thought the war would soon be over_.

2235. (1.) The future infinitive is commonly used with #iūrō#, #minor#, #polliceor#, #prōmittō#, and #spērō#, especially when the leading verb and the infinitive have the same subject: as,

#iūrāvit sē nisi victōrem in castra nōn reversūrum#, Caes. _C._ 3, 87, 5, _he swore he would not come back to camp except as a victor_. #quod sē factūrōs minābantur#, Caes. _C._ 2, 13, 4, _which they threatened they would do_. #obsidēs datūrōs pollicitī sunt#, 4, 27, 1, _they volunteered to give hostages_.

2236. (2.) A looser present infinitive is sometimes used with the above verbs, especially in old Latin, generally without a subject accusative. Thus with #iūrō# by Cato and Plautus, and with #minor#, _proclaim with threats_, by Lucretius. Similarly #dare pollicentur#, 6, 9, 7, _they offer to give_. #reliquōs dēterrērī spērāns#, Caes. _C._ 3, 8, 3, _hoping that the rest were scared_. #spērō nostram amīcitiam nōn egēre testibus#, _Fam._ 2, 2, _I trust our friendship needs no witnesses_. As #possum# has no future infinitive, the present of this verb is necessarily used: as, #tōtīus Galliae sēsē potīrī posse spērant#, 1, 3, 8, _they hope to be able to get the control of the whole of Gaul_.

THE GERUNDIVE AND GERUND.

2237. The gerundive is a verbal adjective (899). The gerund is a neuter verbal substantive, used only in the oblique cases of the singular. Both gerundives and gerunds express, in a noun form, the uncompleted action of the verb.

2238. Gerundives and gerunds, like the English verbal in _-ing_, were originally neither active nor passive (288), but might stand for either an active or a passive. In time a prevailing passive meaning grew up in the gerundive, and a prevailing active meaning in the gerund.

A gerund may be followed by the same case as its verb; but for the gerund of verbs of transitive use, see 2242, 2255, 2259, 2265.

2239. Both gerundives and gerunds are modified like verbs, by adverbs, not by adjectives.

(1.) THE GERUNDIVE CONSTRUCTION.

2240. The gerundive expresses, in an adjective form, the uncompleted

## action of a verb of transitive use exerted on a substantive object, the

substantive standing in the case required by the context, and the gerundive agreeing with it.

In this construction, which is called the _gerundive construction_, the substantive and gerundive blend together in sense like the parts of a compound.

#male gerendō negōtiō in aere aliēnō vacillant#, _C._ 2, 21, _owing to bad business-managing they are staggering under debts_. #studium agrī colendī#, _CM._ 59, _the occupation of land-tilling_. #vir regendae rē̆ī pūblicae scientissimus#, _DO._ 1, 214, _a man of great experience in state-managing_.

(2.) THE GERUND.

2241. The gerund expresses, in a substantive form, the uncompleted

## action of a verb which has no direct object.

#ars vīvendī#, _Fin._ 1, 42, _the art of living_. #nōn est locus ad tergiversandum#, _Att._ 7, 1, 4, _’tis no time for shill-I-shall-I-ing_. #sum dēfessus quaeritandō#, Pl. _Am._ 1014, _I’m all worn out with hunting_. #sē experiendō didicisse#, Ta. 1, 11, _he had learned by experience_.

2242. Gerunds of verbs of transitive use are exceptionally found with a substantive object (2255, 2259, 2265), and regularly with neuter pronouns and neuter plural adjectives to avoid ambiguity (1106). See also 2247.

#agendī aliquid discendīque causā#, _Fin._ 5, 54, _for the sake of doing or learning something_. #faciendī aliquid vel nōn faciendī vēra ratiō#, Plin. _Ep._ 6, 27, 4, _the true ground for doing or not doing a thing_. #artem sē trādere vēra ac falsa dīiūdicandī#, _DO._ 2, 157, _that he passed along the art of distinguishing between the true and the false_. #regendī cūncta onus#, Ta. 1, 11, _the burden of governing the world_.

CASES OF GERUNDS AND GERUNDIVES.

NOMINATIVE.

2243. The nominative of the gerundive construction, as the subject of #sum#, denotes action which is to be done.

The combination acquires the meaning of obligation or propriety, and this meaning also passes over to the accusative with #esse#. The person who has the action to do is put in the dative of the possessor (1215). Instead of the dative, the ablative with #ab# is sometimes used,

## particularly where the dative would be ambiguous.

#tibī̆ haec cūra suscipienda est#, _V._ 4, 69, _the undertaking of this care exists for you_, i.e., _you must undertake this charge_. #Caesarī omnia ūnō tempore erant agenda: vēxillum prōpōnendum, sīgnum tubā dandum, ab opere revocandī mīlitēs, aciēs īnstruenda, mīlitēs cohortandī, sīgnum dandum#, 2, 20, 1, _for Caesar there was everything to be done at the same moment: the standard to be raised, bugle call given, soldiers summoned in from their work, line of battle to be formed, soldiers harangued, signal given for engagement_. #quaerenda pecūnia prīmum est; virtūs post nummōs#, H. _E._ 1, 1, 53, _there is money-making to be the first aim: character second to dollars_. #adeundus mihī̆ illic est homō#, Pl. _R._ 1298, _I must draw near this fellow_. #Caesar statuit sibī̆ Rhēnum esse trānseundum#, 4, 16, 1, _Caesar made up his mind that he must cross the Rhine_. #ego istum iuvenem domī tenendum cēnseō#, L. 21, 3, 6, _for my part, I think that young man ought to be kept at home_. #ē̆ī ego ā mē referendam grātiam nōn putem?# _Planc._ 78, _should I not think that I ought to show my gratitude to him?_ #quid ā mē amplius dīcendum putātis?# _V._ 3, 60, _what more do you think that I need say?_

2244. #fruendus#, #fungendus#, #potiundus#, #ūtendus#, #vēscendus#, are also used in this construction, chiefly in the oblique cases; in the nominative the impersonal construction (2246) is usual. These verbs sometimes have a transitive use in old Latin (1380).

#nōn paranda nōbīs sōlum ea, sed fruenda etiam est#, _Fin._ 1, 3, _that is a thing which we must not only obtain, but enjoy as well_, of wisdom. #nec tamen est potiunda tibī#, O. 9, 754, _she is not to be won by thee_. Examples of the oblique cases in this use are cited below.

2245. #habeō# with the gerundive, as an equivalent of #est mihī̆#, #est tibī̆#, &c. (2243), is sometimes found, chiefly in late writers and

## particularly in Tacitus: as,

#multī habent in praediīs, quibus frūmentum aut vīnum aliudve quid dēsit, inportandum#, Varro, _RR._ 1, 16, 2, _many on whose estates corn or wine or something else is lacking, have to bring it in_. #multum interest utrumne dē fūrtō dīcendum habeās an dē cīvibus trucīdātīs#, Ta. _D._ 37, _it makes a great difference whether you have to speak about a theft or about the murder of Romans_. #sī nunc prīmum statuendum habērēmus#, Ta. 14, 44, _if we had to decide the point to-day for the first time_.

2246. The neuter of verbs of intransitive use takes the impersonal construction with #est#. Verbs ordinarily transitive also take the impersonal construction when used without an object.

#nunc est bibendum#, H. 1, 37, 1, _now drinking exists_, i.e. _now we must drink_. #inambulandumst#, Pl. _As._ 682, _I must be moving on_. #ego amplius dēlīberandum cēnseō#, T. _Ph._ 457, _I opine there must be more pondering_. #linguae moderandumst mihī̆#, Pl. _Cu._ 486, _I must check my tongue_. #omne animal cōnfitendum est esse mortāle#, _DN._ 3, 32, _it must be admitted that every living thing is destined to die_. #nēmō umquam sapiēns prōditōrī crēdendum putāvit#, _V._ 1, 38, _no wise man ever held that a traitor was to be trusted_.

2247. The impersonal construction with an object in the accusative, is old-fashioned and rare.

#canēs paucōs habendum#, Varro, _RR._ 1, 21, _one should keep but few dogs_. #aeternās quoniam poenās in morte timendumst#, Lucr. 1, 111, _since punishment eterne they have in death to fear_. This construction occurs oftenest in Lucretius and Varro; once in Plautus, a few times in Cicero for special reasons, and here and there in later writers. Not in Caesar or Horace.

2248. The gerundive sometimes acquires, in itself, the meaning of obligation or propriety, which it properly has only when combined with #sum#, and becomes a mere adjective, used in any case.

#fōrmā expetendā līberālem virginem#, Pl. _Per._ 521, _a freeborn maid of shape delectable_. #L. Brūtō, prīncipe huius maximē cōnservandī generis et nōminis#, _Ph._ 3, 11, _Brutus, the first of this most highly cherished house and name_. #huic timendō hostī obvius fuī#, L. 21, 41, 4, _I met this dreadful foe_. #Athēnās, multa vīsenda habentīs#, L. 45, 27, 11, _Athens, which contains many sights worth a visit_. For #volvendus# &c., see 288.

2249. The attributive gerundive (2248), particularly with a negative, #in-# privative, or #vix#, may denote possibility, like the verbal in #-bilis#: as,

#labōrēs nōn fugiendōs#, _Fin._ 2, 118, _inevitable labours_. #Polybius, haudquāquam spernendus auctor#, L. 30, 45, 5, _Polybius, an authority by no means despicable_. #īnfandum, rēgīna, iubēs renovāre dolōrem#, V. 2, 3, _thou bidst me, queen, rehearse that woe unspeakable_. #vix erat crēdendum#, 5, 28, 1, _it was hardly credible_. #praedicābile aliquid et glōriandum ac prae sē ferendum#, _TD._ 5, 49, _something laudable and vauntable and displayable as well_.

[Errata: 2243 ... i.e., _you must undertake this charge_ , missing 2248 ... _Ph._ 3, 11 3. 11]

ACCUSATIVE.

2250. (1.) The accusative of the gerundive construction is used with #locō# and #condūcō#, with #suscipiō#, #habeō#, and #cūrō#, and with verbs of giving or assigning.

With the verbs of giving or assigning (such as #dō#, #trādō#, #committō#, #attribuō#, #dīvidō#, #relinquō#, #permittō#, #dēnotō#), the emphasis often gravitates towards the substantive, and the gerundive, as an explanatory appendage, acquires the meaning of purpose. So in Plautus with the verbs of asking (#rogō# and #petō#); in Cicero with #posco#.

(_a._) #caedundum condūxī ego illum :: tum optumumst locēs efferendum#, Pl. _Aul._ 567, _I engaged him for killing :: then you’d better contract for his funeral_ (1709). #sīgnum conlocandum cōnsulēs locāvērunt#, _Cat._ 3, 20, _the consuls let out the erecting of the statue_. #redemptor quī columnam illam condūxerat faciendam#, _Div._ 2, 47, _the contractor who had undertaken the making of that pillar_. #vellem suscēpissēs iuvenem regendum#, _Att._ 10, 6, 2, _I wish you had undertaken training the young man_. #aedem habuit tuendam#, _V._ 1, 130, _he had the looking after the temple_. #agrum dē nostrō patre colendum habēbat#, T. _Ph._ 364, _he had the tilling of a farm from my father_.

(_b._) COIRAVIT · BASILICAM · CALECANDAM, CIL. I, 1166, _he superintended the town hall plastering_. #pontem faciendum cūrat#, 1, 13, 1, _he attends to a bridge’s being made_, i.e. _has it made_. #cōnsulibus senātus rem pūblicam dēfendendam dedit#, _Ph._ 8, 15, _the senate entrusted the defence of the state to the consuls_. #agrōs plēbī colendōs dedit#, _RP._ 3, 16, _he gave lands to the common people to till_. #Antigonus Eumenem propīnquīs sepeliendum trādidit#, N. 18, 13, 4, _Antigonus delivered Eumenes to his kinsfolk to be buried_. #attribuit nōs trucīdandōs#, _C._ 4, 13, _us he handed over to be slaughtered_. #sauciōs mīlitēs cūrandōs dīvidit patribus#, L. 2, 47, 12, _he apportioned the wounded soldiers among the senators to cure_. #haec porcīs comedenda relinquēs#, H. _E._ 1, 7, 19, _you’ll leave them to the pigs to eat_. #cīvīs Rōmānōs trucīdandōs dēnotāvit#, _IP._ 7, _he specified Romans for slaughter_.

(_c._) #quae ūtenda vāsa semper vīcīnī rogant#, Pl. _Aul._ 96, _traps that the neighbours are always asking the use of_. #artoptam ex proxumō ūtendam petō#, Pl. _Aul._ 400, _I’m going for the use of a breadpan from next door_.

2251. When such a verb is passive, the accusative becomes nominative.

#simulācrum Dī̆ānae tollendum locātur#, _V._ 4, 76, _the moving of the statue of Diana is let out_. #dīlaceranda ferīs dabor ālitibusque praeda#, Cat. 64, 152, _I shall be given a prey for beasts and birds to tear_. #trāditīque fētiālibus Caudium dūcendī#, L. 9, 10, 2, _and they were delivered to the fetials to be taken to Caudium_.

2252. (2.) The accusative of the gerundive construction or gerund is used with a preposition, usually #ad#. If the verb is of transitive use, the gerundive is proper, not the gerund (2240).

This construction is used with verbs (including verbs of hindering), with substantives generally to denote purpose, and with adjectives which have the meaning of _capable_, _fit_, _easy_, _useful_, &c., &c.

(_a._) #hic in noxiāst, ille ad dīcendam causam adest#, T. _Ph._ 266, _when A’s in trouble, B turns up to make excuses for him_. #ad pācem petendam ad Hannibalem vēnit#, L. 21, 13, 1, _he is come to Hannibal to sue for peace_. #ad eās rēs cōnficiendās Orgetorīx dēligitur#, 1, 3, 3, _Orgetorix is chosen to do this_. #dant sē ad lūdendum#, _Fin._ 5, 42, _they devote themselves to playing_. #palūs Rōmānōs ad īnsequendum tardābat#, 7, 26, 2, _a morass hindered the Romans from pursuit_. #ut peditēs ad trānseundum impedīrentur#, Caes. _C._ 1, 62, 2, _so that the infantry were hampered in crossing_. (_b._) #causa ad obiūrgandum#, T. _Andr._ 150, _a reason for finding fault_. #spatium sūmāmus ad cōgitandum#, _Fin._ 4, 1, _let us take time for thought_. #alter occāsiōnem sibī̆ ad occupandam Asiam oblātam esse arbitrātur#, _IP._ 4, _the other thinks a chance is given him for seizing all Asia_. (_c._) #homo nōn aptissimus ad iocandum#, _DN._ 2, 46, _a man not very well fitted to be a joker_. #nimis doctus illest ad male faciendum#, Pl. _E._ 378, _too well the fellow’s trained at playing tricks_. #ūtēbātur eō cibō quī esset facillimus ad concoquendum#, _Fin._ 2, 64, _he made use of the sort of food which was easiest to digest_.

2253. Other prepositions are sometimes used: as, #inter#, in old Latin, Vergil, Livy, and later writers; #ob#, once in Ennius, rarely in Cicero and Sallust; #in# very rarely, but even in Cicero; #ante# (Vergil, Livy), #circā# (post-Augustan), #propter# (Varro, Val. Max.), all rare.

#mōrēs sē inter lūdendum dētegunt#, Quintil. 1, 3, 12, _character discovers itself during play_. #ob rem iūdicandam pecūniam accipere#, _V._ 2, 78, _to take money for passing judgement on a case_.

DATIVE.

2254. The dative of the gerundive construction is used with adjectives, verbs, and phrases of ability, attention, and adaptation, with titles of office, and with #comitia#, _election_.

This construction is not very common in classical Latin, where few verbs and substantives take it instead of the usual #ad# and the accusative (2252). In old Latin, it is also joined to adjectives and participles; in Cicero it is thus used only with #accommodātus#. From Livy on, the construction becomes a very favourite one. Caesar has it only as below and 3, 4, 1.

#tālīs iactandīs tuae sunt cōnsuētae manūs#, Pl. _Vid._ _your hands are used to throwing dice_. #optumum operī faciundō#, Pl. _R._ 757, _most suitable for carrying on his trade_. #praeesse agrō colendō#, _RA._ 50, _to superintend farm managing_. #cum diēs vēnisset rogātiōnī ferendae#, _Att._ 1, 14, 5, _when the day came for proposing the bill_. #hībernīs oppugnandīs hunc esse dictum diem#, 5, 27, 5, _that this was the day set for attacking the winter quarters_. #cōnsul plācandīs dīs habendōque dīlēctū dat operam#, L. 22, 2, 1, _the consul devotes himself to propitiating the gods and raising troops_. #Dēmosthenēs cūrātor mūrīs reficiendīs fuit#, _OG._ 19, _Demosthenes was commissioner for repairing the walls_. #IIIvirī rē̆ī pūblicae cōnstituendae#, L. _Epit._ 120, _a commission of three for reorganizing the state_. #comitia collēgae subrogandō habuit#, L. 2, 8, 3, _he held an election for appointing a colleague_.

2255. In the dative, a transitive gerund with an object in the accusative is found four times in Plautus; in Ovid, Livy, and Vitruvius once each.

2256. Late writers sometimes use the dative of the gerundive construction instead of a final clause (1961): as,