PREDICATE NOUNS.
167. A PREDICATE NOUN is one connected with the Subject by some form of the verb Sum or a similar verb.
168. A Predicate Noun agrees with its Subject in Case;[47] as,—
Cicero orator fuit, Cicero was an orator;
Numa creatus est rex, Numa was elected king.
1. when possible, the Predicate Noun usually agrees with its Subect in Gender also; as,—
philosophia est vitae magistra, philosophy is the guide of life.
2. Besides sum, the verbs most frequently accompanied by a Predicate Noun are—
a) fio, evado, exsisto; maneo; videor; as,—
Croesus non semper mansit rex, Croesus did not always remain king.
b) Passive verbs of making, calling,
regarding, etc.; as, creor,
appellor, habeor; as,—
Romulus rex appellatus est, Romulus was called king;
habitus est deus, he was regarded as a god.
APPOSITIVES.
169. 1. An Appositive is a Noun explaining or defining another Noun denoting the same person or thing; as,—
Cicero consul, Cicero, the Consul;
urbs Roma, the city Rome.
2. An Appositive agrees with its Subject in Case; as,—
opera Ciceronis oratoris, the works of Cicero, the orator;
apud Herodotum, patrem historiae,
in the works of Herodotus, the
father of history.
3. When possible, the Appositive agrees with its Subject in Gender also; as,—
assentatio adjutrix vitiorum, flattery, the promoter of evils.
4. A Locative may take in Apposition the Ablative of urbs or oppidum, with or without a preposition; as,—
Corinthi, Achaiae urbe, or
in Achaiae urbe, at Corinth, a city of
Greece.
5. PARTITIVE APPOSITION. A Noun denoting a whole is frequently followed by an Appositive denoting a part; as,—
milites, fortissimus quisque,
hostibus restiterunt, the soldiers, all
the bravest of them, resisted
the enemy.
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THE CASES.
THE NOMINATIVE.
170. The Nominative is confined to its use as Subject, Appositive, or Predicate Noun, as already explained. See Sec. 166-169.
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THE VOCATIVE.
171. The Vocative is the Case of direct address; as,—
credite mihi, judices, believe me, judges.
1. By a species of attraction, the Nominative is occasionally used for the Vocative, especially in poetry and formal prose; as, audi tu, populus Albanus, hear ye, Alban people!
2. Similarly the Appositive of a Vocative may, in poetry, stand in the Nominative; as, nate, mea magna potentia solus, O son, alone the source of my great power.