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In linguistics, a gerundive is a particular verb form. The term is applied very differently to different languages; depending on the language, gerundives may be verbal adjectives, verbal adverbs, or finite verbs. Not every language has gerundives.

In Latin

In Latin, the gerundive is a verbal adjective used to indicate that a noun needs or deserves to be the object of an action. It is sometimes known as a future passive participle. For example, if English had a Latin-style gerundive, and feed-ando were the gerundive form of the verb to feed, then "The cat is feed-ando" would mean "The cat should be fed." English sometimes uses a passive infinitive to this effect: "The cat is to be fed."

Some examples of the Latin gerundive include:

• Cato the Elder, a Roman senator, frequently ended his speeches with the statement, "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem delendam esse" (lit. "I also think Carthage to be "[something] that must be destroyed"" i.e. "I also think Carthage must be destroyed").
• In the Harry Potter series of novels, the motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is "Draco dormiens numquam titillandus" (lit. "[A] dragon sleeping [is] never to be tickled," i.e. "Never tickle a sleeping dragon").
• The phrase "quod erat demonstrandum" ("which was to be demonstrated"), whose abbreviated form Q.E.D. is often used after the final conclusion of a proof.
• The name Amanda is a feminization of amandus, the gerundive of amare, to love. Thus, it means roughly, "worthy of being loved", "worthy of love", or simply "lovable". Similarly with the name Miranda; mirare means to admire, so the name means roughly "worthy of admiration" or "admirable".
• A number of English words come directly from Latin gerundives; for example, addendum comes from the gerundive of addere, to add; referendum comes from the gerundive of referre, to bring back; and agenda comes from a plural of agendum, the gerundive of agere, to do. Additionally, some words come from Latin gerundives by an indirect route; propaganda, for example, comes from a New Latin phrase containing a feminine form of propagandum, the gerundive of propagare, to propagate.

In Classical Greek

The gerundive in Classical Greek is a verbal adjective similar to the Latin one.

In Tigrinya

The Tigrinya gerundive is a finite verb form, not a verbal adjective or adverb. Generally speaking, it denotes completed action which is still relevant. A verb in the gerundive can be used alone, or serially with another gerundive verb; in the latter case it may sometimes be translated with an adverbial clause: bitri hidju kheydu (literally, a-stick he-took-hold-of he-began-walking) means while holding a stick, he is walking, i.e. he is carrying a stick. See Tigrinya verbs.

See also

• Gerund
• Non-finite verb

External links

The following pages provide definitions or glosses of the term gerundive:

• As applied to Latin:
  • at askoxford.com of Oxford Dictionaries
  • at Merriam Webster
  • at American Heritage Dictionary
  • at Ohio State
  • at infoplease quoting Random House Unabridged Dictionary
  • in Wiktionary
• As applied to Tigrinya:
  • Department of Linguistics, UCSD states
• As applied to English:
  • The KISS Approach to Grammar in the Curriculum