Chapter 346 Allen and Greenough's Latin Grammar Dickinson College Christopher Francese

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 Objective Genitive

Words denoting a Part are followed by the Genitive of the Whole to which the part belongs.

Partitive words, followed by the genitive, are—

Nouns or Pronouns (cf. also 3 below):— pars mīlitum , part of the soldiers. quis nostrum , which of us? nihil erat reliquī , there was nothing left. nēmō eōrum (B. G. 7.66) , not a man of them. māgnam partem eōrum interfēcērunt ( id . 2.23), they killed a large part of them. Numerals, Comparatives, Superlatives, and Pronominal words like alius , alter , nūllus , etc.:— ūnus tribūnōrum , one of the tribunes (see c below). sapientum octāvus (Hor. S. 2.3.296) , the eighth of the wise men. mīlia passuum sescenta (B. G. 4.3) , six hundred miles (thousands of paces). mâior frātrum , the elder of the brothers. animālium fortiōra , the stronger [of] animals. Suēbōrum gēns est longē maxima et bellicōsissima Germānōrum omnium (B. G. 4.1) , the tribe of the Suevi is far the largest and most warlike of all the Germans. alter cōnsulum , one of the [two] consuls. nūlla eārum (B.G. 4.28) , not one of them (the ships). Neuter Adjectives and Pronouns, used as nouns:— tantum spatī , so much [of] space. aliquid nummōrum , a few pence (something of coins). id locī (or locōrum ), that spot of ground; id temporis , at that time (§ 397 . a ). plāna urbis , the level parts of the town. quid novī , what news? (what of new?) paulum frūmentī (B. C. 1.78) , a little grain. plūs dolōris (B. G. 1.20) , more grief. suī aliquid timōris (B. C. 2.29) , some fear of his own (something of his own fear). In classic prose neuter adjectives (not pronominal) seldom take a partitive genitive, except multum , tantum , quantum , and similar words. The genitive of adjectives of the third declension is rarely used partitively: nihil novī (genitive), nothing new; but, nihil memorābile (nominative), nothing worth mention (not nihil memorābilis ). Adverbs, especially those of Quantity and of Place:— parum ōtī , not much ease (too little of ease). satis pecūniae , money enough (enough of money). plūrimum tōtīus Galliae equitātū valet (B. G. 5.3) , is strongest of all Gaul in cavalry. ubinam gentium sumus (Cat. 1.9) , where in the world are we (where of nations)? ubicumque terrārum et gentium (Verr. 5.143) , wherever in the whole world. rēs erat eō iam locī ut (Sest. 68) , the business had now reached such a point that , etc. eō miseriārum (Iug. 14.3) , to that [pitch] of misery. inde locī , next in order (thence of place). [Poetical.]

The poets and later writers often use the partitive genitive after adjectives, instead of a noun in its proper case:— sequimur tē, sāncte deōrum (Aen. 4.576) , we follow thee , O holy deity. [For sāncte deus (§ 49 . g. N.)] nigrae lānārum (Plin. H. N. 8.193) , black wools. [For nigrae lānae .] expedītī mīlitum (Liv. 30.9) , light-armed soldiers. [For expedītī mīlitēs .] hominum cūnctōs (Ov. M. 4.631) , all men. [For cūnctōs hominēs ; cf. e. ]

Cardinal numerals (except mīlia ) regularly take the Ablative with ē ( ex ) or dē instead of the Partitive Genitive. So also quīdam , a certain one , commonly, and other words occasionally:— ūnus ex tribūnīs , one of the tribunes. [But also, ūnus tribūnōrum (cf. a. 2).] minumus ex illīs (Iug. 11) , the youngest of them. medius ex tribus (ib.), the middle one of the three. quīdam ex mīlitibus , certain of the soldiers. ūnus dē multīs (Fin. 2.66) , one of the many. paucī dē nostrīs cadunt (B. G. 1.15) , a few of our men fall. hominem dē comitibus meīs , a man of my companions.

Uterque , both (properly each ), and quisque , each , with Nouns are regularly used as adjectives in agreement, but with Pronouns take a partitive genitive:— uterque cōnsul , both the consuls; but, uterque nostrum , both of us. ūnus quisque vestrum , each one of you. utraque castra , both camps.

Numbers and words of quantity including the whole of any thing take a case in agreement, and not the partitive genitive. So also words denoting a part when only that part is thought of:— nōs omnēs , all of us (we all). [Not omnēs nostrum .] quot sunt hostēs , how many of the enemy are there? cavē inimīcōs , quī multī sunt , beware of your enemies, who are many. multī mīlitēs , many of the soldiers. nēmō Rōmānus , not one Roman.

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