Cāsus Genitīvus

The genitive (cāsus genitīvus) is the case of a noun that limits or qualifies another noun — answering "of what?". The English equivalents are "of X" or "X's"; Korean uses "~의". The genitive is a "noun-modifying-noun" case: while adjectives modify nouns by agreement (gender/number/case), the genitive modifies by case alone.

Possessive genitive: indicates ownership, close association, or origin. liber Marcī "the book of Marcus / Marcus's book"; domus rēgis "the house of the king"; servus Cicerōnis "Cicero's slave". The possessor stands in the genitive; the thing possessed in whatever case the larger sentence requires.

Predicate genitive: with sum, the possessor can stand in the genitive: liber est Marcī "the book is Marcus's". This idiom often expresses a duty, characteristic, or responsibility: est rēgis "it is (the duty) of a king"; est sapientis "it is (the mark) of a wise man"; est cuiusvīs hominis errāre "to err is of any man (= it is human to err)".

For personal pronouns, Latin prefers possessive adjectives (meus, tuus, suus, noster, vester) over the genitive of ego, tū. Only for special emphasis or in formal/legal contexts does meī, tuī, nostrī, vestrī appear.

The partitive genitive denotes the whole of which a part is taken or measured. After expressions of quantity, number, comparison, superlative, and partition: multum vīnī "much (of) wine"; nēmō Rōmānōrum "no one of the Romans"; quis nostrum? "who of us?"; fortissimus omnium "bravest of all"; satis pecūniae "enough money".

Common with: neuter substantives (multum, plūs, satis, parum, nihil, tantum, quantum, aliquid, quid); numerical (centum mīlitum); superlatives (optimus civium); place / quantity adverbs used substantivally (ubī terrārum? "where in the world?", quā parte agrī?).

With personal pronouns: nostrum, vestrum for partitive ("of us, of you"); nostrī, vestrī for objective. Compare: quis vestrum? "who of you?" (partitive) vs memoria vestrī "memory of you" (objective).

The genitive of the whole is sometimes replaced by ex / dē + ablative when the whole is human or specific: ūnus ex amīcīs "one of (my) friends"; quīdam dē rusticīs "a certain one of the country folk".

The genitive of quality (always with a modifier — adjective, demonstrative, etc.) describes a permanent characteristic, an intrinsic property, or a measurement. vir magnae virtūtis "a man of great virtue"; puer summae spēī "a boy of the highest hope/promise"; arbor decem pedum "a ten-foot tree"; cōnsilium magnī mōmentī "a plan of great importance".

This construction parallels (and competes with) the ablative of description; the difference of nuance:

• Genitive tends toward inherent / character qualities: vir magnae virtūtis (a man of great virtue, intrinsically).
• Ablative tends toward outward / physical features: vir summā statūrā (a man of the highest stature, physically).

The boundary is fluid; in classical authors both are used freely, sometimes in the same sentence for stylistic variation.

Numerical measurements (length, height, age) can use either: turris septem pedum (gen.) or turris septem pedibus alta (abl.) "a tower seven feet (high)".

The genitive after a verbal noun may be either subjective (the agent/doer of the implied verbal action) or objective (the patient/receiver of the action). Context decides which:

amor patris can mean (a) "the father's love" (subjective: pater amat — the father loves) or (b) "love for the father" (objective: aliquis amat patrem — someone loves the father).

metus hostium = (a) "fear of the enemies = which the enemies feel" (subjective) or (b) "fear (felt) of the enemies = fear felt for/about them" (objective: someone fears the enemies).

To disambiguate, Latin can use:
• A possessive adjective for the subjective sense: amor patris (unclear) → amor paternus (clearly "fatherly love").
• A prepositional phrase for the objective sense: metus ergā / in / adversus hostēs "fear toward the enemies".
• Two genitives in distinct positions: memoria malōrum nostrōrum "memory of our misfortunes" (where nostrōrum = subjective and malōrum = objective, both gen.).

Both subjective and objective genitives can co-occur with the same verbal noun: fīliī patris amor "the son's love for the father" (fīliī = subjective, patris = objective).

Genitive of indefinite value: with verbs of valuing, esteeming, considering (aestimō, putō, dūcō, faciō, habeō), the price (when not exact) is in the genitive. Common: magnī, parvī, pluris, minoris, tantī, quantī, nihilī, plūrimī, minimī, flocī, aequī.

magnī aestimō "I value highly"; parvī putō "I think little of"; flocī faciō "I don't give a fig (lit. 'a tuft of wool')"; nihilī aestimō "I value at nothing"; aequī bonīque faciō "I take in good part".

For exact prices, Latin uses the ablative: vēndō decem dēnāriīs "I sell for ten denarii". The genitive expresses general/comparative value; the ablative expresses a specific monetary amount.

Genitive of charge / crime: with verbs of accusing, condemning, acquitting (accūsō, damnō, condemnō, absolvō, arguō, postulō, convincō), the crime stands in the genitive: capitis damnātus est "he was condemned of (a) capital (crime) = condemned to death"; fūrtī arguēbātur "he was being accused of theft"; parricīdiī condemnāvit "he condemned (him) of parricide".

The defendant is in the accusative (or, in passive, the nominative). The penalty itself is also frequently in the genitive: capitis damnāre "to condemn to death".

Many adjectives govern the genitive — those denoting fullness, lack, knowledge, ignorance, memory, forgetfulness, desire, sharing, fitness, or specific characteristic:

Fullness/Lack: plēnus pecūniae "full of money"; egēns auxiliī "lacking aid"; vacuus cūrārum "free from cares"; inānis honoris "empty of honor".

Knowledge/Ignorance: perītus bellī "skilled in war"; īgnārus rērum "ignorant of affairs"; īnsuētus labōris "unaccustomed to labor"; cōnscius cōnsiliī "aware of the plan".

Memory/Forgetfulness: memor benefactī "mindful of a kindness"; immemor patriae "forgetful of country"; oblītus officiī "having forgotten his duty".

Desire/Aversion: cupidus glōriae "desirous of glory"; avidus auri "greedy for gold"; fastīdiōsus litterārum "disdainful of letters".

Participation: particeps cōnsiliī "sharer of the plan"; expers virtūtis "without share of virtue"; sōcius perīculī "companion in danger".

Similarity (also dative): similis patrī / patris "like the father".

Specific (idiom): peculiar to / characteristic of: proprius nōbilium "characteristic of the noble".

Verbs of remembering / forgetting: meminī "I remember"; oblīvīscor "I forget"; recordor "I recall". These take the genitive (or accusative for things, gen. for persons): meminī tuī "I remember you"; oblīvīscor iniūriae "I forget the injury"; recordātus est temporum "he recalled the times".

The accusative is used when the object is a thing rather than a person, or when emphasizing the act of memory itself: haec memorō "I recall these things".

Verbs of pitying / repenting (impersonal): miseret, paenitet, taedet, pudet, piget. These take the accusative of the person feeling and the genitive of the cause: miseret mē tuī "I pity you" (lit. "it moves-pity me of you"); paenitet mē peccātī "I repent of (my) sin"; pudet mē huius factī "I am ashamed of this deed".

Interest and refert: "it is in (one's) interest, it concerns". Take fem. abl. sg. of possessive for the person concerned (meā, tuā, suā, nostrā, vestrā) but genitive for nouns: meā interest "it concerns me"; Cicerōnis interest "it is in Cicero's interest"; cīvitātis refert "it concerns the state". The thing concerned can be an infinitive, indirect statement, or noun: meā interest tē hoc facere "it is in my interest that you do this".