Expert: Maria - 8/6/2011

Question
Hi Maria,

Is it true that you can't break an infinitive in Latin nor end a sentence with a preposition?

Thank you.

Answer
Hello,

Please note that in Latin there are three tenses of infinitive mood, i.e. present infinitive, past infinitive and future infinitive.
For example we have:
-AMARE (present infinitive, active voice)= to love
-AMAVISSE (past infinitive, active voice )= to have loved
-AMATURUM ESSE (future infinitive, active voice)= to be about to love

So, the present infinitive  “amare” and the past  infinitive “amavisse” cannot be split, whereas
the future infinitive can be broke as we can put a word between “amatum” and “esse”, like in English “to boldly go”.

As for a preposition placed at the end of a sentence, it is generally true, although in Latin we can write e.g. “mecum” (composed of ME + the preposition CUM and meaning “With me”) at the end of a phrase.

Regards,
Maria