Supine
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In grammar, a supine is a form of verbal noun used in some languages. The term is most often used for Latin, where it is one of the four principal parts of a verb.
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Latin[edit]
There are two supines, I (first) and II (second). They are originally the accusative and ablative forms of a verbal noun in the fourth declension, respectively. The first supine ends in -um. It has two uses. The first is with verbs of motion and indicates purpose. For example, "Gladiatores adierunt pugnatum" is Latin for "The gladiators have come to fighting", and "Nuntii gratulatum et cubitum venerunt" is Latin for "The messengers came to congratulate and to sleep". The second usage is in the future passive infinitive, for example "amatum iri" means "to be about to be loved". It mostly appears in indirect statements, for example "credidit se necatum iri", meaning "he believed that he was going to be killed".
The second supine can be used with adjectives but it is rarely used, and only a few verbs traditionally take it. It is derived from the dativus finalis, which expresses purpose, or the ablativus respectivus, which indicates in what respect. It is the same as the first supine without the final -m and with lengthened "u". "Mirabile dictū", for example, means "amazing to say", where dictū is a supine form.
Germanic languages[edit]
In English grammar, the term "supine" is sometimes used to refer to the to-infinitive, in sentences like "To err is human; to forgive divine."
In Swedish, the supine is used with an auxiliary verb to produce some compound verb forms (perfect forms). See Swedish grammar.
In Icelandic grammar, sagnbót (usually translated as "supine") is a verbal form identical to the neuter participle, used to form certain verb tenses.
Finnic languages[edit]
In Estonian, the supine is called "ma-tegevusnimi" (lit. "ma-action name") because all the words in supine have "ma" in the end (as in "tegema", "jooksma", "kõndima"), and they act similarly to the Latin example. The supine is also the common dictionary form for verbs.
Romance languages[edit]
In Romanian, the supine generally corresponds to an English construction like for doing: "Această carte este de citit" means "This book is for reading".
Slavic languages[edit]
The Slovene and the Lower Sorbian supine is used after verbs of movement; see Slovenian verbs. The supine was used in Proto-Slavic but it was replaced in most Slavic languages by the infinitive in later periods.
Baltic languages[edit]
In some dialects of Lithuanian, the supine is used with verbs of motion to indicate purpose: Moterys eina miestan duonos pirktų , which means "The women are going to the town to buy some bread" (more archaic forms are pirktun and pirktum). The standard language uses the infinitive, pirkti, instead of the supine. In the past, the supine was much more widespread form than now.
