In 'sapientis est pauca loqui,' what construction is 'sapientis'?

Predicate genitive expressing whose characteristic or duty it is

In 'haec domus est patris mei,' what is the function of 'patris mei'?

Predicate genitive indicating possession

Possessive Genitive: Latin Grammar

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GrammarPossessive Genitive

Possessive Genitive

A&G §343–343. c|4 rules|4 practice questions

When you read Caesaris cōpiae and translate "Caesar's troops," you're meeting Latin's most basic genitive: a noun in the genitive belongs to — or is attached to — another noun. This is the home use, the one every other genitive flexes off of.

Two wrinkles trip students up. First, the possessor often sits in the predicate after est: haec domus est patris meī, "this house is my father's." Second, with personal pronouns Latin almost never says meī or tuī for possession — it uses the possessive adjective meus, tuus instead.

And a small family of impersonals (interest, rēfert) demands its own quirky genitive of the person concerned.

Learnings0 core · 1 AP claim

AP framework claims (1)— verbatim from AP CED

GRAM-1.DMost nouns in the genitive case show the possessor, to whom something belongs (e.g., villa amici: my friend's house).

Pattern

noun + noun (gen.) = "X of Y / Y's X"

Possessive Genitive

The genitive marks the owner, author, or whatever the head noun belongs to.

For "my / your / his / her," Latin uses possessive adjectives (meus, tuus, suus) — NOT the genitive of the pronoun.

Ten Patterns of the Possessive Genitive

Plain attribute: noun + gen.

Caesaris cōpiae — "Caesar's troops"

critical

Author / artist: noun + gen.

Cicerōnis ōrātiōnēs — "Cicero's speeches"

critical

Predicate: noun + est + gen.

haec domus est patris meī — "this house is my father's"

important

Predicate gen. + infinitive subject

sapientis est pauca loquī — "it is wise to say little"

important

Predicate gen. of 3rd-decl. adj.

stultī erat spērāre — "it was a fool's to hope"

common

interest / rēfert + gen. of person

Caesaris interest — "it concerns Caesar"

important

interest / rēfert + fem. abl. (with pronoun)

meā interest — "it concerns me"

important

Possessive ADJECTIVE (not gen.) for pronouns

liber meus — "my book" (not liber meī)

critical

Stacked gens. on one noun

castrīs Ariovistī et Caesaris — "Ariovistus's and Caesar's camps"

common

Appositional genitive (substituting for apposition)

nōmen īnsāniae — "the word madness"

rare

See It In Action

Caesaris cōpiae nēquāquam erant tantae

Caesar's forces were nowhere near so great

— B. C. iii. 109

The textbook shape: proper noun in the genitive directly modifying another noun. Caesaris tells you whose the cōpiae are — that's all the genitive is doing.

Hominis est enim affici dolōre

For it is the part of a human being to be moved by grief

— Plin. Ep. viii. 16

Predicate genitive in the wild. Hominis est + infinitive = "it is a man's [part / nature] to…" — Latin leaves the noun (officium, mōs, pars) for you to supply.

Hic locus aequum fere spatium ā castrīs Ariovistī et Caesaris aberat.

This place was about an equal distance away from Ariovistus's and Caesar's camps.

— B. G. i. 43

Two genitives sharing one head noun (castrīs). When you see this stacking pattern, both are possessive — Latin doesn't repeat the noun.

Plūrimum rēfert ā quō potissimum accipiat.

It matters very much from whom in particular he receives [his training].

— Plin. Ep. iii. 3

Rēfert and interest take a possessive-style genitive of the person concerned ("it matters TO so-and-so"). With personal pronouns the genitive is replaced by meā, tuā, suā, nostrā, vestrā — feminine ablatives, a famous oddity.

Predicate Genitive vs. Dative of Possession

Both translate as "X is Y's" / "X belongs to Y" — but Latin chooses different cases depending on what the speaker is highlighting.

Predicate Genitive

Identifies the OWNER (focus on whose it is)

domus est patris

the house is father's

Dative of Possession

Highlights the THING (focus on what someone has)

est mihi domus

I have a house (lit. there is to me a house)

Tip: Ask: is the sentence answering "whose is it?" (genitive) or "what does X have?" (dative + est mihi)? The dative of possession almost always leads with est + dative.

Quick Check

In Pliny's hominis est affici dolōre, what is hominis doing?

Study Tips

•When you see a bare genitive next to another noun and no other use fits, default to "of" — possession is the home base.
•Watch for est + a genitive with no noun nearby: that's the predicate genitive ("it is the X's [job/duty/nature]"). Supply officium, mōs, or nātūra in your head.
•For "my," "your," "his/her" use meus, tuus, suus — not the genitive of the pronoun. Liber meus, never liber meī.
•Memorize interest and rēfert as a pair: they take the genitive of the person concerned (Caesaris interest) but the feminine ablative of personal pronouns (meā interest).

See It In Action

Caesaris cōpiae nēquāquam erant tantae

Caesar's forces were nowhere near so great

— B. C. iii. 109

The textbook shape: proper noun in the genitive directly modifying another noun. Caesaris tells you whose the cōpiae are — that's all the genitive is doing.

Hominis est enim affici dolōre

For it is the part of a human being to be moved by grief

— Plin. Ep. viii. 16

Predicate genitive in the wild. Hominis est + infinitive = "it is a man's [part / nature] to…" — Latin leaves the noun (officium, mōs, pars) for you to supply.

Hic locus aequum fere spatium ā castrīs Ariovistī et Caesaris aberat.

This place was about an equal distance away from Ariovistus's and Caesar's camps.

— B. G. i. 43

Two genitives sharing one head noun (castrīs). When you see this stacking pattern, both are possessive — Latin doesn't repeat the noun.

Plūrimum rēfert ā quō potissimum accipiat.

It matters very much from whom in particular he receives [his training].

— Plin. Ep. iii. 3

Study Tips

•When you see a bare genitive next to another noun and no other use fits, default to "of" — possession is the home base.

•Watch for est + a genitive with no noun nearby: that's the predicate genitive ("it is the X's [job/duty/nature]"). Supply officium, mōs, or nātūra in your head.

•For "my," "your," "his/her" use meus, tuus, suus — not the genitive of the pronoun. Liber meus, never liber meī.

•Memorize interest and rēfert as a pair: they take the genitive of the person concerned (Caesaris interest) but the feminine ablative of personal pronouns (meā interest).