The Latin Supine

Formation of the Supine

It’s a rare bit of grammar, but we’re lucky, because it’s simple. It takes one of only four forms:

• The supine is always a fourth-declension (the -us, -ūs declension) noun, and always appears in the accusative or ablative
• Moreover, these forms will always have an initial t- or s-, leaving four possible endings: -tum, -sum, -tū, and -sū

The accusatives move with verbs; the ablatives move with adjectives: vēnit spectātum [he came to see]; mirabile dictū [marvelous to tell]

You have the endings, now consider the stems:

• The supine stem is always identical to the perfect passive participle’s stem
• amātus: amātum, amātū; rectus: rectum, rectū

Uses of the Supine

As I mentioned just above, there are four forms with two endings, and therefore two uses:

The supine accusatives, -tum and -sum are “used after verbs of motion to express purpose” (AG, 509)

• nam vēnī dē tumultū te admonitum, quem cum abīrēs linquistī: and I’m here to remind you, of the mess you left when you ran away
• pārentēs abībit inventum postrīdiē: she leaves tomorrow to find her parents

Not that the supine is a singular accusative, even where it follow a plural verb, or takes a plural object

The supine ablatives, -tū and –sū are used with a handful of adjectives, as a means of reference 

• iste senex foedus et visū et olfactū est: that geezer is hard on the eyes and the nose
• nulla optima via catō deglūbū est: there is no best way to skin a cat

The ablatives may also appears with fās, nefās and opus, again as a means of reference 

• this is unholy to say: hōc nefās dictū est
• this letter is a burden to write: literra opus scriptū est. 

The supine ablatives are commonly attached to statements about the senses, or statement denoting easy or difficulty.

Essential AG: 94.b; 509-10