Uses of Ambō

Ambō is sometimes decline to match its respective noun, like a fully-functional adjective, but otherwise remains fixed as ambō

• Ambās mānūs lavit: he washed both hands.
• Consulēs alter ambōve prōgredientur: either one or both of the consuls will march on
• ūna salus ambobus erit: both were healthy (this is Virgil—a very Greek declension!)

Effectively, there is no rule. Both A&G and L&S present freeform variation between the two options.

A Reader’s Diēgest

Here are a few notes on the Latin for day—diēs.

1. Diēs is a fifth-declension noun.

(photo credit: Wiktionary)

2. Diēs is typically masculine (like most fifth declension nouns), but is occasionally feminine, especially in fixed phrases and general reference to time or dates.

• cōnstitūtā diē : on a fixed day
• longa diēs intervēnit : a long time had passed

3. Diēs is one of only two nouns in the fifth declension that is entirely declined. Rēs is  the other such noun—all other fifth declension nouns are wanting in the plural (or at least the plural genitive, dative and ablative) in extant Latin literature.

The Essential AG: 96, 97, 98a

Salute’em in Your Letter

The fixed accusative phrase (Ryan) salūtem (tibi) appears at the beginning of Latin letters. The sense of dīcit is implied.

• Seneca Luciliō suō salūtem: Dear Lucilius, (Seneca gives greeting to his dear Lucilius.)
• Caesar Pompeiō magnō suō salūtem: Dear Pompey Magnus,

The Essential AG: 397dn2

Adverbial Accusative Phrases (2/2)

Here are a few more adverbial accusative phrases, used in context:

• Vinum bonam partem profūdit: Wine flowed in buckets.
• Vinum maximam partem cotidīē bibērunt: They drank wine more or less every day.
• Illic puer virīle secus est: There is a boy of the male sex.
• Illic puella muliebre secus est: There is a girl of the female sex.

The phrases quod sī and quod nisi are also adverbial accusatives, but I’ve already covered them here.

The Essential AG: 397a

Adverbial Accusative Phrases (1/2)

There are a number of fixed phrases in Latin that are accusative idiomatically. Here are a few:

Trēs hominēs id temporis exībam: I was dating three guys at that time.

Puellī molestiōrēs id aetātis fuerunt: Boys are a hassle at that age.

Quod genus anī est: What sort of old woman is she?

Meam vicem, habēas sicut placet: As far as I am concerned, you may have as much as you like.

Quid craterā hoc noctis agis: What are you doing with a mixing bowl at this hour of the night?

It isn’t clear to me how Allen and Greenough identify ‘quod (or id) genus‘ as an adverbial accusative. They agree it may have been a nominative at one point, but how do we know it isn’t a nominative now? Is it simply because ‘adverbial nominative’ isn’t an extant class?

The Essential AG: 397a