Supine

Key takeaways

Supine belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Supine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Supine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. The word also refers to a position of lying on one's back (as opposed to 'prone', lying face downward), but there exists no widely accepted etymology that explains why or how the term came to be used to also describe this form of a verb.

Latin

There are two supines, I (first) and II (second). They are originally the accusative and dative or ablative forms of a verbal noun in the fourth declension, respectively.

First supine The first supine ends in -um. It has two uses. The first use is with verbs of motion. In many cases, it indicates purpose:

'Mater pompam me spectatum duxit' is 'Mother took me to watch the procession'. 'Legati ad Caesarem gratulatum convenerunt' is 'The ambassadors came to Caesar to congratulate him'. The translation of this first usage of the first supine is similar to, if not identical to, the Latin clause of purpose. A second usage is in combination with the future passive infinitive. In this second usage it indicates fate; for example "occisum iri" means 'to be going to be killed'. It mostly appears in indirect statements:

' Occisum iri a Milone video' is 'I foresee that he is going to be killed by Milo'.

Second supine The second supine, which comes with adjectives, is rarely used; only a few verbs have been seen to commonly adopt the form. It is derived from the dative of purpose, which expresses the purpose of a thing or action, or the ablative of respect, which can translate as "with regard/respect to" and is used to indicate to what extent or in what way the main clause is true. It is the same as the first supine but replacing final -um by -ū, with a lengthened u. Mirabile dictū, for example, translates as "amazing to say", where dictū is the supine form. The sense is generally passive, even if usually not explicitly marked as such in idiomatic English translation; for example, difficile creditū, "hard to believe", is more literally "hard to be believed", or "hardly believable".

Sanskrit

Sanskrit has a formation, from the accusative form of an old verbal noun, -tu. The ending -tum, much like in Latin, is added to the root.

√dā ⇒ dā́·tum − (to give) √bhū- ⇒ bháv·i·tum − (to be) √kṛ- ⇒ kár·tum − (to do) √gam- ⇒ gán·tum − (to go)

Germanic languages In English grammar, the term "supine" is sometimes used to refer to the to-infinitive. The to-infinitive is seen in sentences like "To err is human; to forgive divine." In Swedish grammar, the supine is used with an auxiliary verb to produce some compound verb forms that closely resemble perfect forms. Inspired by the tradition in Swedish grammar, some linguists identify a similar form in the Danish language. 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 In Estonian, the supine is called "ma-tegevusnimi" (lit. "ma-infinitive") 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. The Finnish equivalent of the Estonian supine in "-ma" is called "kolmannen infinitiivin illatiivi" (lit. "the illative of the third infinitive"), which is "-maan" or "-mään" according to vowel harmony (as in "tekemään", "juoksemaan", "kävelemään"), these, too, act similarly to the Latin as they are complements of verbs of motion.

Romance languages In Romanian, the supine generally corresponds to an English construction like for [gerund]: "Această carte este de citit" means "This book is for reading". Additionally, the supine in Romanian can be used to express English constructions such as “I have things to do,” which would be translated as “Am lucruri de făcut.”

Slavic languages 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. Old Czech used supine until the 14th century. Kajkavian has also preserved the supine.

Baltic languages 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". The standard language uses the infinitive, pirkti, instead of the supine. In Old Lithuanian, the supine was a much more widespread form than in Modern Lithuanian.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Supine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Supine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Supine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Supine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Supine

In research: Supine appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Supine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Supine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Grammar, Verbs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Supine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Supine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Supine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Supine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Supine in simple terms?

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.

Why does Supine matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Supine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Supine.