Passive Periphrastic Construction

The Passive Periphrastic Construction. The future passive particle used with the verb sum denotes what is to be, and hence what must be. The persons or person obligated to act is expressed by the dative case (the so-called ‘dative of the agent’). The force of this dative is best rendered in English as the subject of the verb ‘must’ or its equivalent. (Note that the past tense of ‘must’ is ‘had to’ and the future of ‘must’ is ‘will have to’.) The passive construction is best rendered actively:

hoc mihi faciendum est > “I must do this.”

(literally, “This thing exists for me to do.”)

iste servus tuus tibi puniendus erat >

“You had to punish this slave of yours.”