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:''For other uses, see Supine (disambiguation).''
In grammar, a 'supine' is a form of verbal noun used in some languages.

Contents

In Latin

In other languages

See also

In Latin

In Latin there are two supines, I. and II. They are originally the accusative and dative or ablative forms of verbal noun in the fourth declension, respectively. The first supine is often used as the fourth principal part of Latin verbs and ends in ''-um''. It can only be used with verbs of motion and indicates purpose. For example, "Gladiatores adfuerunt 'pugnatum'" is Latin for "The gladiators have come 'to fight'", and "Legati 'gratulatum cubitum'que venerunt" is Latin for "The messengers came 'to congratulate' and 'sleep'."
The second supine can be used with adjectives but it is rarely used and only a small number of verbs traditionally take it. It is derived from the ''dativus finalis'' which expresses purpose or the ''ablativus respectivus'' which indicates in what respect. It is the same as the first supine minus the final ''-m'' and with lengthened "u". "Mirabile dictū", for example, means "amazing to say", where ''dictu'' is a supine form.

In other languages

Outside of Latin, a supine is a non-finite verb form whose use resembles that of the Latin supine.
The English supine is the bare infinitive (the verb's plain form) introduced by the particle ''to''; for this reason it is often called the ''full infinitive'' or ''to-infinitive''.
The Romanian supine generally corresponds to an English construction like ''for doing''; for example, "Această carte este 'de citit'" means "This book is 'for reading'."
The Slovene 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. In Czech, the contemporary infinitive ending ''-t'' (formerly ''-ti'') originates from the supine.
In Swedish the supine is used with an auxiliary verb to produce some compound verb forms. ''See'' Swedish grammar.

See also

★ Gerund

★ Non-finite verb