§316. Agreement of Verb and Subject

A Finite Verb agrees with its Subject in Number and Person:—

• silent lēgēs inter arma (Mil. 11), the laws are dumb in time of war.

• ōrātiō est habita, the plea was delivered. bellum exortum est, a war arose.

a. A verb having a relative as its subject takes the person of the expressed or implied antecedent:—

• adsum quī fēcī (Aen. 9.427), here am I who did it.
• tū, quī scīs, omnem dīligentiam adhibēbis (Att. 5.2.3), you, who know, will use all diligence.
• vidēte quam dēspiciāmur omnēs quī sumus ē mūnicipiīs (Phil. 3.15), see how all of us are scorned who are from the free towns.

b. A verb sometimes agrees in number (and a participle in the verbform in number and gender) with an appositive or predicate noun:—

• amantium īrae amōris integrātiō est (Ter. And. 555), the quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love.
• nōn omnis error stultitia dīcenda est (Div. 2.90), not every error should be called folly.
• Corinthus lūmen Graeciae exstīnctum est (cf. Manil. 11), Corinth, the light of Greece, is put out.