Supine

For other uses, see Supine (disambiguation).

In grammar, a supine is a form of verbal noun used in some languages.

In Latin, a supine ends in -um (former supine) or in -u (latter supine). It is used much in the same way that English infinitives are used. The sentence "I call forth the Gladiators to fight" in Latin becomes "Gladiatores voco pugnatum" (the use of the infinitive in a construction like "Gladiatores voco pugnare" is reserved for poetry). Certain idiomatic expressions also include the supine, such as mirabile dictu "wonderful to relate". The form can only be used in the accusative and ablative.

In Slovene, a supine is used after verbs of movement. It is formed from the infinitive by dropping the final -i. See Slovene grammar.

In Sanskrit, the supine or verbal noun of every verb (often misnamed "infinitive", though it is not such) is formed by adding -tum to the verb stem, such as kartum "doing" from the verb karomi. It is cognate with the Latin supine.

In Swedish the supine is used with the auxiliary verb ha for some compound verb forms. See Swedish grammar.

See also: gerund

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