# Suspicior esse 'causa' (Predicate nominative?)



## PHart

Salvete,

My current translation for the sentence 'I am suspected to be the cause' is  'Suspicior esse causa.' You need 'causa' to be a singular nominative because it is a predicate noun, right? If there is anything else wrong with my short sentence, please tell.


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## XiaoRoel

_Suspicior causa*m* esse_. Como si contruyeses _*suspicior *_*me*_* esse causam*_. La oración de infinitivo puede ir concertada, pero el atributo (o predicado nominal) es atributo de un *me* acusativo que sería el verdadero sujeto del infinitivo.


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## PHart

But the subject does not change. It is always 'I,' so there is no need for an indirect statement. It is more of a complementary infinitive. I think it is like the phrase 'videtur esse' meaning 'he seems to be.' This phrase is always followed by a predicate. Also, just to be make sure, causa in the plural (causae) is never translated as a singular, right?


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## Lamb67

si non ratione, dolorem ipsa iam pridem suspicor esse mora.

Ovidius EPISTULAE  EX PONTO.


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## PHart

Isn't the verb suspicio, suspicere? In this sentence, 'mora' is in the nominative, so I assume I'm correct with that point, but I'm confused with what the actual verb is.


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## Lamb67

*suspicor* -ari dep. [to suspect; to conjecture , suppose, surmise].

is what I intended wheareas suspicio is yours, sorry.They both could mean the same.


*suspicio* (1) -spicere -spexi -spectum [to look from below , look upwards; to look up to, esteem, respect; to look askance at, suspect]. *suspicio* (2) -onis f. [mistrust , suspicion; a faint idea, imperfect conception].

Quem domini pictum SUSPICIOR esse manu, Painted as I guess with its master's hand

A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen is the google search books lead title if you what for above quotation.


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## PHart

So does this quotation agree with my view that it takes a predicate nominative?


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## CapnPrep

Lamb67 said:


> Quem domini pictum SUSPICIOR esse manu


It looks like whoever wrote this also mixed up _suspicior_ and _suspicor_ (apparently quite a common mistake…) This relative clause doesn't mean "I am suspected to be" etc., but "which I suspect (_suspicor_) to have been painted by a/the master's hand". So it's not really relevant to your question, PHart.

You are correct about _videor_ (and _dicor_, _feror_, _credor_, _existimor_, etc.): with passive verbs of saying and perceiving, the subject of the infinitive (which is in fact the subject of the main verb) appears in the nominative case, and so does the predicate noun/adjective. So you were right to begin with: your translation should be _Suspicior causa esse_.


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## PHart

Thank you for your help CapnPrep.


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