wn to beasts._

ADJECTIVES USED SUBSTANTIVELY.

236. 1. PLURAL ADJECTIVES USED SUBSTANTIVELY. Adjectives are quite freely
used as Substantives in the Plural. The Masculine denotes persons; the
Neuter denotes things; as,--

docti, _scholars_; parva, _small things_;
mali, _the wicked_; magna, _great things_;
Graeci, _the Greeks_; utilia, _useful things_;
nostri, _our men_.

2. Neuter Plural Adjectives thus used are confined mainly to the Nominative
and Accusative cases. Such forms as magnorum, omnium; magnis, omnibus,
would ordinarily lead to ambiguity; yet where there is no ambiguity, they
sometimes occur; as,--

parvis componere magna, _to compare great things with small_

Otherwise the Latin says: magnarum rerum, magnis rebus, etc.

237. SINGULAR ADJECTIVES USED SUBSTANTIVELY. Adjectives are less freely
used as Substantives in the Singular than in the Plural.

1. Masculine Adjectives occur only occasionally in this use; as,--

probus invidet nemini, _the honest man envies nobody_.

a. Usually vir, homo, or some similar word is employed; as,--

homo doctus, _a scholar_;

vir Romanus, _a Roman_.

b. But when limited by a pronoun any adjective may be so used; as,--

hic doctus, _this scholar_;

doctus quidam, _a certain scholar_.

2. Neuters are likewise infrequent; as,--

verum, _truth_;

justum, _justice_;

honestum, _virtue_.

a. This substantive use of Neuter Singulars is commonest in the
construction of the Genitive of the Whole, and after Prepositions; as,--

aliquid veri, _something true_;

nihil novi, _nothing new_;

in medio, _in the midst_.

238. From Adjectives which, like the above, occasionally admit the
substantive use, must be carefully distinguished certain others which have
become nouns; as,--

adversarius, _opponent_; hiberna, _winter
quarters_;
aequalis, _contemporary_; propinquus, _relative_;
amicus, _friend_; socius, _partner_;
cognatus, _kinsman_; sodalis, _comrade_;
vicinus, _neighbor_; etc.

ADJECTIVES WITH THE FORCE OF ADVERBS.

239. The Latin often uses an Adjective where the English idiom employs an
Adverb or an adverbial phrase; as,--

senatus frequens convenit, _the senate assembled in great numbers_;

fuit assiduus mecum, _he was constantly with me_.

COMPARATIVES AND SU