summa voluptās ex discendō capitur, the keenest pleasure is derived from learning;
multa dē bene beātēque vīvendō ā Platōne disputāta sunt, there was much discussion by Plato on the subject of living well and happily.
5. As a rule, only the Genitive of the Gerund and the Ablative (without a preposition) admit a Direct Object.
Gerundive Construction instead of the Gerund.
[339]. 1. Instead of the Genitive or Ablative of the Gerund with a Direct Object, another construction may be, and very often is, used. This consists in putting the Direct Object in the case of the Gerund (Gen. or Abl.) and using the Gerundive in agreement with it. This is called the Gerundive Construction. Thus:—
| GERUND CONSTRUCTION. | GERUNDIVE CONSTRUCTION. |
| cupidus urbem videndī, desirous of seeing the city. | cupidus urbis videndae; |
| dēlector ōrātōrēs legendō, I am charmed with reading the orators. | dēlector ōrātōribus legendīs |
2. The Gerundive Construction must be used to avoid a Direct Object with the Dative of the Gerund, or with a case dependent upon a Preposition; as,—
locus castrīs mūniendīs aptus, a place adapted to fortifying a camp;
ad pācem petendam vēnērunt, they came to ask peace;
multum temporis cōnsūmō in legendīs poētīs, I spend much time in reading the poets.
3. In order to avoid ambiguity (see [§ 236], 2), the Gerundive Construction must not be employed in case of Neuter Adjectives used substantively. Thus regularly—
philosophī cupidī sunt vērum invēstīgandī, philosophers are eager for discovering truth (rarely vērī invēstīgandī);
studium plūra cognōscendī, a desire of knowing more (not plūrium cognōscendōrum).
4. From the nature of the case only Transitive Verbs can be used in the Gerundive construction; but ūtor, fruor, fungor, potior (originally transitive) regularly admit it; as,—