multum aestātis, 5, 22, 4, much of the summer. amplius obsidum, 6, 9, 7, something more extensive in the way of hostages. minus dubitātiōnis, 1, 14, 1, less of hesitation. quam minimum spatiī, 3, 19, 1, as little time as possible. id aetātis, DO. 1, 207, at that time of life. id temporis, Fin. 5, 1, at that time of day. quid causae est? Ac. 1, 10, what earthly reason is there? hoc litterulārum, Att. 12, 1, 1, this apology for a letter, or this hasty line. hoc sibī̆ sōlācī prōpōnēbant, 7, 15, 2, they laid this flattering unction to their souls.
[1248.] Such neuters are: multum, plērumque, plūrimum, amplius, plūs, paulum, minus, minimum, tantum, quantum, tantundem, nimium; in poetry and late prose, also many other adjectives singular and plural. Furthermore, id, hoc, illud, quod, quid, &c., and nihil; also abunde, adfatim, largiter, nimis, partim, parum, and satis.
[1249.] A few adjectives of place and time indicating a particular part of an object, are commonly used in immediate agreement with their substantives: as,
summus mōns, 1, 22, 1, the highest part of the mountain, or the mountain-top. extrēmā hieme, mediā aestāte, IP. 35, at the end of the winter, in midsummer. Such are: prīmus, intimus, medius, extrēmus, postrēmus, ūltimus, summus, īnfimus, īmus, reliquus. But the neuter is sometimes used partitively: as, aestātis extrēmum erat, S. I. 90, 1, it was the end of summer. summa pectoris, Fam. 1, 9, 15, the upper parts of the breast.
[1250.] The limiting genitive is often the neuter singular of an adjective used substantively: as,
aliquid bonī, T. Andr. 398, something good. aliquid malī, T. Eu. 999, something bad. numquid tandem novī? Br. 10, nothing new, pray? This use is ordinarily confined to stems in -o-; rarely otherwise: as, plūs inānis, Lucr. 1, 365, more of the void: and usually only when joined with an -o- stem: as, nihil solidī, nihil ēminentis, DN. 1, 75, no solidity, no projection.
[1251.] The partitive construction sometimes extends to the predicate: as, id erit sīgnī mē invītum facere, RA. 83, this will be something of an indication that I act with reluctance; sīgnī is here in the predicate, and yet made dependent on id. quid ergō est tuī cōnsulī? Brut. in Fam. 11, 1, 3, what then is your advice? quid suī cōnsilī sit ostendit, 1, 21, 2, he explains what his plan is. quid est enim huic reliquī? Sull. 89, for what is there left for my client? hī mīlitēs nihil reliquī victīs fēcēre, S. C. 11, 7, these soldiers left nothing over to the conquered. nihil ad celeritātem sibī̆ reliquī fēcērunt, 2, 26, 5, as for speed, they left no effort unspared.
[1252.] The accusative with a preposition also sometimes has the genitive, as, in id redāctus sum locī, T. Ph. 979, I am reduced to such a strait. ad id locī, S. C. 45, 3, to that spot. ad id locōrum, S. I. 63, 6, up to that time. in multum diēī, L. 9, 44, 11, till late in the day. In Cicero, also the ablatives eō, eōdem, and quō, with locī: as, eō locī, Sest. 68, in that position. And in later writers, other ablatives, with or without a preposition, also have a genitive.
[1253.] Some appellatives of place are put in the genitive with adverbs of place: as, ubinam gentium? Pl. Mer. 434, C. 1, 9, where in the world? nusquam gentium, T. Ad. 540, nowhere in the world. Similarly, locī with adverbs of time or order, as with intereā in Plautus and Terence, postideā in Plautus, posteā in Sallust, and inde in Lucretius; also locōrum with adhūc and postid in Plautus.