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208.

Impersonal Verbs may be classified as follows: -

a. Verbs expressing the operations of nature and the time of day: -

vesperáscit (inceptive, § 263. 1), it grows late. ningit, it snows.
lúcíscit hóc, it is getting light. fulgurat, it lightens.
grandinat, it hails. tonat, it thunders.
pluit, it rains. rórat, the dew falls
NOTE: In these no subject is distinctly thought of. Sometimes, however, the verb is used personally with the name of a divinity as the subject: as, Iuppiter tonat, Jupiter thunders. In poetry other subjects are occasionally used: as, fundae saxa pluunt, the slings rain stones.

b. Verbs of feeling, where the person who is the proper subject becomes the object, as being himself affected by the feeling expressed in the verb (§ 354. b): -

miseret, it grieves. paenitet (poenitet), it repents.
piget, it disgusts. pudet, it shames.
taedet, it wearies.
miseret mé, I pity (it distresses me); pudet mé, I am ashamed.
NOTE: Such verbs often have also a passive form: as, misereor, I pity (am moved to pity); and occasionally other parts: as, paenitúrus (as from paenió), paenitendus, pudendus, pertaesum est, pigitum est.



c. Verbs which have a phrase or clause as their subject (cf. §§ 454, 569. 2): -

accidit, contingit, évenit, obtingit, obvenit, fit, it happens. libet, it pleases.
licet, it is permitted. oportet, it is fitting, ought.
certum est, it is resolved. necesse est, it is needful.
cónstat, it is clear. praestat, it is better.
placet, it seems good (pleases). interest, réfert, it concerns.
vidétur, it seems, seems good. vacat, there is leisure.
decet, it is becoming. restat, superest, it remains.
NOTE: Many of these verbs may be used personally; as, vacó, I have leisure. Libet and licet have also the passive forms libitum (licitum) est etc. The participles libéns and licéns are used as adjectives.



d. The passive of intransitive verbs is very often used impersonally (see synopsis in § 207): -

NOTE: The impersonal use of the passive proceeds from its original reflexive (or middle) meaning, the action being regarded as accomplishing itself (compare the French cela se fait).