Deponent verbs, part 3

So we looked at how to recognize a deponent verb in the dictionary and in reading. Now for a spanner in the works—as the Brits might say.

PUFFV verbs.

Last time I was very busy making the point that transitive deponent verbs will force you into the active voice because of the direct object, which is usually before the verb.

Iohannes canem veretur.       John fears the dog.

And this is really straightforward. Direct object? Yes. Passive-looking ending? Yes. Solution? Verb is active. The problem is that PUFFV verbs behave differently. They take ablative nouns as their compliments—the part we would make into the direct object in English. Here's an example:

Iohannes librō fruitur.        John enjoys the book.

Now compare it to this passive sentence, which is different only in the verb.

Iohannes librō docētur.      John is taught by the book.

See the problem? Structurally they are the same thing: Ablative noun and a -tur ending on the verb. So what's to be done? Sadly, this is a memory problem. You just need to learn that PUFFV verbs take ablative as their compliment. Which brings up the important point: which verbs are we talking about?

potior, potīrī, —, potītus sum — obtain, possess
ūtor, ūtī, —, ūsus sum — use
fruor, fruī, —, fructus sum — enjoy
fungor, fungī, —, fūnctus sum — perform, execute
vescor, vescī, —, vescus sum — eat

And there you have it. A class of deponent verbs that look like they are true passives due to sentence structure, but they aren't.