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1042. Several adjectives of time, place, order of succession, etc., are used as predicates where English employs an adverb or a preposition with its case: ““ἀφικνοῦνται τριταῖοιthey arrive on the third dayX. A. 5.3.2, κατέβαινον σκοταῖοι they descended in the dark 4. 1. 10. In such cases the adjective is regarded as a quality of the subject; whereas an adverb would regard the manner of the action.

a. Time, place: χρόνιος late, ὄρθριος in the morning, δευτεραῖος on the second day, ποσταῖος how many days? ὑπαίθριος in the open air.

b. Order of succession: πρῶτος, πρότερος first, ὕστερος later, μέσος in the midst, τελευταῖος last, ὕστατος last.

N.—When one action is opposed to another in order of sequence, the adverbs πρῶτον, πρότερον, ὕστατον, etc., not the adjectives πρῶτος, etc.. must be used: ““πρῶτον μὲν ἐδάκρυ_ε πολὺν χρόνον . . . εἶτα δὲ ἔλεξε τοιάδεfirst he wept for a long time, then he spoke as followsX. A. 1.3.2. Hence distinguish

πρῶτος τῇ πόλει προσέβαλεhe was the first to attack the city.
πρώτῃ τῇ πόλει προσέβαλεthe city was the first place he attacked.
πρῶτον τῇ πόλει προσέβαλεhis first act was to attack the city.

The same rule applies in the case of μόνος, μόνον, as μόνην τὴν ἐπιστολη<*> ἔγραψα this is the only letter I wrote, μόνον ἔγραψα τὴν ἐπιστολήν I only wrote (but did not send) the letter. But this distinction is not always observed (Aes. 3.69).

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