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After reading the comments in this question, I wanted to clarify whether a certain proposed usage of tam is appropriate. In it, tam was proposed as an emphatic alternative to sic, when correlated with ut, e.g.:

Tam enim eam amabam ut omnia ei darem.

For I loved her so much that I gave her everything.

(If this was not the proposed construction, please let me know!)

My question: Can tam be correlated with ut in this way? Seeing tam used "alone" with a verb strikes me as strange: I am used to seeing it used with an adjective or adverb ("tam bonus sum") and/or correlated with quam.

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brianpck
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2 Answers2

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Well, Lewis & Short (way down the page) rule this possibility out:

III. As demonstr. adv. of intensity, correlative with ut, that, and its equivalents (qui, quin); so only with adjj. and advv. (not with verbs).

Other answers have shown uses of this with adjectives and adverbs, and it is easy (e.g. in the same L&S entry) to find examples of tam alone with verbs but without consecutive ut. However, it seems that what you are looking for (tam + verb + ut) is not attested. Of course, L&S might have overlooked some obscure passage, or some long-lost attestation might have been discovered in the last decades, but I’d bet against it.

As for Latin used in the Renaissance and later, it is very unlikely to find a counterexample there; the traditional teaching is/was that you don’t use tam with verbs alone, without adjectives or adverbs: “Plautus could, you cannot” would say my late teacher.

Dario
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Yes, tam can be correlated with ut. Here are some examples:

Plaut. Rud. 756-757: ni erit tam sincerum, ut quivis dicat ampullarius / optimum esse operi faciundo corium

Ter. Hec. 108-109: numquam tam dices commode ut tergum meum / tuam in fidem committam

Caes. Gall. 1,44,9: non se tam barbarum neque tam imperitum esse rerum ut non sciret ...

Cic. Arch. 17: quis tam animo agresti fuit ut non commoveretur?

Liv. 5,51,4: tamen tam euidens numen hac tempestate rebus adfuit Romanis ut omnem neglegentiam diuini cultus exemptam hominibus putem

Sen. nat. 1,15,5: caelum ardere uisum, cuius nonnumquam tam sublimis ardor est ut inter sidera ipsa uideatur

Tac. ann. 4,11: neque quisquam scriptor tam infensus extitit ut Tiberio obiectaret

Iuv. 8,211: quis tam / perditus ut dubitet Senecam praeferre Neroni?

qwertxyz
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    I apologize because my question title was not clear: I am primarily curious about whether it can be correlated alone, I.e. without an adverb or adjective – brianpck Feb 09 '17 at 00:30
  • Sorry, it was my fault. I realized the point of your question just after have posted the answer. However, tomorrow I will look if I could find some examples of the use you are looking for – qwertxyz Feb 09 '17 at 00:33