Dear Sir,
Like many people of my generation, I frequently find myself somewhat bemused when church services include songs that include words like ‘Gonna’. I have been thinking perhaps a little obliquely, as the word ‘gonna’ sounds as if it ought to be the Second Person Singular Present Imperative Active of a First Conjugation verb in Latin! Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a verb in the dictionary that would fit this theory, but I shall assume for the purposes of this that such a verb does exist, and that it should be a semi-deponent verb. (For the benefit of those who may have forgotten their Latin, a deponent verb is passive in form but active in meaning; a semi-deponent verb is deponent in only the perfect tense and its derivatives.) Hence, the present tense would be ‘gonno’; the infinitive would be ‘gonnare’; and, because it is a semi-deponent verb, the perfect tense would be ‘gonnatus sum’. This perfect tense, then, could be loosely translated as: ‘I have become fed up with songs as opposed to hymns.’ Naturally, if one accepts this theory, the imperative ‘gonna’ would be a command to become fed up with songs!
Yours sincerely,
