Latin structure note

1. Omission of the article: There is no word for a (an) or the in Latin. Supply whichever article is needed to express in English the idea most suitable for the context.

   • Hic est charta. Here is a map. (preferable here)

   • Here is the map. (also possible)

2. Word order: The adjective generally follows the noun it modifies.

   • Terra pulchra est in Europa. The beautiful country is in Europe.

   • The first and last positions are the most important in the Latin sentence. The subject usually occupies the first portion and the verb stands last because of its importance. Est and sunt, however, do not follow the above rule, but occur in the sentence wherever emphasis demands.

   • Puella in Phoenica habitat. The girl lives in Phoenicia.

   • Terra est pulchra. The land is beautiful.

3. Omission of pronoun subject: The pronoun subject equivalents for he, she, it, they, are implied in the verb ending and are not expressed except for emphasis.

   • Est charta parva. It is a small map.

   • Europa est puella. In Phoenici Europa is a girl. She lives in Phoenicia.

   • Insulae sunt pulchrae. Sunt in mari Mediterraneb. The islands are beautiful. They are in the Mediterranean Sea.

4. Number: singular and plural: The ending of a Latin noun changes to indicate singular (one) or plural (more than one).

   • In Latin, nouns in -a change to -ae to indicate the plural: terra, a land, becomes terrae, the lands.

   • Terra pulchra est magna. The beautiful land is large.

   • Terrae pulchrae sunt magnae. The beautiful lands are large.

   • The verb becomes plural to agree with the plural subject and the adjective modifying a plural noun must also be plural to agree with its noun, even when the adjective stands in the predicate.

5. Case: nominative, accusative, ablative: The ending of a Latin noun also changes to indicate the noun’s relationship to other words in the sentence.

   • Subject words are in the nominative case.

   • Direct object words are in the accusative case.

   • Many object-of-preposition words are in the ablative case.

   • Predicate words following a linking verb (est, sunt) and referring back to the subject are in the nominative case.

   • Memorize the following endings:

     • Singular: Nominative -a (terra), Accusative -am (terram), Ablative -a (terra)

     • Plural: Nominative -ae (terrae), Accusative -as (terras), Ablative -is (terrific)

     • This change of ending in nouns is called declension.

6. The expletive: there is, there are: The word for “there” is omitted when “there” does not refer to a place, but merely indicates existence.

   • Sunt terrae pulchrae in Europa. There are beautiful countries in Europe.

   • Est insula in Phoenica. There is an island in Phoenicia.

7. Questions and answers: Interrogative words can ask questions:

   • Ubi est Insula? Where is the island?

   • The syllable ending (enclitic) -ne, attached to the first word in the sentence, can also be used to ask a question.

   • Suntne insulae magnae? Are the islands large?

   • The answers may be affirmative or negative. If affirmative, the idea is reaffirmed by repeating the words of the sentence. If negative, the sentence is negated by ndn placed before the verb.

8. Apposition: A noun standing next to another noun to explain it.

   • Est fabula de puella Europa. There is a story about the girl Europa.

   • Terra Italia est in Eur5pa. The country of Italy is in Europe.

9. Omission of possessive adjective: Although the possessive adjective exists in Latin, the words for his, her, its, their are often omitted when the meaning is clear from the context.

   • Agenor est rex Phoenicius et Europa est filia. Agenor is the king of Phoenicia, and Europa is his daughter.

10. Word order in transitive sentences: A transitive sentence contains a verb that expresses action carried from the subject to an object.

    • Deus Eurdpam amat. The god Europa loves.

11. The verb: present tense meanings: Each of the verbs in the lesson can have three possible meanings, all contained in the one Latin form.

    • Poeta fabulam narrat. The poet tells a story. (simple)

    • The poet is telling a story, (progressive)

    • The poet does tell a story, (emphatic)

12. The verb: person and number: The final -t indicates he, she, it, while the ending -nt signifies they.

13. Genitive case: Possession is shown in Latin by the genitive case.

14. Nouns in -us: Nouns ending in -us in the nominative change to -um in the accusative and -o in the ablative case.

15. Preposition in with the accusative: The preposition can be followed by either the ablative or the accusative case.

17. Parts of Speech

The parts of speech in Latin are as follows: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. English employs the same parts of speech.

18. Inflection

Nouns, adjectives, and verbs in Latin change their endings to indicate their use in the sentence.

• Singular: Puella superba Minervam non laudat. (The proud girl does not praise Minerva.)

• Plural: Puellae superbae Minervam non laudant. (The proud girls do not praise Minerva.)Puella becomes puellae to indicate the plural of the noun. Superba becomes superbae to agree with its noun. Laudat becomes laudant in the plural, since the verb must always agree with its subject in number. Minerva ends in -am to show that it is the direct object. This change of ending is called inflection. The inflection of nouns is called declension; the inflection of verbs is called conjugation.

19. Nouns

In Latin, nouns are inflected to show:

• (a) Number

  Singular or plural.

• (b) Gender

  Masculine, feminine, or neuter. Nouns have both natural and grammatical gender. Natural gender refers to the sex of the noun's referent (deus, amicus, agricola for masculine; dea, amica, nympha for feminine). Many nouns which are neuter in English are either masculine or feminine in Latin. Learn the gender of each word as it occurs in the vocabulary.

• (c) Case

The names of the cases and their uses are:

20. Declension of Nouns

There are five declension patterns for nouns in Latin, each with a characteristic vowel:

• First: -a (fabula, puella)

• Second: -o (taurus, amicus, deus)

• Third: -i

• Fourth: -u

• Fifth: -e Nouns ending in -a belong to the first declension (fabula, puella), mostly feminine, except for a few masculine like agricola. Most nouns ending in -us in the nominative are masculine and belong to the second declension.

21. First Declension (-a Declension) Endings

22. Agreement of Noun and Adjective

The adjective always agrees with the noun it modifies in case, number, and gender.Example: Est silva magna in insula pulchra. (There is a great forest on the beautiful island.)

23. Commands

In the previous lesson, "spectate" (look at) was used to express a command. New commands include:

• Salve (Greetings! - addressing one)

• Salvete (Greetings! - addressing more than one)

• Ama (Love!)

• Amate (Love! - plural)

• Labora (Work!)

• Laborate (Work! - plural)

24. Infinitive

The infinitive of most verbs ends in -re, usually meaning "to do something." Examples include:

• amare: to love

• debêre: to owe

• laudare: to praise

• docere: to teach

• vocare: to call

• habêre: to have

Conjugation

• These verbs which end in -are belong to the First Conjugation.

• These verbs which end in -ere belong to the Second Conjugation.

A. Complementary Infinitive

One of the most common uses of the infinitive is to complete the meaning of a verb of desire or obligation, known as "complementary."

• Ambuläre dêsidero.: I desire to walk.

• Deam vocare debed.: I ought to call the goddess.

B. Stem

The stem of the verb is formed by dropping the -re of the infinitive.

• First Conjugation: vocã-re

• Second Conjugation: docê-re

• REMEMBER THIS VOWEL: êThe personal endings are added to this stem.

25. Personal Endings

Present Tense Indicative: The indicative mood is used to state a fact or inquire whether something is a fact.

• Minerva puellae sapientiam dat.: Minerva gives the girl wisdom. (or) Minerva gives wisdom to the girl.

• Nymphis picturas meas mönstrāre debed.: I ought to show the nymphs my pictures. (or) I ought to show my pictures to the nymphs.

In English, we can expand the indirect object into a prepositional phrase introduced by "to." In Latin, the dative case alone indicates the indirect object, and a prepositional phrase is never used.

28. Ablative Case

The ablative case is used as the object of certain prepositions. The vocabulary will always tell which case the preposition governs:

• in Lydia: in Lydia

• de vita: about the life

• cum puella: with the girlbut: mêcum: with me

With a pronoun object, "cum" is often reversed in order and the two words are joined together (e.g., tecum).

29. Imperative Mood

The imperative mood expresses commands. The singular imperative looks like the stem of the verb, while the plural imperative adds -te:

• SingularPortã têlas.: Carry the looms. (addressing one)Docê mê.: Teach me.

• PluralPortate telãs.: Carry the looms (addressing more than one)Docête mê.: Teach me.

30. Vocative Case

The person addressed is in the vocative case, which looks just like the nominative and therefore is not listed separately. It usually stands after the first word in the sentence:

• Te, puella temerâria, docêre tempto.: Rash girl, I am trying to teach you.

• Portate, nymphae, telãs hüc.: Nymphs, carry the looms here.

• Salvête, discipuli.: Greetings, students.

31. Enclitic -que

The enclitic -que expresses "and" and is attached to the end of the second of two correlative words (nouns, verbs, or adjectives):

• Nymphae puellaeque pictürãs spectant.: The nymphs and the maidens look at the pictures.

• Puella se laudat clämatque, "Me doced.": The girl praises herself and cries, "I teach myself."

• Dea pulchra superbaque, in terrā ambulat.: The goddess, beautiful and proud, walks on earth.

32. Principal Parts of Verbs

The vocabulary lists four principal parts for most verbs:

1. The first person singular of the present tense

2. The infinitive

3. The first person singular of the perfect tense

4. The perfect passive participle

Learning all the forms now will save revisiting them later:

• First Conjugation:porto, portare, portavi, portatum

• Second Conjugation:habêo, habere, habui, habitum

Almost all first conjugation verbs follow the pattern of "porto." Many second conjugation verbs follow the pattern of "habes," but some differ slightly.