1.6 Adverbs
Adverbs in Latin as in English are used to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Like prepositions they do not decline. Adverbs may express time, tum – then; at that time; place, ibi – there; in that place, hīc – here; in this place; manner, sīc – so; thus. More adverbs will be introduced as we proceed through the course.
1.7 Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to join nouns, adjectives, or clauses together: I went to Rome and I saw my friends there. Like adverbs and prepositions, conjunctions do not decline. Some examples: et – and; et … et – both … and; sed – but.
FIGURE 1.3 Romano-British flagon (date unknown). Pottery was produced in Britain at various locations; flagons came in various shapes and sizes – their main use was for pouring wine. © Leeds Museums and Galleries (Discovery Centre)
Vocabulary to Learn
Nouns; Pronouns
agricola, -ae (m.) – farmer
audācia, -ae (f.) – boldness
cōpia, -ae (f.) – supply; plenty (in the plural (military) forces)
dea, -ae (f.) – goddess
fāma, -ae (f.) – report; rumor; fame
fēmina, -ae (f.) – woman
fortūna, -ae (f.) – fortune
Gallia, -ae (f.) – Gaul
glōria, -ae (f.) – glory; honor
hic, haec, hoc – this; this man; this woman; this thing
insula, -ae (f.) – island
patria, -ae (f.) – homeland
pecūnia, -ae (f.) – money
poena, -ae (f.) – penalty; punishment
poēta, -ae (m.) – poet
puella, -ae (f.) – girl
Rōma, -ae (f.) – Rome
vīta, -ae (f.) – life
Verbs
amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum – love
dō, dare, dedī, datum – give
exspectō, exspectāre, exspectāvī, exspectātum (+ acc.) – wait for; await
parō, parāre, parāvī, parātum (+ inf.) – prepare (to)
portō, portāre, portāvī, portātum – carry
possum, posse, potuī (+ inf.) – be able (to); can
pugnō, pugnāre, pugnāvī, pugnātum – fight
spērō, spērāre, spērāvī, spērātum (+ acc.) – hope; hope for
sum, esse, fuī – be; exist (note: est can mean “there is” and sunt can mean “there are”)
superō, superāre, superāvī, superātum – overcome; surpass
Adverbs; Prepositions; Conjunctions
ab (+ ablative) – from; by (sometimes written a before a consonant)
ad (+ acc.) – to; towards; against
cum (+ abl.) – with
et – and
ex (+ abl.) – from; out of; in accordance with (sometimes written e before a consonant)
hīc – here; in this place
in (+ abl.) – in; on
in (+ acc.) – into; onto
post (+ acc.) – after
sed – but
ubi – when; where; where?
English Derivations
From which Latin roots do the following English words derive?
e.g., patriotic from patria
(i) possible
(ii) porter
(iii) pecuniary
(iv) copious
Review: Chapter 1
1. What are the eight parts of speech in Latin?
2. In your own words describe what is meant by the term “inflected language.”
3. Decline the following: hic, haec, hoc in the masculine and feminine singular and neuter plural; dea in the singular; copia in the plural.
4. Conjugate the verb possum in the present indicative and do, dare in the present indicative active; give translations for all forms.
5. Give all possible meanings for the following: (i) huic
(ii) poetae
(iii) Italia
(iv) puellis
(v) estis
(vi) exspectant
6. For the following English sentences parse each word and, without translating, state how you would express each in Latin: FYI
Parsing is a time-honored tradition; simply put to parse means to identify each part (from Latin pars = part) of speech in a sentence and to define its grammatical function.
Example: (Poets) (are not able) (to fight) (but) (they are able) (to love) (girls).
poets: noun; subject of the verb; in Latin, nominative case, masculine, plural
are able: finite verb; 3rd person plural present indicative (active); in Latin as in English
not: adverb; in Latin as in English
to fight: present infinitive active; in Latin as in English (complementary infinitive)
but: conjunction
they: pronoun; subject of the verb; in Latin it is not necessary to translate; remember the ending is sufficient to indicate the person and number (review the definition of inflected language)
are able: 3rd person plural present indicative (active) – 3rd person plural because the subject is “they”
to fight: present infinitive active; in Latin as in English (complementary infinitive)
girls: direct object of the infinitive “to love”; in Latin accusative case, feminine plural
(i) This man is giving money to the girls.
(ii) When a poet praises boldness, he hopes for fame.
(iii) They are preparing to carry these things to the island.
(iv) I can overcome the forces of Gaul.
CHAPTER 2
Chapter Contents
2.1 SECOND DECLENSION NOUNS 2.1.1 Second Declension Nouns in -us
2.1.2 Second Declension Nouns in -er; -r
2.1.3 Second Declension Neuter Nouns
2.2 ADJECTIVES 2.2.1 Adjectives of the First/Second Declension
2.2.2 Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns
2.2.3 Adjectives and Pronouns Used as Nouns
2.3 SECOND CONJUGATION: PRESENT INDICATIVE ACTIVE
2.4 IMPERFECT INDICATIVE ACTIVE 2.4.1 First Conjugation
2.4.2 Second Conjugation
2.4.3 Irregular Verbs: Sum, Esse; Possum, Posse
2.5 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN: IS, EA, ID
Translation from Latin
Translation into Latin
Vocabulary to Learn Nouns; Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs; Prepositions; Conjunctions
Vocabulary Specifically for Chapter 2 Passages Nouns; Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives; Adverbs
FIGURE 2.1 Roman glass vessel (date unknown). Early on glass was a luxury item; however, technological advances (glass-blowing was invented in the 1st century bc) meant that glass was able to be mass-produced. Glass works were found in many Roman provinces. © Leeds Museums and Galleries (Discovery Centre)
2.1 Second Declension Nouns
Almost all nouns of the second declension are either masculine (nominative ending -us, -er, or -r) or neuter (nominative ending -um). The characteristic identifying feature of second declension nouns is that the second principal part (genitive singular) ends in -ī: animus, -ī (m.) – soul; spirit; Marcus, -ī (m.) – Marcus; bellum, -ī (n.) – war. Although the group of nouns classed as second declension has different endings from the first declension, the uses of the cases remain the same. The rule for forming the cases (stem + endings) is the same as for the first declension and the stem is found by removing the -ī from the second principal part.
2.1.1 Second Declension Nouns in -us
SINGULAR PLURAL
Nom. anim-us anim-ī
Gen. anim-ī anim-ōrum
Dat. anim-ō anim-īs
Acc. anim-um anim-ōs
Abl. anim-ō anim-īs
Voc. anim-e anim-ī
In most declensions the vocative has the same form as the nominative. Second declension nouns ending -us in the nominative are the only exception to this rule.
FYI
Normally the vocative ends in -e; however, if the st
em ends in -i (e.g., fīlius, fīliī), the vocative is merely the stem, i.e., fīlī. Another exception: the vocative of deus is deus.
2.1.2 Second Declension Nouns in -er; -r
There are a few second declension nouns where the nominative does not end in -us, for example: ager, agrī (m.) – field; puer, puerī – boy; vir, virī (m.) – man. For nouns of this type the nominative must be learnt (and here the vocative is the same as the nominative). All other cases are formed regularly: stem + endings. Note that the stem is still obtained from the second principal part and that for nouns in -er sometimes the -e is present in the stem and sometimes it drops out.
HINT!
One way to remember whether the -e drops out is to consider English derivatives such as agriculture and puerile. If the -e is not in the English word it will have been dropped from the Latin stem.
SINGULAR PLURAL
Nom. ager agr-ī
Gen. agr-ī agr-ōrum
Dat. agr-ō agr-īs
Acc. agr-um agr-ōs
Abl. agr-ō agr-īs
Voc. ager agr-ī
Notice that, aside from the nominative and vocative, the case endings of nouns in -er are the same as those of nouns in -us.
SINGULAR PLURAL
Nom. puer puer-ī
Gen. puer-ī puer-ōrum
Dat. puer-ō puer-īs
Acc. puer-um puer-ōs
Abl. puer-ō puer-īs
Voc. puer puer-ī
SINGULAR PLURAL
Nom. vir vir-ī
Gen. vir-ī vir-ōrum
Dat. vir-ō vir-īs
Acc. vir-um vir-ōs
Abl. vir-ō vir-īs
Voc. vir vir-ī
2.1.3 Second Declension Neuter Nouns
SINGULAR PLURAL
Nom. bell-um bell-a
Gen. bell-ī bell-ōrum
Dat. bell-ō bell-īs
Acc. bell-um bell-a
Abl. bell-ō bell-īs
Voc. bell-um bell-a
All neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative, vocative, and accusative; however, the context usually removes any ambiguity. In the nominative, vocative, and accusative plural all neuter nouns end in -a.
There are a few feminine nouns of the second declension; however, none is particularly common. Again, the distinctive feature is genitive singular ending in -ī (humus, -ī (f.) – ground).
2.2 Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns: a good book; the bad men, etc. In English the position of the adjective or the context makes clear which noun the adjective modifies. While the position of an adjective in Latin is significant (it usually follows but may precede the noun it modifies), it is the ending, and therefore the case, of the adjective that is most important. Like nouns, adjectives decline and like nouns adjectives belong to different declensions.
2.2.1 Adjectives of the First/Second Declension
One type of adjective of the first/second declension appears in vocabulary lists as follows: bonus, -a, -um – good. These are the principal parts and meaning of the adjective. The first principal part is the nominative masculine singular, the second is the nominative feminine singular, and the third is the nominative neuter singular. In order to decline adjectives of this type, it is necessary first to find the stem: this can be done by removing the -us ending from the first principal part. Then the endings of the first declension are added to the stem to create the feminine forms of the adjective and the endings of the second declension are added to the stem to create the masculine and neuter forms of the adjective. So the adjective bonus, -a, -um declines as follows:
Adjectives ending in -us, -a, -um thus make use of the endings for nouns of the first declension (for feminine forms) and of the second declension (for masculine and neuter forms).
There is another type of first/second declension adjective with a nominative, masculine, singular ending in -er: e.g., miser, -era, -erum – wretched, miserable, and pulcher, -chra, -chrum – beautiful. Compare these with the second declension nouns puer and ager and notice the following: only the endings of the nominative and vocative, masculine, singular differ from first/second declension adjectives in -us, -a, -um and it is necessary to go to the second principal part to see if the letter “e” has dropped out of the stem.
2.2.2 Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns
It is a cardinal rule of Latin that an adjective agrees with the noun that it modifies in case, number, and gender. If a noun is nominative, singular, masculine, then an adjective modifying the noun will also be nominative, singular, masculine and so on: socius bonus – a/the good ally; sociī bonī – good allies, the good allies. Consider the following: vir bonus – a/the good man. Notice that although the endings are not the same, both are nominative masculine singular and so the adjective does, in fact, agree with the noun. An adjective may have a different ending from that of the noun that it modifies; however, the case, gender, and number must be the same.
Try This
Supply the correct form of the adjective [in brackets] to agree with the following nouns; identify the case(s), giving all the possible answers:
e.g., agricolam [bonus] – bonum (accusative masculine singular)
Remember that the same noun form can have a number of different meanings so agricolae [bonus] would have the answers boni and bono, as agricolae could be either genitive singular or nominative plural (hence boni) or dative singular (hence bono).
(i) auxilio [bonus] (vi) viro [Romanus]
(ii) bellum [novus] (vii) fama [verus]
(iii) foro [magnus] (viii) locis [pulcher]
(iv) filii [miser] (ix) equorum [miser]
(v) naturae [bonus] (x) deo [magnus]
2.2.3 Adjectives and Pronouns Used as Nouns
Adjectives in English may be used as nouns often by the addition of the definite article: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly; but notice also examples such as goods. In English this use of adjectives is somewhat restricted, but in Latin any number of adjectives can be used as nouns: bonus – a/the good man; bonae – good women, the good women; bona (neuter, plural) – good things; goods; Rōmānus as an adjective means of Rome or Roman, as a noun it means a/the Roman and in the plural Rōmānī it means Romans or the Romans.
HINT!
As noted earlier the accusative neuter singular and plural of pronouns may stand alone: e.g., haec = these things (as in haec dant). Adjectives may be used in the same way: multa = many things (multa dant). There is no need for the word “things.”
As we have seen, the pronoun hic may be used by itself – this man; however, it may also be used as an adjective hic vir (Cicero In Pisonem 6): this man.
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The Bigger Picture
In Pisonem (Against Piso) a speech delivered against L. Calpurnius Piso before the senate in 55 bc. Piso was an ally of Caesar, who, together with the tribune Clodius, had plotted against Cicero during Caesar's absence in Gaul from 58 bc. As a reward, Piso had been given the province of Macedonia. In 57 bc Cicero had spoken against Piso's government of Macedonia and had him recalled from his province. Piso spoke against Cicero in the senate on his return home and this is Cicero's reply.
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2.3 Second Conjugation: Present Indicative Active
The defining feature of verbs of the second conjugation is that the second principal part (the present infinitive active) ends in -ēre (where the first ē is long), for example videō, -ēre – see. It is also true that the letter e precedes the final in all second conjugation verbs. In order to conjugate a verb of the second conjugation in the present indicative active, begin by removing the -ō from the first principal part then add the following endings: -ō, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt:
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st person vide-ō – I see, am seeing, do see vidē-mus – we see, etc.
2nd person vidē-s – you see, etc. vidē-tis – you see, etc.
3rd person vide-t – he, she, it sees, etc. vide-nt – they see, etc.
2.4 Imperfect Indicative Active
The imperfect tense in Latin is used to denote a continuous or habitual action in the past and may be translated, for example, I was loving or I used to love (and occasionally simply as I loved). In order to conjugate verbs of the first and second conjugations in the imperfect indicative active, simply remove the -re from the second principal part (the present infinitive) and add the following endings: -bam, -bās, -bat, -bāmus, -bātis, -bant (notice the familiar endings -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt in the second person singular, etc.).
2.4.1 First Conjugation
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st person amā-bam – I was loving, etc. amā-bāmus – we were loving
2nd person amā-bās – you were loving amā-bātis – you were loving
3rd person amā-bat – he, she, it was loving amā-bant – they were loving
2.4.2 Second Conjugation
SINGULAR PLURAL
1st person vidē-bam – I was seeing, etc. vidē-bāmus – we were seeing
2nd person vidē-bās – you were seeing vidē-bātis – you were seeing
3rd person vidē-bat – he, she, it was seeing vidē-bant – they were seeing
HINT!
Write out conjugations and declensions: repetition is the best way to learn the forms. Keep repeating the active endings of verbs: -o, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt. For the imperfect: -bam, -bas, -bat, -bamus, -batis, -bant (notice that except for the first person singular, the personal endings are the same).
Wiley's Real Latin Page 4