Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Level 3; deponent verbs (6)(i); imperfect and future tenses; exercise [1]

 Focus on what matters i.e. recognise [i] meaning [ii] tense and [iii] who / what is performing the action. You need to go slowly before you can go quickly! You’ve seen in the two previous posts that there are consistent personal endings and clear markers for tenses. Match the English verbs with the Latin deponent verbs in the word cloud all of which are either imperfect or future tense:

1st conjugation

hortor, -ārī, -ātus sum: to encourage, urge

minor, -ārī, -ātus sum: to threaten

mīror, -ārī, -ātus sum: to wonder at, be surprised

2nd conjugation

vereor, -ērī, veritus sum: to fear

3rd conjugation

loquor, loquī, locūtus sum: to speak, talk

proficīscor, proficīscī, profectus sum: to set out, depart

sequor, sequī, secūtus sum: to follow

ūtor, -ī, usus sum: to use, make use of

3rd-iō conjugation

prōgredior, -ī, prōgressus sum: to advance, go forward

morior, -ī, mortuus sum: to die

4th conjugation

orior, -īrī, ortus sum: to rise, arise

potior, -īrī, potītus sum: to get possession of

  1. The sun was rising. │ Sōl __________
  2. The sun will rise.│ Sōl __________
  3. The king was threatening him with death. │ Rēx eī mortem __________
  4. I often used a sword. │ Gladiō saepe __________
  5. We shall not fear the enemy. │ Hostēs nōn __________
  6. Whom were you encouraging? │ Quem __________?
  7. Whom will you encourage? │ Quem __________?
  8. When will they set out? │ Quandō __________?
  9. The boy will set out at dawn. │ Puer prīmā lūce __________ 
  10. The senator was speaking loudly. │ Senātor magnā vōce __________
  11. We will always follow you. │ Tē semper __________
  12. They used to admire the girl’s beauty. │ Pulchritūdinem puellae __________
  13. You are gods … but you will die just like men. │ Dīī estis …, vōs autem sīcut hominēs __________
  14. Moreover, when we (will) become masters / take possession of a very beautiful and wealthy city … │ __________ praetereā cum pulcherrimā opulentissimāque urbe … (Livy) 
  15. Labienus … was proceeding quietly. │ Labiēnus … placidē __________. (Caesar)

Level 3; review; ACL/NJCL NATIONAL LATIN EXAM (Latin 2); 2012; Part 1 [2]: answers and notes

 [1] Nēmō sine aquā diū vīvere potest. │ A) without water  sine + ablative case: without

Nobody can live a long time without water.

[2] Magnum flūmen per campōs Italiae celerrimē fluit. │ D) very swiftly │ superlative adverb

celerrimus, -a, -um: superlative adjective > celerrimē: superlative adverb; either ‘most quickly’ or, commonly, very quickly

A large river flows very quickly through the fields / plains of Italy.

[3] Difficile est nāvigāre autumnōB) in the Fall │ ablative of time when

It is difficult to sail in the Fall / Autumn.

[4] Mox hic senātor erit _____. A) cōnsul │ predicate nominative i.e. a noun or adjective which follows the verb ‘to be’ and gives further information about the subject of the sentence i.e. X = Y e.g. this man is a doctor; this man is brave; the noun or adjective is in the nominative case agreeing in gender and number

This senator will soon be a consul.

[5] Vir humilis sē numquam laudat. │C) himself │ reflexive pronoun referring back to the subject

A humble man never praises himself.

[6] Vīsne omnēs populōs esse līberōs? │ D) Do you wish │ irregular verb: velle

Do you wish all people to be free?

[7] Mīlitēs Rōmānī fortiōrēs omnibus hostibus erant. │ A) than all their enemies │ ablative of comparison = Engl. ‘than’

The Roman soldiers were braver than all the enemies.

[8] Ancillae ā dominā laudātae sunt. │ B) were praised │ perfect passive

The maidservants had been praised by the mistress.

[9] Dā mihi vīnum, _____! │B) Rūfe │ vocative case of 2nd declension nouns in -us > -e

Give me wine, Rufus!

[10] Liberīs [dative] ¦ arma habēre ¦ nōn licet. │ D) Children are not permitted to have weapons. │ licet: impersonal verb = it is allowed / permitted and is followed by the dative case i.e. it is not permitted for children to have weapons

[11] Nōlī abīre; tē mēcum manēre volō! │ B) Don’t go away │negative imperative: nōlī(te) + infinitive

Don’t go away; I want you to stay with me!

[13] Medicus amīcum vulnerātum ē proeliō portāvit. │ A) wounded │ perfect passive participle used as an adjective

The doctor carried (his) wounded friend [= his friend who had been wounded] out of the battle.

[13] Multa et mala Troiānīs ā Iūnōne facta sunt. │ B) by Juno │ablative of agent i.e. the person by whom an action is performed

Many evil things were done to the Trojans by Juno.

[14] Equī huius hominis quattuor diēbus vēndentur. │ C) of this man │ declension of hic, haec, hoc

The horses of this man / this man’s horses will be sold within four days.

[15] Quibus dux auxilium dedit? │ C) To whom │ declension of quis? (who?); here: dative plural implying that more than one person was given help.

To whom did the commander give help? / Who did the commander give help to?

[16] Rēgēs, quōrum potestās maxima est, multōs annōs regent. │  C) whose │  declension of quī, quae, quod

Kings, whose power [= the power of whom] is very great, will reign for many years.

Notes: at this level you should be familiar with the specific grammatical terms for different features:

Image #1: question [14] refers to the demonstrative pronoun / adjective hic, haec, hoc (those; these)

Equī huius hominis quattuor diēbus vēndentur. │ The horses of this man will be sold within four days.

Grammar books may refer to hic, haec and hoc either as demonstrative pronouns or demonstrative adjectives, or both terms together. The reason for this is that they serve more than one function:

[i] If they describe a named noun e.g. hic liber (this book) we can say that they are acting as a demonstrative adjective as in the example above.

[ii] If they stand alone i.e. they are in place of a noun then they can be defined as demonstrative pronouns e.g. this (man), this (one) or he; this (woman), she; this (thing), it

In the plural, the same range of translations in [i] and [ii] apply e.g. these (books), these (ones / men / women / things), they

Context will determine the best translation.

Images #2 and #3: questions [15] and [16]

Image #2: question 15 refers to quis / quid? (who / what?) i.e. an interrogative pronoun asking a question

Quibus dux auxilium dedit? │ To whom did the commander give help?

Image #3: question 16 refers to quī / quae / quod (who / which) i.e. a relative pronoun that introduces a relative clause which gives more information about the preceding noun in the main clause

Rēgēs, ¦ quōrum potestās maxima est, ¦ multōs annōs regent. │ Kings, ¦ whose power is very great / the greatest, ¦ will reign for many years.

There is almost no difference in the declensions of both of these:

[i] the interrogative pronoun (quis?) can be masculine or feminine

[ii] the interrogative pronouns in the plural are identical to the relative pronouns


Level 3; review; ACL/NJCL NATIONAL LATIN EXAM (Latin 2); 2012; Part 1 [1]: questions

 https://www.nle.org/_files/ugd/aac38e_3e2b56d7415a48ccb21db95515467db6.pdf

The first part of the test has eighteen questions on different features of Latin grammar; of the 18 questions, 16 of them have already been covered in the group. Therefore, two questions have, at this stage, been omitted but will be discussed at level 3 in detail in later posts. The numbering of the questions in the original test paper has been altered in order to put some features of the language together.

[1] Nēmō sine aquā diū vīvere potest. A) without water B) by water C) in water D) out of water

[2] Magnum flūmen per campōs Italiae celerrimē fluit. A) swift B) swiftly C) more swiftly D) very swiftly

[3] Difficile est nāvigāre autumnō. A) for the Fall B) in the Fall C) the Fall D) from the Fall

[4] Mox hic senātor erit _____. A) cōnsul B) cōnsulis C) cōnsulī D) cōnsule

[5] Vir humilis sē numquam laudat. A) them B) this C) himself D) her

[6] Vīsne omnēs populōs esse līberōs? A) Did you wish B) Will you wish C) Were you wishing D) Do you wish

[7] Mīlitēs Rōmānī fortiōrēs omnibus hostibus erant. A) than all their enemies B) of all their enemies C) by all their enemies D) with all their enemies

[8] Ancillae ā dominā laudātae sunt. A) are praised B) were praised C) will be praised D) had been praised

[9] Dā mihi vīnum, _____! A) Rūfus B) Rūfe C) Rūfō D) Rūfum

[10] Liberīs arma habēre nōn licet. A) Children ought to have their own weapons. B) He agrees that the children will not have weapons. C) Children do not like to have weapons. D) Children are not permitted to have weapons.

[11] Nōlī abīre; tē mēcum manēre volō! A) I am not going away B) Don’t go away C) No one is leaving D) Never leave

[12] Medicus amīcum vulnerātum ē proeliō portāvit. A) wounded B) about to wound C) wound D) wounding

[13] Multa et mala Troiānīs ā Iūnōne facta sunt. A) for Juno B) by Juno C) to Juno D) with Juno

[14] Equī huius hominis quattuor diēbus vēndentur. A) this man B) to this man C) of this man D) by this man

[15] Quibus dux auxilium dedit? A) Who B) Whose C) To whom D) With whom

[16] Rēgēs, quōrum potestās maxima est, multōs annōs regent. A) who B) to whom C) whose D) by whom

Level 3; deponent verbs (5)(ii); imperfect and future tenses; 3rd, 3-iō, 4th conjugations

 [1] imperfect tense: again, the tense markers are the same for all three conjugations i.e. -ba- / -bā-, the only difference being in the stem vowels:

3rd conjugation: revertor, revert¦ī, reversus sum [3/dep]: return

  • revert¦ē¦ba¦r, revert¦ē¦¦ris etc. │ I was returning / used to return, you (sg.) were returning etc.

3rd-iō conjugation: egredior, egredī, egressus sum [3-iō/dep]: go out

  • egred¦¦ba¦r, egred¦¦¦ris etc. │I was going out, you (sg.) were going out etc.

4th conjugation: mentior, mentī¦rī, mentitus sum [4/dep]: lie; deceive

  • ment¦¦ba¦r, ment¦¦¦ris │I was lying; I used to deceive; you (sg.) were lying etc.

[2] future tense

[i] 3rd conjugation: -a- / -ē[e]-

revertar: I shall return

revertēris: you (sg.) will return

revertētur: he/she/it will return

revertēmur: we will return

revertēminī: you (pl.) will return

revertentur: they will return

[ii] 3rd-iō conugation: -ia- / -iē[e]-

ēgrediar: I shall go out

ēgredris: you (sg.) will go out

ēgrediētur: he/she/it will go out

ēgrediēmur: we will go out

ēgrediēminī: you (pl.) will go out

ēgredientur: they will go out

[iii] 4th conjugation: -ia- / -iē[e]-

mentiar: I shall lie / deceive

mentris: you (sg.) will lie

mentiētur: he/she/it will lie

mentiēmur: we will lie

mentiēminī: you (pl.) will lie

mentientur: they will lie



Level 3; Dē diē ac nocte [2]

Dē diē ac nocte

Lūx diēs vocātur. Obscūritās nox appellātur. Manē aurōra rubēscit. Stēllae ēvānēscunt. Lūcēscit. Diēs fit. Sōl oritur. Illam partem caelī Orientem appellāmus. Diēs ad labōrem datur. Sōl tōtō diē in caelō lūcet. Mediō diē sōl altus in caelō vidētur. Illam partem caelī Merīdiem vocāmus. Medius diēs et merīdiēs dīcitur. Multō diē advesperāscit. Sōl occidit. Illam partem caelī Occidentem dīcimus. Post occāsum sōlis caelum obscūrum fit. Stēllae iterum lūcēscunt. Nox fit. Nox ad quiētem datur. Vesperī lūna plēna ab oriente oritur. Haec tōtā nocte in caelō lūcet. Mediā nocte alta in caelō vidētur. Māne ab occidente occidit. Stēllae quoque ab oriente orīrī videntur. Hae aut ab occidente cadunt, aut ortū sōlis ēvānēscunt.

Four types of verb:

[i] active verbs 

[ii] passive verbs

[iii] deponent verbs

[iv] inchoative verbs; those are the verbs with the tell-tale -sc- in the stem that show change / the beginning of a change i.e. x is becoming y.

And …

[v] the verb: fiō (to become); more on this verb in a later post

[A] Complete the translations with the words listed below.

  1. Lūx diēs vocātur. │ The light __________ day.
  2. Obscūritās nox appellātur.  │ The darkness __________  night.
  3. Manē aurōra rubēscit. │ In the morning the dawn __________ red.
  4. Stēllae ēvānēscunt. │ The stars __________ [= are fading away i.e. a process of change].
  5. Lūcēscit. │It is __________ light.
  6. Diēs fit. │It is __________ day.
  7. Sōl oritur. │ The sun is __________.
  8. Illam partem caelī Orientem appellāmus. │ __________ that part of the sky the East.
  9. Diēs ad labōrem datur. │ The day __________ (over) to work.
  10. Sōl tōtō diē in caelō lūcet. │ The sun __________ all day in the sky.

becoming; disappear; getting; is called; is called; is given; rising; shines; turns; we call

[B] Complete the translations with the words listed below.

  1. In the middle of the day the sun is seen high in the sky. │ Mediō diē sōl altus in caelō __________.
  2. We call that part of the sky the South. │ Illam partem caelī Merīdiem __________ [2 possibilities].
  3. The middle of the day is also called noon. │ Medius diēs et merīdiēs __________.
  4. Late in the day it starts to become evening. │ Multō diē __________.
  5. The sun is going down / setting. │ Sōl __________.
  6. We call that part of the sky the West. │ Illam partem caelī Occidentem __________ [2 possibilities].
  7. After sunset the sky becomes dark. │ Post occāsum sōlis caelum obscūrum __________.
  8. The stars begin to shine again. │ Stēllae iterum __________.
  9. It becomes night. │ Nox __________.
  10. The night is given (over) to rest. │ Nox ad quiētem __________.

advesperāscit; datur; dīcimus; dīcitur; fit; fit; lūcēscunt; occidit; vidētur; vocāmus

[C] Complete the translation of the rest of the text; some words are used more than once.

Vesperī lūna plēna ab oriente oritur. │ In the [1] __________ a full [2] __________ [3] __________ from the [4] __________.

Haec tōtā nocte in caelō lūcet. │ It [5] __________ in the [6] __________ the whole [7] __________.

Mediā nocte alta in caelō vidētur. │ At [8] __________ it [9] __________ high in the [10] __________.

Māne ab occidente occidit. │ In the [11] __________ it [12] __________ from the [13] __________.

Stēllae quoque ab oriente orīrī videntur. │ [14] __________ are also [15] __________ [16] __________ from the [17] __________.

Hae aut ab occidente cadunt, aut ortū sōlis ēvānēscunt. │ These either [18] __________ from the [19] __________ or [20] __________ at [21] __________.

east; evening; fade away; fall; goes down; is seen; midnight; moon; morning; night; rises; rising; seen; shines; sky; stars; sunrise; west

Monday, February 3, 2025

Level 3; deponent verbs (5)(i); imperfect and future tenses; 1st and 2nd conjugation

 [i] The imperfect and future tense of the deponent verbs are formed in exactly the same way as the passive verbs.

[ii] The deponent verbs are passive in form but active in meaning. Therefore, sequebar means ‘I was following’ and sequar ‘I shall follow’; below are examples of deponent verbs in the imperfect and future tenses.

[iii] Look for the signs!

Although it’s been mentioned many times before, it is worth remembering that, when staring directly in the face of Latin declension and, here, conjugations, they can look intimidating. Take them apart to see what they are telling you:

image #1: three pieces of information are given

[1] from the infinitive comes the stem to which other endings are added

[2] a tense marker; here you have the imperfect and the future tenses for the 1st and 2nd conjugations

[3] finally, the personal endings

image #2: the personal endings for all deponent / passive verbs in the imperfect and future tenses are the same:

-r

-ris

-tur

-mur

-minī

-ntur

image #3 (i): imperfect: all conjugations; -ba- / -bā- are the tense markers which are added to the stem of the verb in this example:

cōnor, cōnā¦rī, cōnātus sum [1/dep]: try

cōnā- = stem

cōnā¦ba¦r: I was trying

cōnāris: you (sg.) were trying

cōnābātur: he/she/it was trying

cōnābāmur: we were trying

cōnābāminī: you (pl.) were trying

cōnābantur: they were trying

image# 3 (ii): future; 1st / 2nd conjugations; -bo- / -bi- / -bu-; note the difference in the 2nd person singular*

cōnā¦bo¦r: I shall try

*cōnāberis: you (sg.) will try

cōnābitur: he/she/it will try

cōnābimur: we will try

cōnābiminī: you (pl.) will try

cōnābuntur: they will try

Images #4 and #5 show the exact same forms for the 2nd conjugation deponent verb: pollicēor, pollicē¦rī, pollicitus sum [2/dep]: promise, the only difference being the stem vowel -ē-:


Level 3; dē diē ac nocte [1]

A text might be labelled as ‘level 3’ not because it is particularly difficult but rather shows specific features of the language working together in this case different verb types. For the moment, just become familiar with the text and review vocabulary. 

Dē diē ac nocte

Lūx diēs vocātur. Obscūritās nox appellātur. Manē aurōra rubēscit. Stēllae ēvānēscunt. Lūcēscit. Diēs fit. Sōl oritur. Illam partem caelī Orientem appellāmus. Diēs ad labōrem datur. Sōl tōtō diē in caelō lūcet. Mediō diē sōl altus in caelō vidētur. Illam partem caelī Merīdiem vocāmus. Medius diēs et merīdiēs dīcitur. Multō diē advesperāscit. Sōl occidit. Illam partem caelī Occidentem dīcimus. Post occāsum sōlis caelum obscūrum fit. Stēllae iterum lūcēscunt. Nox fit. Nox ad quiētem datur. Vesperī lūna plēna ab oriente oritur. Haec tōtā nocte in caelō lūcet. Mediā nocte alta in caelō vidētur. Māne ab occidente occidit. Stēllae quoque ab oriente orīrī videntur. Hae aut ab occidente cadunt, aut ortū sōlis ēvānēscunt.

[1] vocabulary [i]; match the Latin and English expressions:
  1. māne
  2. mediā nocte
  3. mediō diē
  4. merīdiēs
  5. multō diē
  6. ortū sōlis
  7. post occāsum sōlis
  8. tōtā nocte
  9. tōtō diē
  10. vesperī
after the sun sets; at mid-day; at midnight; for the whole day; for the whole night; in the evening; in the morning; late in the day; mid-day; when the sun rises

[2] vocabulary [ii]; find from the passage the antonyms (opposites) of the following words*:
  1. advesperascit
  2. diēs
  3. labor
  4. lūna
  5. lux 
  6. occāsus 
  7. ab occidente 
  8. oritur
  9. vesperī
[3] The questions here are not chronological i.e. the answers in the text are not in the same order as the questions; you have to “look around” the entire text!**
  1. What are seen rising from the east? 
  2. What colour is the dawn?
  3. What happens late in the day?
  4. When is the moon seen high in the sky?
  5. When do the stars disappear?
  6. When does the sky become dark?
  7. Where does the moon rise from?
  8. Where is the sun seen at midday?

__________

advesperascit │ lūcēscit; diēs │ nox; labor │ quiēs; lūna │ sōl; lux│ obscūritās; occāsus │ ortus; ab occidente  │ ab oriente; oritur │ occidit; vesperī │ māne

**

Stēllae quoque ab oriente orīrī videntur.

Māne aurōra rubēscit. [< ruber, -ra, rum]

Multō diē advesperāscit.

Lūna … Mediā nocte alta in caelō vidētur.

Stēllae … ortū sōlis ēvānēscunt. [or: Māne … Stēllae ēvānēscunt.]

Post occāsum sōlis caelum obscūrum fit.

Vesperī lūna plēna ab oriente oritur.

Mediō diē sōl altus in caelō vidētur.