Download Latin I

Latin I
Review Sheet- Chapters 1-7
September 17, 2008
The test will cover chapters 1-7 of the Ecce Romani I textbook. The material covered
will include the following items:
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
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Feminine & masculine nouns forms (subject and direct objects)
Adjective / noun agreement
Complementary infinitives
Chapter 1-7 Vocabulary
Noun Forms
Nouns in Latin are divided into several groups called declensions. So far we have seen
the first three declensions (there are five total). The first declension is mostly feminine, the
second is mostly masculine, and the third has a mix of masculine and feminine nouns.
Nominative
Accusative
First Declension
Singular
Plural
-a
-ae
-am
-as
Second Declension
Singular
Plural
-us / -r
-i
-um
-os
Third Declension
Singular
Plural
n/a
-es
-em
-es
Nominative refers to the subject or subject compliments in the predicate. Accusative
refers to the direct object. Because of the fact that noun endings show their function in the
sentence, Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order:
Marcus et Cornelia servos spectant.
Nom. Nom. Acc.
Villam purgant ancillae.
Acc.
Nom.
= Marcus and Conelia watch the slaves.
= The maids clean the countryhouse.
Notice that the singular accusative (direct object) forms tend to end in ‘m’ (-am, -um, or
-em), while plural accusative forms tend to end in ‘s’ (-as, -os, or -es). The singular nominative
of the second declension can end in either –r (like “puer”) or –us (like “servus”). The singular
nominative of the third declension has no set ending and varies from word to word.
Adjectives
Adjectives are words that modify nouns (or pronouns). The when an adjective correctly
modifies its noun it is said to be in agreement. An adjective must agree with the noun it
modifies in case (nominative or accusative), number (singular or plural), and gender (masculine
or feminine). In the following sentences notice that the adjectives are bolded while the modified
nouns are underlined:
Cornelius multas epistulas scribit.
Flavia est puella Romana.
= Cornelius writes many letters.
= Flavia is a Roman girl.
Because adjectives must agree in case, number, and gender they will often have the same
ending as the nouns that they modify. This is not always the case though. Look at the following
example:
Davus est vir Britannicus.
= Davus is a British man.
Even though the Latin words “vir” and “Britannicus” have different endings, both
words are nominative, singular, and masculine. Thus they are still in agreement.
Unlike English, adjectives in Latin usually follow the noun they modify (puer Romanus,
puellae defessae, rivus frigidus, etc.) The exception is that adjectives that show size or amount
usually precede the noun they modify (magna vox, multae epistulae, etc.)
Infinitives
You’ve seen that verbs with a singular subject end in –t and verbs with a plural subject or
multiple singular subjects end in –nt:
3rd Person
Singular
-t
Plural
-nt
One way to think about it is by considering that these endings “limit” or “confine” the
possible meaning of the verb to one sort of subject (singular) or the other (plural).
However, there is also another form of the verb that expresses the verb’s basic meaning
without “limiting” it to a particular group, whether singular or plural. This “unlimited” form is
called the infinitive (from the Latin word “infinitvus”, which means “unlimited” or “endless”).
In English the infinitive is almost always preceded by the word “to”. Infinitives in Latin
will end in –re with a vowel preceding (-are, -ere, -ere, or –ire). Look at the examples listed
below:
Errare humanum est
Cornelia Romam redire non vult.
= To err is human.
= Cornelia does not want to return to Rome.
Puellae in agris saepe ambulare amant. = The girls often like to walk in the fields.
The infinitive is basically a verbal noun and it can be a subject (as in the first sentence
above) or it can help complete the meaning of a verb (as in the second and third sentences above).
When it helps to complete the meaning of a verb it is called the complementary infinitive.
Articles
Remember that Latin has no articles. Therefore in your translation you will often want to
include words like “a”, “an”, or “the” wherever they will make your sentences sound better or aid
in the meaning:
puer
= a boy, the boy, or boy
vox
= a voice, the voice, or voice
Word Order
Latin word order is far more flexible than English. In English, the word order largely
determines the meaning of the sentence. But because Latin uses a large variety of case endings to
show the function of a word, a more flexible word order is possible.
However Latin does have a preferred word order. The subject usually comes first in the
sentence and the verb usually comes at the end:
Marcus in horto currit.
= Marcus runs in the garden.
If the verb is a linking verb, the verb will tend to come between its subject and whatever
subject complement is in the redicate (called a predicate nominative):
Cornelia est defessa.
= Cornelia is tired.
Adverbs tend to stick close to the verb, unless they show time in which case they appear
at the beginning of the sentence.
Davus in villa non dormit.
Mox pueri advenit.
= Davus is not sleeping in the countryhouse.
= Soon the boys arrive.
The direct object tends to follow the subject of the sentence and usually comes before
any adverbs or infinitives:
Ancilla villam purgare non vult. .
= The maid doesn’t want to clean the countryhouse.
The complementary infinitive tends to come before the main verb:
Cornelius epistulam legere vult.
= Cornelius wants to read the letter.
Vocabulary
Try not to confuse the following vocabulary items:
et
est
= and
= he/she is
sub
subito
= under
= suddenly
vox
vexat
= voice
= he/she annoys
sed
sedet
= but
= he/she sits
currit
curat
= he/she runs
= he/she cares for
pater
petit
= father
= he/she seeks
ducit
docet
= he/she leads
= he/she teaches
amat
ambulat
= he/she likes
= he/she walks
tu
tum
dum
== you [singular]
= then
= while
semper
saepe
= always
= often
statim
stat
statua
= immediately
= he/she stands
= statue
ibi
ubi
= there
= where/when
eum
eam
eos
= him/it
= her/it
= them