Lessons I–VI

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson I, §§19-22

§19. Subject and Predicate. 1. Latin, like English, expresses thoughts by means of sentences. A sentence is a combination of words that expresses a thought, and in its simplest form is the statement of a single fact. Thus,

Galba is a farmer
  Galba est agricola
The sailor fights
  Nauta pugnat

In each of these sentences there are two parts:

SUBJECT               PREDICATE
  Galba                 is a farmer
    Galba
  The sailor            fights
    Nauta                 pugnat

2. The subject is that person, place, or thing about which something is said, and is therefore a noun or some word which can serve the same purpose.

a. Pronouns, as their name implies (pro, “instead of,” and noun), often take the place of nouns, usually to save repeating the same noun, as, Galba is a farmer; he is a sturdy fellow.

3. The predicate is that which is said about the subject, and consists of a verb with or without modifiers.

a. A verb is a word which asserts something (usually an act) concerning a person, place, or thing.

§20. The Object. In the two sentences, The boy hit the ball and The ball hit the boy, the same words are used, but the meaning is different, and depends upon the order of the words. The doer of the act, that about which something is said, is, as we have seen above, the subject. That to which something is done is the direct object of the verb. The boy hit the ball is therefore analyzed as follows:

SUBJECT        PREDICATE
             /-----------\
The boy      hit the ball
           (verb)  (direct object)

a. A verb whose action passes over to the object directly, as in the sentence above, is called a transitive verb. A verb which does not admit of a direct object is called intransitive, as, I walk, he comes.

§21. The Copula. The verb to be in its different forms--are, is, was, etc.--does not tell us anything about the subject; neither does it govern an object. It simply connects the subject with the word or words in the predicate that possess a distinct meaning. Hence it is called the copula, that is, the joiner or link.

§22. In the following sentences pronounce the Latin and name the nouns, verbs, subjects, objects, predicates, copulas:

1. America est patria mea
   America is fatherland my

2. Agricola fīliam amat
   (The) farmer (his) daughter loves

3. Fīlia est Iūlia
   (His) daughter is Julia

4. Iūlia et agricola sunt in īnsulā
   Julia and (the) farmer are on (the) island

5. Iūlia aquam portat
   Julia water carries

6. Rosam in comīs habet
   (A) rose in (her) hair (she) has

7. Iūlia est puella pulchra
   Julia is (a) girl pretty

8. Domina fīliam pulchram habet
   (The) lady (a) daughter beautiful has

a. The sentences above show that Latin does not express some words which are necessary in English. First of all, Latin has no article the or a; thus agricola may mean the farmer, a farmer, or simply farmer. Then, too, the personal pronouns, I, you, he, she, etc., and the possessive pronouns, my, your, his, her, etc., are not expressed if the meaning of the sentence is clear without them.

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson II, §§23-30

§23. Inflection. Words may change their forms to indicate some change in sense or use, as, is, are; was, were; who, whose, whom; farmer, farmer’s; woman, women. This is called inflection. The inflection of a noun, adjective, or pronoun is called its declension, that of a verb its conjugation.

§24. Number. Latin, like English, has two numbers, singular and plural. In English we usually form the plural by adding -s or -es to the singular. So Latin changes the singular to the plural by changing the ending of the word. Compare

Naut-a pugnat
  The sailor fights
Naut-ae pugnant
  The sailors fight

§25. RULE. Nouns that end in -a in the singular end in -ae in the plural.

§26. Learn the following nouns so that you can give the English for the Latin or the Latin for the English. Write the plural of each.

agri´cola, farmer (agriculture)[1]
aqua, water (aquarium)
causa, cause, reason
do´mina, lady of the house, mistress (dominate)
filia, daughter (filial)
fortū´na, fortune
fuga, flight (fugitive)
iniū´ria, wrong, injury
lūna, moon (lunar)
nauta, sailor (nautical)
puel´la, girl
silva, forest (silvan)
terra, land (terrace)
[1] The words in parentheses are English words related to the Latin. When the words are practically identical, as causa, cause, no comparison is needed.

§27. Compare again the sentences

Nauta pugna-t
  The sailor fights
Nautae pugna-nt
  The sailors fight

In the first sentence the verb pugna-t is in the third person singular, in the second sentence pugna-nt is in the third person plural.

§28. RULE. Agreement of Verb. A finite verb must always be in the same person and number as its subject.

§29. RULE. In the conjugation of the Latin verb the third person singular active ends in -t, the third person plural in -nt. The endings which show the person and number of the verb are called personal endings.

§30. Learn the following verbs and write the plural of each. The personal pronouns he, she, it, etc., which are necessary in the inflection of the English verb, are not needed in the Latin, because the personal endings take their place. Of course, if the verb’s subject is expressed we do not translate the personal ending by a pronoun; thus nauta pugnat is translated the sailor fights, not the sailor he fights.

ama-t he (she, it) loves, is loving, does love (amity, amiable) labō´ra-t “ “ “ labors, is laboring, does labor nūntia-t[2] “ “ “ announces, is announcing, does announce porta-t “ “ “ carries, is carrying, does carry (porter) pugna-t “ “ “ fights, is fighting, does fight (pugnacious)
[2] The u in nūntiō is long by exception. (Cf. §12.2.)

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson III, §§32-33

§32. Declension of Nouns. We learned above (§§19, 20) the difference between the subject and object, and that in English they may be distinguished by the order of the words. Sometimes, however, the order is such that we are left in doubt. For example, the sentence The lady her daughter loves might mean either that the lady loves her daughter, or that the daughter loves the lady.

1. If the sentence were in Latin, no doubt could arise, because the subject and the object are distinguished, not by the order of the words, but by the endings of the words themselves. Compare the following sentences:

Domina fīliam amat
Fīliam domina amat
Amat fīliam domina
Domina amat fīliam
  The lady loves her daughter

Fīlia dominam amat
Dominam fīlia amat
Amat dominam fīlia
Fīlia amat dominam
  The daughter loves the lady

a. Observe that in each case the subject of the sentence ends in -a and the object in -am. The form of the noun shows how it is used in the sentence, and the order of the words has no effect on the essential meaning.

2. As stated above (§23), this change of ending is called declension, and each different ending produces what is called a case. When we decline a noun, we give all its different cases, or changes of endings. In English we have three cases,--nominative, possessive, and objective; but, in nouns, the nominative and objective have the same form, and only the possessive case shows a change of ending, by adding ’s or the apostrophe. The interrogative pronoun, however, has the fuller declension, who? whose? whom?

§33. The following table shows a comparison between English and Latin declension forms, and should be thoroughly memorized:

Declension of who?  Name of case and use                Declension of domina and translation   Name of case and use
SINGULAR
Who?                Nominative-- case of the subject    do´min-a the lady                      Nominative-- case of the subject
Whose?              Possessive-- case of the possessor  domin-ae the lady’s of the lady        Genitive-- case of the possessor
Whom?               Objective-- case of the object      domin-am the lady                      Accusative-- case of the direct object
PLURAL
Who?                Nominative-- case of the subject    domin-ae the ladies                    Nominative-- case of the subject
Whose?              Possessive-- case of the possessor  domin-ā´rum the ladies’ of the ladies  Genitive-- case of the possessor
Whom?               Objective-- case of the object      domin-ās the ladies                    Accusative-- case of the direct object

When the nominative singular of a noun ends in -a, observe that

a. The nominative plural ends in -ae.

b. The genitive singular ends in -ae and the genitive plural in -ārum.

c. The accusative singular ends in -am and the accusative plural in -ās.

d. The genitive singular and the nominative plural have the same ending.

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson IV, §§35-38

§35. We learned from the table (§33) that the Latin nominative, genitive, and accusative correspond, in general, to the nominative, possessive, and objective in English, and that they are used in the same way. This will be made even clearer by the following sentence:

Fīlia agricolae nautam amat,
  the farmer’s daughter (or the daughter of the farmer)
  loves the sailor

What is the subject? the direct object? What case is used for the subject? for the direct object? What word denotes the possessor? In what case is it?

§36. RULE. Nominative Subject. The subject of a finite verb is in the Nominative and answers the question Who? or What?

§37. RULE. Accusative Object. The direct object of a transitive verb is in the Accusative and answers the question Whom? or What?

§38. RULE. Genitive of the Possessor. The word denoting the owner or possessor of something is in the Genitive and answers the question Whose?

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson V, §§41-46

§41. The Dative Case. In addition to the relationships between words expressed by the nominative, genitive (possessive), and accusative (objective) cases, there are other relationships, to express which in English we use such words as from, with, by, to, for, in, at.[1]
[1] Words like to, for, by, from, in, etc., which define the relationship between words, are called prepositions.

Latin, too, makes frequent use of such prepositions; but often it expresses these relations without them by means of case forms which English does not possess. One of the cases found in the Latin declension and lacking in English is called the dative.

§42. When the nominative singular ends in -a, the dative singular ends in -ae and the dative plural in -īs.

NOTE. Observe that the genitive singular, the dative singular, and the nominative plural all have the same ending, -ae; but the uses of the three cases are entirely different. The general meaning of the sentence usually makes clear which case is intended.

a. Form the dative singular and plural of the following nouns: fuga, causa, fortūna, terra, aqua, puella, agricola, nauta, domina.

§43. The Dative Relation. The dative case is used to express the relations conveyed in English by the prepositions to, towards, for.

These prepositions are often used in English in expressions of motion, such as She went to town, He ran towards the horse, Columbus sailed for America. In such cases the dative is not used in Latin, as motion through space is foreign to the dative relation. But the dative is used to denote that to or towards which a benefit, injury, purpose, feeling, or quality is directed, or that for which something serves or exists.

a. What dative relations do you discover in the following?

The teacher gave a prize to John because he replied so promptly to all her questions--a good example for the rest of us. It is a pleasure to us to hear him recite. Latin is easy for him, but it is very hard for me. Some are fitted for one thing and others for another.

§44. The Indirect Object. Examine the sentence

Nauta fugam nūntiat,
  the sailor announces the flight

Here the verb, nūntiat, governs the direct object, fugam, in the accusative case. If, however, we wish to mention the persons to whom the sailor announces the flight, as, The sailor announces the flight to the farmers, the verb will have two objects:

1. Its direct object, flight (fugam)
2. Its indirect object, farmers

According to the preceding section, to the farmers is a relation covered by the dative case, and we are prepared for the following rule:

§45. RULE. Dative Indirect Object. The indirect object of a verb is in the Dative.

a. The indirect object usually stands before the direct object.

§46. We may now complete the translation of the sentence The sailor announces the flight to the farmers, and we have

Nauta agricolīs fugam nūntiat

D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (1911), Lesson VI, §§48-56

§48. The Ablative Case. Another case, lacking in English but found in the fuller Latin declension, is the ab´la-tive.

§49. When the nominative singular ends in -a, the ablative singular ends in -ā and the ablative plural in -īs.

a. Observe that the final -ă of the nominative is short, while the final -ā of the ablative is long, as,

Nom. fīliă
Abl. fīliā

b. Observe that the ablative plural is like the dative plural.

c. Form the ablative singular and plural of the following nouns: fuga, causa, fortūna, terra, aqua, puella, agricola, nauta, domina.

§50. The Ablative Relation. The ablative case is used to express the relations conveyed in English by the prepositions from, with, by, at, in. It denotes

1. That from which something is separated, from which it starts, or of which it is deprived--generally translated by from.

2. That with which something is associated or by means of which it is done--translated by with or by.

3. The place where or the time when something happens--translated by in or at.

a. What ablative relations do you discover in the following?

In our class there are twenty boys and girls. Daily at eight o’clock they come from home with their books, and while they are at school they read with ease the books written by the Romans. By patience and perseverance all things in this world can be overcome.

§51. Prepositions. While, as stated above (§41), many relations expressed in English by prepositions are in Latin expressed by case forms, still prepositions are of frequent occurrence, but only with the accusative or ablative.

§52. RULE. Object of a Preposition. A noun governed by a preposition must be in the Accusative or Ablative case.

§53. Prepositions denoting the ablative relations from, with, in, on, are naturally followed by the ablative case. Among these are

ā[1] or ab, from, away from
dē, from, down from
ē[1] or ex, from, out from, out of
cum, with
in, in, on
[1] ā and ē are used only before words beginning with a consonant; ab and ex are used before either vowels or consonants.

1. Translate into Latin, using prepositions. In the water, on the land, down from the forest, with the fortune, out of the forests, from the victory, out of the waters, with the sailors, down from the moon.

§54. Adjectives. Examine the sentence

Puella parva bonam deam amat,
  the little girl loves the good goddess

In this sentence parva (little) and bonam (good) are not nouns, but are descriptive words expressing quality. Such words are called adjectives,[2] and they are said to belong to the noun which they describe.
[2] Pick out the adjectives in the following: “When I was a little boy, I remember that one cold winter’s morning I was accosted by a smiling man with an ax on his shoulder. ‘My pretty boy,’ said he, ‘has your father a grindstone?’ ‘Yes, sir,’ said I. ‘You are a fine little fellow,’ said he. ‘Will you let me grind my ax on it?’”

You can tell by its ending to which noun an adjective belongs. The ending of parva shows that it belongs to puella, and the ending of bonam that it belongs to deam. Words that belong together are said to agree, and the belonging-together is called agreement. Observe that the adjective and its noun agree in number and case.

§55. Examine the sentences

Puella est parva,
  the girl is little
Puella parva bonam deam amat,
  the little girl loves the good goddess

In the first sentence the adjective parva is separated from its noun by the verb and stands in the predicate. It is therefore called a predicate adjective. In the second sentence the adjectives parva and bonam are closely attached to the nouns puella and deam respectively, and are called attributive adjectives.

a. Pick out the attributive and the predicate adjectives in the following:

Do you think Latin is hard? Hard studies make strong brains. Lazy students dislike hard studies. We are not lazy.

a. When a person is called or addressed, the case used is called the voc´ative (Latin vocāre, “to call”). In form the vocative is regularly like the nominative. In English the name of the person addressed usually stands first in the sentence. The Latin vocative rarely stands first. Point out five examples of the vocative in this dialogue.

b. Observe that questions answered by yes or no in English are answered in Latin by repeating the verb. Thus, if you wished to answer in Latin the question Is the sailor fighting? Pugnatne nauta? you would say Pugnat, he is fighting, or Nōn pugnat, he is not fighting.