A feature of Latin with which you need to become familiar is that the cases very often operate without prepositions, whereas other languages e.g. English and French, which do not have case systems, need prepositions to convey the same idea. The absence of prepositions can sometimes make case usages more challenging to spot.
The ablative of description, also known as the ablative of quality, is used to describe a person’s personal qualities or physical features; English conveys this idea with the prepositions with and of, for example ‘a man of great wisdom’ or ‘a man with long hair’. This is generally expressed in Latin by using a noun and an adjective in the ablative case:
nāsus: nose
> vir ¦ magnō nasō: a man ¦ with a big nose
barba; capillus
> vir ¦ [i] barbā albā et [ii] capillō prōmissō: a man ¦ [i] with a white beard and [ii] long hair
oculī
> fēmina ¦ oculīs caeruleīs: a lady ¦ with blue eyes
prudentia: wisdom
> vir ¦ magnā prudentiā: a man ¦ of great wisdom
statūra: height; size of the body
Puerī ¦ statūrā parvā ¦ sunt. The boys are ¦ small in stature.
statūrā parvā / haud magnā: small / not big in stature
statūrā procerā / magnā: tall / big in stature
statūrā mediā: medium height; medium build
A good way of remembering case usages is to learn a quotation which illustrates the point; the quotation from Cicero in the previous post well illustrates this particular use.
summus, -a, -um: highest
ingenium: intelligence; genius; natural character
scientia: knowledge; learning
cōpia: abundance; (here) ability
Aristotelēs, vir ¦ [i] summō ingeniō, [ii] scientiā, [iii] cōpiā
Aristotle, a man of the greatest genius, learning and ability
Look at the image posted and describe the hair using the ablative of description. Here are the adjectives to use:
cōmptus, -a, -um: taken care of; combed
incōmptus, -a, -um: untidy; messy
ōrnātus, -a, -um: adorned; decorated
tōnsus, -a, -um: shaved; clipped
[1] puella ¦ capill__ __________
[2] puerulus …
[3] fēmina …
[4] discipulus …
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