25.02.24: negatives and interrogatives

25.02.24: negatives and interrogatives

[1] negatives

You already know that to say you are not doing something is to place the word nōn before the verb.

In silvā ambulō. I’m walking in the forest.

> In silvā nōn ambulō. I’m not walking in the forest.

Agricola in agrō labōrat. The farmer works in the field.

> Agricola in agrō nōn labōrat. The farmer does not work in the field.

[2] interrogatives

Latin has more than one way of asking a question.

[i] interrogative words:

UBI labōrās? WHERE do you work?

QUID spectātis? WHAT are you (pl.) looking at?

QUIS in vīllā habitat? WHO lives on the country estate?

QUANTĪ cōnstat hic liber? HOW MUCH does this book cost?

CUIUS est hic liber? WHOSE is this book?

UNDE oriundus es? WHERE are you FROM?

[ii] -ne added to the first word of the sentence:

In templō orat. He prays in the temple.

> Ōratne in templō? Does he pray in the temple?

In Caledoniā habitās? You (sg.) live in Scotland.

> Habitāsne in Caledoniā? Do you live in Scotland?

You cannot combine [i] and [ii] If you use an interrogative word, that is enough to indicate a question.

[iii] The two above you have already seen. However, two common ways of asking questions which invite yes / no answers are:

[a] nōnne: surely? The speaker expects a positive answer.

Nōnne in Caledoniā habitās? Surely you live in Scotland = You live in Scotland, don’t you?

> Ita vērō, in Caledoniā habitō. Yes, I live in Scotland.

[b] num: surely ... not? The speaker expects a negative answer.

Num habitās in Caledoniā? Surely you don’t live in Scotland = You don’t live in Scotland, do you?

> In Caledoniā nōn habitō. I don’t live in Scotland.

Whether the person gives you the answer you want is not relevant. You use [a] nōnne and [b] num based on what you expect the answer to be.