23.02.24: declensions [1] first and second declension

In the first post on cases, it was explained that Latin nouns have endings depending on what function they perform in a sentence. You already saw a small example of this when looking at the vocative case e.g.

Nominative: Mārcus

Vocative: Mārce

Nominative: Iūlius

Vocative: Iūlī

However, the case endings are not the same for all nouns. Latin nouns are placed into one of five groups depending on the endings which they have. These groups are called declensions. Here, we are looking at two declensions:

[1] nouns ending in -a belong to the first declension

[2] nouns ending in [i] –us and [ii] –um belong to the second declension

[1] Most nouns in the first declension are feminine in gender although, as you have already seen, a few which refer to occupations that were associated with males are masculine. Nevertheless, they all take the same endings.

• ancilla: maidservant
• Hispānia: Spain
• magistra: teacher (f)
• mēnsa: table
• Rōma: Rome
• taberna: shop

A few examples of masculine nouns in the first declension:

• agricola: farmer
• aurīga: charioteer
• poēta: poet

[2] [i] Nouns ending in -us in the second declension are almost all masculine, although, again, there are a few which are feminine but they take the same endings.

• amīcus: friend
• calceus: shoe
• fīlius: son
• lectus: bed; couch
• oculus: eye
• sagittārius: archer

While there are quite a few second declension nouns in -us which are feminine, many of them are very rare. Below are some more common ones:

• Aegyptus: Egypt
• quercus: oak tree
• fāgus: beech tree
• humus: ground
• pīnus: pine tree
• pōmus: fruit; fruit tree

A small group of nouns ending in -er and -ir also belong to the second declension; they are all masculine, for example:

• ager: field
• liber: book
• vir: man

[ii] Nouns ending in -um in the second declension are neuter.

• Eborācum: York
• librārium: bookcase; library
• Londinium: London
• tēctum: roof
• tēlum: javelin
• vīnum: wine

Take a look at the words below; to which declension (first or second) do they belong? It’s a straightforward task because all you have to do is look at the ending. Don’t be concerned by the meanings of some of these words; the new words will come in the next post.

1. argentārius
2. armārium
3. ātrium
4. Britannia
5. cubiculum
6. culīna
7. discipulus
8. fenestra
9. fluvius
10. galea
11. gladius
12. hortus
13. magister
14. mēnsa
15. nūntius
16. papȳrus
17. peristȳlium
18. plaustrum
19. pōculum
20. puer
21. sella
22. signifer
23. stilus
24. tabula
25. templum
26. trīclīnium
27. via

In the next post, you will begin to see how crucial it is to know to which declension a noun belongs.

The image below summarises the endings of the first and second declension.

23.02.24: verb esse (to be); talking about jobs

esse: to be; one of the most important verbs to know in Latin

sum: I am

es: you (singular) are

est: he / she / it is

sumus: we are

estis: you (plural) are

sunt: they are

[i] The first point to note is the absence of pronouns i.e. the words ‘I, you etc.’ Latin does have pronouns, and we will look at them, but the verb endings themselves indicate what in grammar is called the person and number i.e. who is performing the action and whether more than one person is performing that action; sum means ‘I am’ and the meaning is clear without the need for pronouns.

[ii] Latin verbs have two forms for ‘you’ depending on whether you are talking to one person or more than one person. Unlike, for example, French, German and Spanish, where the status of the person and / or your relationship with that person will determine which form of ‘you’ is used, that is not the case in Latin: whether you are talking to a slave, your sister, a shopkeeper or an emperor, you use the singular form.

[iii] In terms of grammar, we refer to the forms of the verb as follows:

sum: first person singular

es: second person singular

est: third person singular

sumus: first person plural

estis: second person plural

sunt: third person plural

It is important to become familiar with these terms since they are used all the time when discussing verb forms.

Now, it is easy to say what job you do. However, if you’re a graphic designer, then Classical Latin will not provide you with a word for it. Therefore, you can either find a ‘New Latin’ word (i.e. words that have been created in Latin to serve our contemporary needs, and such information is available online) or you can simply lie and say that you train gladiators….

Salvē! Nōmen mihi Gāius est. Lanista sum.

Hello, my name’s Gaius. I am a gladiator trainer.

Nūntius es. You (sg.) are a messenger

Iūlia ancilla est. Julia is a maidservant.

And we can [i] add -ne to the verb to ask questions and [ii] put nōn before the verb to make the statement negative:

Esne magister? Are you a teacher?

Minimē, magister nōn sum. Medicus sum. No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a doctor.

Estne agricola? Is he a farmer?

Minimē, agricola nōn est. Rēx est. No, he's not a farmer. He's the king.

Look carefully at the list of jobs below. You will see that the nouns have been divided into groups. For the purposes of the next post on declensions, focus on those nouns that end in [i] –(i)us, [ii] -er and [iii] -a; the other nouns we will look at in a later post.

Group [i]: ending in –(i)us

-us

• architectus: architect; master builder
• coquus: cook
• discipulus: pupil; student
• grammaticus: a grammar school or secondary school teacher of grammar (originally Latīn or Greek)
• lēgātus: envoy; ambassador (a word that commonly occurs in Latīn literature since, during battles, they were often sent to negotiate settlements)
• medicus: doctor
• servus: slave; servant
• vīlicus: steward of a farm or an estate

-ius

• argentārius / mēnsārius: banker; money-changer
• ēmissārius: spy
• gemmārius: jeweller
• nūntius: messenger
• plumbārius: plumber
• raedārius: coach / carriage driver
• sagittārius: archer

Group [iī] ending in -er

• faber: carpenter; workman
• magister: teacher
• signifer: standard-bearer (in the army)

Group [iiī] ending in -a

Masculine

• agricola: farmer
• aurīga: charioteer
• lanista: trainer / manager of a team of gladiators
• nautā: sailor
• pīrāta: pirate
• poēta: poet

Feminine

• ancilla: maidservant
• discipula: pupil (f)
• magistra: teacher (f)
• medica: doctor (f)
• rēgīna: queen

Be able to recognise the following nouns, but don’t focus on their endings yet.

• gladiātor: gladiator
• imperātor: commander; general; emperor
• pāstor: shepherd
• piscātor: fisherman; piscātrīx: fisherwoman
• pistor: baker (m); pistrīx: baker (f)
• scrīptor: writer (m); scrīptrīx: writer (f)
• textor: weaver (m); textrīx: weaver (f)
• tōnsor: barber (m); tōnstrīx: barber (f)
• vēnditor: seller; vendor
• cōnsul: consul (the highest political office in the Roman republic)
• caupō: innkeeper
• fullō: fuller (a launderer; a person who finished processing fabric, later to be made into clothing, blankets etc.)
• iūdex: judge
• rēx: king
• mīles: soldier

[i] The images show some of the occupations in Ancient Rome. Can you match them with the words from the list above?

[ii] A more detailed list of second declension masculine nouns ending in -er is also posted below.

23.02.24: Declensions and cases [1] (nominative; vocative)

Anybody who has ever picked up a book teaching Latin always fears these words! Too often, learners are faced with seemingly interminable tables of endings and grammatical rules which they need to memorise immediately.

While declensions and cases are of great importance in the study of Latin – and they cannot be avoided – it is better to acquire knowledge gradually with plenty of practice to ensure that each step is confidently and securely learnt.

We will begin with cases.

A noun can perform different functions in a sentence. Look at the English examples below.

• My friend works in London.
• Did you see my friend?
• This is my friend’s car.
• I gave the money to my friend.
• Are you going there with my friend?

You can see that the noun ’friend’ can, for example, be the subject of the sentence, the person doing the action (My friend works in London) or the person who is the object of the action (Did you see my friend?) or who owns something (my friend’s car). English is heavily reliant on word order and prepositions (to my friend; with my friend) to indicate the specific function of a noun in a sentence. Apart from ‘s in ‘my friend’s car’, the noun itself does not change.

The endings of Latin nouns do change depending on their function. The functions are called cases. Here we will deal with two; in fact, you have already learnt two cases without even realising!

Nominative case: subject; predicate

The nominative case is used for nouns which are:

[1] the subject of the sentence, the person or thing performing the action contained in the verb, or the person / thing being described:

• Amīcus meus Rōmae labōrat. My friend works in Rome.
• Quantī cōnstat hic gladius? How much does this sword cost?
• Iūlius est Rōmānus. Julius is a Roman.

[2] the predicate nominative of the sentence; this is most commonly found after the verb ‘to be’; est may be, as in English, between the subject and the predicate, for example:

• Amīcus meus est Rōmānus. My friend is a Roman.
• Britannia [nominative] est īnsula [nominative]. Britannia is an island.
• Vocative case: talking directly to someone (or something)

Vocative case: addressing people directly

[i] Earlier in the posts you learned that, when males are addressed directly, a name ending in -us changes to -e, and a name ending in -ius changes to -ī. This is the vocative case.

Nominative Mārcus est amīcus meus. Marcus is my friend.

> Vocative Salvē, Marce! Hello, Marcus!

Nominative Iūlius est agricola. Julius is a farmer.

> Vocative Cūrā ut valeās, Iūlī! Take care, Iulius!

[ii] The vocative case is also used with other masculine nouns in –(i)us that are not proper nouns i.e. they are not personal names, but they have a vocative in -e

Nominative: amīcus (friend)

> Vocative: amīce

Nominative socius (ally)

> Vocative: socie

[iii] An exception is fīlius (son) which has the same vocative ending as a proper noun ending in -ius:

Nominative fīlius

> Vocative fīlī

[iv] Meus in the vocative case changes to mī:

Nominative Iūlius est fīlius meus. Julius is my son.

Vocative Valē, fīlī mī! (or mī fīlī) Farewell, my son!

[v] A noun in the vocative case may be preceded by an exclamatory ō! (like the English ‘oh’).

Nominative Mārcus est amīcus meus. Marcus is my friend.

> Vocative Ō amīce mī! Salvē! Oh, my friend! Hello!

[vi] The vocative case is not used with any other nouns, nor is it used in the plural at all: in all other nouns, the nominative is the same as the vocative. The vocative does occur in adjectives ending in -us which you will study later.

[vii] Technically, the vocative case can also be used when talking directly to inanimate nouns that end in –(i)us. If you’re in the habit of talking to your garden, then you would say Ō horte! (Oh, garden!) Ō horte mī! (Oh, my garden!) – but not many do, including the Romans, nor did Winston Churchill when his form master explained to him:

"Mensa, O table, is the vocative case," he replied.

"But why O table?" I persisted in genuine curiosity.

"O table – you would use that in addressing a table, in invoking a table." And then seeing he was not carrying me with him, "You would use it in speaking to a table."

"But I never do," I blurted out in honest amazement.

"If you are impertinent, you will be punished, and punished, let me tell you, very severely," was his conclusive rejoinder.

But if you do wish to address, invoke or speak to a river then you know how to do it: Ō fluvie!

23.02.24: A stranger in town …; asking for information; places in a town

Dīc mihi, … Tell me … [Literally: say to me…]

Dīc mihi, quaesō, … Tell me, please, … [quaesō: I ask, but, when you are speaking, it can translate as ‘please’]

Dīc mihi, quaesō, estne …? Tell me, please, is there …? [remember: -ne creates a question]

Dīc mihi, quaesō, estne macellum …? Tell me, please, is there a market …?

Dīc mihi, quaesō, estne macellum ¦ in vīcīnitāte? Tell me, please, is there a market in the neighbourhood?

Here are some places you would have found in Ancient Rome; how would you ask if there was one nearby?

1. fluvius: river
2. argentāria: banking-house; bank
3. caupōna: inn; tavern
4. laniēna: butcher’s shop
5. piscina: swimming pool
6. popīna: a place where food and drink were sold; cook-shop; eating-house
7. taberna: shop
8. taberna lībrāria: bookshop
9. tōnstrīna: barber’s shop
10. amphitheātrum: amphitheatre
11. dēversōrium / hospitium : inn; lodging house
12. forum: public place, marketplace
13. forum boārium: cattle-market
14. forum olitōrium: vegetable market
15. forum piscātōrium: fish market
16. macellum: food market
17. pistrīnum: bakery
18. templum: temple
19. theātrum: theatre
20. thermopōlium: place where food and hot drinks were sold, similar to a restaurant or café
21. valētūdinārium: hospital

The images show [1] a bakery in Pompeii [2] Trajan's Market in Rome [3] a 'thermopolium' i.e. a fast-food restaurant long before McDonald's thought it up! [4] the fishmonger's at Ostia [5] a lady patiently waiting while the joint is cut in the butcher's

22.02.24: Asking questions [1]; saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’

There are different ways of asking questions in Latin. Here, we will focus on two of them.

[1] If the sentence begins with an INTERROGATIVE word i.e. a word which asks a question e.g. ‘who?’ ‘what?’ ‘where?’ then that word in itself indicates that a question is being asked, for example:

QUID est tibi nōmen? WHAT is your name?

QUIS est haec puella? WHO is this girl?

CUIUS est hic liber? WHOSE is this book?

QUANTĪ cōnstat hoc vīnum? HOW MUCH does this wine cost?

[2] Some lines from the Renaissance poet Crotti illustrate another way of asking questions in Latin:

1. Hicne amor est? hicne est furor? aut īnsānia mentis?

2. Nōlō, volō, atque iterum nōlō, iterumque volō.

3. Hicne gelū est? hicne est ignis?

1. Is this love? Is this frenzy? Or a sickness of the mind?

2. I don't want (it), I want (it), and again I don't want (it), and again I want (it)

3. Is this frost? Is this fire?

Note the use of -ne. In grammar, it is known as an [i] enclitic [ii] particle:

[i] Enclitic means that it is attached to the preceding word i.e. hic > hicne

[ii] A particle is a word that has no meaning of its own, but is used in combination with another word to convey a certain idea; in this construction, it makes the word the focus of a question:

[Statement] Hic est amor. > [Question] Hicne amor est? This is love. > Is this love?

Hicne est frāter tuus? Is he your brother?

Hocne est templum? Is this a temple?

When used, -ne is attached to the first word of the sentence:

Tūne Rōmānus / Rōmāna es? Are you a Roman [m] / a Roman [f]?

Estne pater tuus domī? Is your father at home?

Estne tibi penna? Do you have a pen? (Literally: Is there a pen to you?)

Here are some food and drink items; practise asking if the person has them. Do not be concerned about the gender or endings of the words; simply become used to asking ‘Estne tibi…?’ ‘Do you have…?’

• aqua: water
• lac: milk
• vīnum: wine
• cāseus: cheese
• cārō: meat
• frūmentum: grain
• mālum: an apple
• oleum: oil
• pānis: bread
• piper: pepper
• sāl: salt

Answering yes and no

There are no words in Latin which exclusively mean ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

The idea of ‘yes’ can be expressed by a range of words and phrases. Here are some of them:

ita / ita vērō / sīc / etiam: yes

To express ‘no’ you can use:

minimē: no

minimē vērō: (more emphatic) not at all

Be careful: the word nōn in Latin does not mean 'no' even though it has that meaning in Modern French; nōn means 'not' and makes a verb negative.

Another way to respond to a yes / no question is to repeat the verb, in the positive for "yes" and in the negative for "no".

Estne haec puella Rōmāna? Est. Is this girl Roman? Yes, she is.

Estne hic puer Rōmānus? Nōn est. Is this boy Roman? No, he isn’t.

Valēsne? Are you well? Valeō, grātiās tibi agō. Yes, I'm well, thanks = Yes, I am, thanks.

Answer the following questions either positively or negatively; the vocabulary was introduced in earlier posts.

Estne tibi frāter? Do you have a brother?

> Ita, frāter mihi est. Yes, I have a brother.

Estne tibi soror?

> Minimē, mihi nōn est soror. No, I don't have a sister.

Estne tibi fīlius?

Estne tibi fīlia?

Estne tibi marītus?

Estne tibi uxor?

Estne tibi equus?

Estne tibi vīlla?

Estne tibi aurum?

The image shows bread that would be as appetizing as the 1,700 year old egg featured in an earlier post. This bread, incised into eight triangles, was being baked in the town of Herculaneum on the day in AD79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Herculaneum was hit by a devastating pyroclastic flow which carbonised the bread. The second image from a fresco shows the same bread in a more edible condition! The third image is from Pompeii, which was also destroyed by the eruption.

How did the citizen of Pompeii [i] greet the baker and [ii] ask him how he was?

How did he ask the baker if he had any bread?

And can you remember from an earlier post how he would ask the baker how much the bread cost?

22.02.24: tuus, tua, tuum; eius

[1] tuus, tua, tuum are used when talking to one person and can be [i] possessive adjectives meaning 'your' or [ii] possessive pronouns meaning 'yours'; like meus, mea and meum, they agree with the gender of the noun, and are usually placed after the noun.

amīcus tuUS: your friend [m]

liber tuUS: your book

amīca tuA: your friend [f]

pecūnia tuA: your money

scūtum tuUM: your shield

It is important to remember when using both meus, mea and meum, and tuus, tua, tuum that these words do not agree with your gender or the gender of the person you are talking to; they are adjectives and agree with the noun to which they refer. You may be male, but your wine is neuter, and, therefore, vinum meUM. The person you are talking to may be female, but the son is male: fīlius tuUS. This is is the same in French: mon fils (my son: mon is masculine because fils is masculine regardless of the gender of the person speaking) and ma fille (my daughter: ma is feminine because fille is feminine regardless of the gender of the person speaking).

You may think that meus / tuus are simply copying the endings of the nouns e.g. gladius meus, avia tua – but they are not. Those will be the endings regardless of the ending of the noun itself. You can see above that liber does not end in -us but it is masculine in gender and, therefore, liber meus.

Similarly, magister meus / tuus: my / your teacher [m]; māter mea / tua: my / your mother

[2] eius can mean either 'his' or 'her(s)' and does not agree with the gender of the noun:

amīcus eius: his / her friend

pecūnia eius: his / her money

aurum eius: his / her gold

As mentioned in an earlier post, meum, tuum and eius can be used to form an alternative way of talking about names which is effectiveely the same as the English construction. Note that nōmen is neuter and the possessive adjectives agree with nōmen and not with the person speaking or being spoken to:

Quid est nōmen tuum? What is your name?

Nōmen meum est ... My name is ...

And we can now add:

Nōmen eius est ... His / her name is ...

Here are some simple sentences. Translate them into English and refer to previous posts to check vocabulary.

Cuius est hic equus? Estne tuus? Minimē, hic equus nōn est meus.

Estne haec puella amīca tua? Ita vērō.

Estne haec fēmina āvia tua?

Estne hoc scūtum tuum? Minimē, scūtum eius est.

Estne amīcus tuus Rōmānus? Minimē, amīcus meus Graecus est.

Estne nōmen tuum Catullus? Nōmen meum nōn est Catullus. Nōmen eius Catullus est.

Quantī cōnstat vīnum tuum?

Quid est nōmen tuum?

Quid est nōmen eius?

Quis est avus tuus?

Estne haec villa tua?

Hicne est frāter tuus?

Estne hic liber tuus?

21.02.24: meus, mea, meum (my; mine)

Quis est hic puer?

Hic puer est amīcus meus.

Quid eī nōmen est?

Nōmen eī Mārcus est.

Quis est haec puella?

Haec puella amīca mea est.

Quid nōmen eī est?

Nōmen eī Flāvia est.

CUIUS est hoc scūtum?

Hoc est scūtum meum.

Translation:

Who is this boy?

This boy is my friend.

What is his name?

His name is Marcus.

Who is this girl?

This girl is my friend.

What is his name?

Her name is Flavia.

WHOSE shield is this?

This is my shield.

meus [m], mea [f] and meum [n] can be [i] possessive adjectives = my or [ii] possessive pronouns = mine

The possessive adjective usually follows the noun and agrees in gender:

Hic puer amīcUS meUS est. This boy is my friend [m].

Haec puella amīcA mea est. This girl is my friend [f].

Hoc est scūtUM meUM. This is my shield.

Hoc scūtUM est meUM. This shield is mine.

Here are some objects; say that they are yours using [i] hic, haec and hoc and [ii] meus, mea, meum

• stilus
• tabula
• pōculum
• gladius
• casa
• scūtum
• mēnsa
• pecūnia
• vīlla
• hortus
• vīnum
• sella

Now do the same introducing family members and other people; you will see that some of these do not end in -us or -a for male and female. That will be explained in a later post. All the nouns listed are naturally male or female:

Hic est fīlius meus. This / he is my son.

Haec est fīlia mea. This / she is my daughter.

Masculine

• frāter: brother
• pater: father
• marītus: husband
• avunculus: uncle
• cōnsobrīnus: cousin [m]
• amīcus: friend [m]
• magister: teacher [m]
• discipulus: pupil [m]
• avus: grandfather

Feminine

• soror: sister
• māter: mother
• uxor: wife
• amita: aunt
• cōnsobrīna: cousin [f]
• amīca: friend [f]
• magistra: teacher [f]
• discipula: pupil [f]
• āvia: grandmother

Now you can choose your own group photograph and say who the people are.

22.02.24: Expressing possession; expressing negatives

Latin has two ways of saying ‘I have, you have etc.’ but we will look at one using words that you already know:

Quid tibi est? This literally means ‘What is there to you?’ but it translates as ‘What do you have?’ Note: the same phrase can also mean ‘What’s the matter with you?’

[i] Mihi ¦ [ii] est ¦ [iii] equus: This literally means ‘[i] To me ¦ [ii] (there) is ¦ [iii] a horse’ but it translates as ‘I have a horse’.

Tibi ¦ est ¦ liber: (literally) ‘To you (there) is a book’ but translates as ‘You have a book’.

Eī ¦ est ¦ villa: (literally) ‘To him / her (there) is a country estate’, but translates, depending on context, as ‘He / she has a country estate’.

Mihi est amīcus. Eī nōmen est Mārcus. I have a friend. His name is Marcus.

Mihi est soror. Nōmen eī Flāvia est. I have a sister. She’s called Flavia.

And, if you don’t have something, you use the word nōn (not) and place it before the verb.

Mihi nōn est liber. I don’t have a book. (Literally: To me there is not a book.)

Hic liber nōn est mihi. This book is not mine.

Here are some things that [i] you have, and [ii] you don’t have. How would you say it?

[i] You have …

• liber: book
• papȳrus: paper
• penna: ‘pen’ (actually a quill pen; the first meaning of penna is feather)
• stilus: stylus, instrument for writing on wax tablets
• tabula: wax writing tablet

[ii] You don’t have …

• aqua: water
• cibus: food
• domus: house
• pecūnia: money
• vīnum: wine

The images below show [i] the origin of the word 'pen' i.e. 'feather', from which quill pens were manufactured

[ii] 'liber' (book) but the Romans did not have books in the way we have them today, rather they were written on papyrus and bound together in the form of scrolls.

21.02.24: saying what other people are called

In an earlier post you learned how to say your own name and ask directly what somebody else is called:

Quid nōmen tibi est?

> Nōmen mihi [Mārcus] est.

The phrases literally mean "What name is it to you?" and "The name to me is ..." i.e. What's your name? / My name is ...

To talk about the name of somebody else, you simply have to change one word:

Quid eī nōmen est? eī means 'to him / to her' and so the question and answer become:

Quid eī nōmen est? What is his / her name? There is no distinction in gender for the pronoun eī.

Nōmen eī Mārcus est. His name is Marcus.

Nōmen eī Flāvia est. Her name is Flavia.

Remember that Latin word order is flexible and so you will come across variants of the above, for example:

Nōmen eī Mārcus est.

Eī nōmen Mārcus est.

Nōmen eī est Mārcus.

Take a look at the dialogue below, and apply it to your own friends and family.

A: Salvē! Hello!

B: Salvus sīs! Quid agis? How are you?

A: Bene, grātiās tibi agō. Et tū? (I'm) well, thanks. And you?

B: Optimē, grātiās. Quid nōmen tibi est? Excellent, thanks. What's your name?

A: Nōmen mihi Quīntus est. Et tū? My name's Quintus. And you?

B: Nōmen mihi Iūlia est. Quid est hoc? My name is Julia. What's this?

A: Haec est pictūra. This is a picture.

A: Quis est in pictura? Who's in the picture?

B: Hic puer est amīcus meus. This boy is my friend.

A: Quid nōmen eī est? What's his name?

B: Nōmen eī ... est. His name's ....

A: Et quis est haec fēmina? And who is this lady?

B: Haec est magistra mea. She's my teacher.

A: Quid eī nōmen est? What's her name?

B: Nōmen eī ... est. Her name's ...

A: Quis est hic vir? Who is this man?

B: Hic est avunculus meus. Nōmen eī ... est. He's my uncle. His name is ...

Take a look at the image and say who they might be.

21.02.24: Quantī cōnstat? How much does it cost?

Quantī cōnstat gladius? How much does the sword cost?

Quantī cōnstat hic gladius? How much does this sword cost?

Quantī cōnstat vīlla? How much does the villa cost?

Quantī cōnstat haec vīlla? How much does this villa cost?

Quantī cōnstat vīnum? How much does the wine cost?

Quantī cōnstat hoc vīnum? How much does this wine cost?

The whole topic of shopping will be in a later post. For the moment, how would you ask how much each of the following cost? Use hic, haec, hoc. Check the ending of the noun because it tells you the gender and, therefore, whether you need hic, haec or hoc.

• ānulus
• mēnsa
• stilus
• tabula
• pōculum
• cāseus
• equus
• plaustrum
• vacca
• toga
• ōvum
• galea

In the images below you see a Roman helmet (galea) and an egg (ovum) although it may not be a good idea to buy that particular egg since it was excavated in England and dates from the Roman occupation of the country: 1,700 years ago!

21.02.04: Note on word order

21.02.04: Note on word order

The word order in Latin is flexible i.e. the words do not always read from left to right as they do in English. Very often the verb goes to the end of the sentence:

[i]

Haec puella discipula EST. This girl IS a pupil.

Vesta dea EST. Vesta IS a goddess.

[ii]

In a construction which is called the predicate nominative e.g. This girl IS a pupil [X = Y], using a linking verb such as is, the order of the words will often be the same as in English:

Haec puella EST discipula.

Vesta EST dea.

Both [i] and [ii] are correct.

20.02.24: hic, haec, hoc [3]

These three words can also act as demonstrative adjectives i.e. like English 'this sword', 'this girl', 'this temple' and, as in English, they are written immediately before the noun.

hic gladius: this sword

haec puella: this girl

hoc templum: this temple

Quis est HIC? Who is this (person)? Who is he?

> Quis est HIC discipulus? Who is this pupil?

> HIC discipulus Mārcus est. This pupil is Marcus.

Quis est HAEC? Who is this (person)? Who is she?

> Quis est HAEC puella? Who is this girl?

> HAEC puella ancilla est. This girl is the maidservant.

Quid est HOC? Hoc est templum? What is this (thing) / it?

> HOC est templum. This / it is a temple.

Quid est HOC aedificium? What is this building?

> HOC aedificium est templum. This building is a temple.

Remember: the word may end in -a but refers to males and hic (masculine) will be used:

Quis est HIC poēta? Who is this poet?

> HIC poēta est Catullus. This poet is Catullus.

20.02.24: Quis est hic / haec?

Quis est hic / haec? Look at the notes in the previous post and practise saying who these people are using hic or haec. Check the gender and look out for any nouns that have a feminine ending in -a but refer to males. Here are the words you need; match them with the images.

• agricola
• ancilla
• discipula
• discipulus
• fēmina
• fīlia
• fīlius
• grammaticus
• magistra
• medicus
• nauta
• poēta
• puella
• rēgīna
• sagittārius
• servus

20.02.24: hic, haec, hoc [2]

Hic, haec, hoc can also be used when referring to people:

Quis est hic [Masc]? Who is this (person)? The sentence can also translate as 'Who is he?'

Quis est haec [Fem]? Who is this (person)? The sentence can also translate as 'Who is she?'

Remember that some nouns in Latin ending in -a e.g. agricola (farmer) are feminine in grammatical gender but refer to males. With words such as these – and there are very few of them – any word that agrees with them will be masculine:

Quis est haec? Who is this (person) / she?

> Haec est ancilla. This (person) / she is a maidservant.

Quis est hic? Who is this (person) / he?

> HIC est agricola. This (person) / He is a farmer. Even though agricola is grammatically feminine, because it is referring to somebody male, all agreements are masculine.

20.02.24: practice using hic, haec, hoc

Read the notes again in the previous post and practise saying what the following objects are in the image using hic, haec or hoc. Remember: always check the gender.

20.02.24 agreement; hic, haec, hoc [1]

Recognising and learning the gender of nouns is the first task in learning Latin because adjectives and pronouns will agree with the noun. In grammar, the term agreement means that two or more words have the same grammatical form. This occurs in, for example:

‘He is my brother’: we use ‘he’ because we are referring to a male (i.e. masculine gender)

‘These are my books’: we use ‘these’ because we are referring to more than one book (i.e. plural number)

In other languages, however, the concept of agreement goes far further than in English. If you have studied, for example, French, Spanish or German, you will already be aware that articles and adjectives can agree with the noun in gender and in number: (French) un grand jardin (a large garden), une grande maison (a large house), les grands jardins (the large gardens), les grandes maisons (the large houses); (Spanish) el hermano (brother), la hermana (sister), los hermanos (brothers), las hermanas (sisters); (German) mein Bruder (my brother), meine Schwester (my sister)

It is important from the outset to become familiar with, and have a good deal of practice in agreement in Latin since it occurs so often and, because it is clear how one word is connected to another through agreement, the order of words in Latin can be considerably more flexible than in English.

In this post we will look at three words - hic, haec, hoc - in one context.

Hic, haec and hoc can be used in different ways, but are used when referring to a person or a thing things near the speaker. In this post we will see them functioning as demonstrative pronouns referring to inanimate objects, the equivalent of English ‘this (thing)’

Quid est HOC? What is this (thing)?

Now, look what happens …

> HIC est hortus. This is a garden.

> HAEC est fenestra. This is a window.

> HOC est poculum. This is a wine cup.

When the question is asked, the speaker does not know what the object is and, therefore, cannot know the gender. The neuter pronouns quid and hoc are used for this type of question. Similar constructions occur in other European languages where an unknown object is enquired about using a neutral pronoun, for example ¿Qué es esto? (Spanish), O que é aquilo? (Portuguese) and Was ist das? (German).

When the answer is given, ‘this’ will now refer to the object and its gender; in Latin ‘this’ is hic (masculine), haec (feminine) and hoc (neuter):

> HIC [Masc] est hortUS. This is a garden.

> HAEC [Fem] est fenestrA. This is a window.

> HOC [Neut] est poculUM. This is a wine cup.

 

20.02.24: slavery in Ancient Rome

Servus est. He is a slave.

Slavery, however offensive we know it to be now, was big business in Ancient Rome. It is estimated that in Italy by the end of the first century BCE, there were 2-3 million slaves. Soldiers captured during Roman military expansionism, for example, were often enslaved, but so were local populations. Slavery was not based upon race: slaves could be acquired from any of the Roman provinces, and they were bought and sold at slave markets.

Their work could vary from manual or agricultural labour and mining to high-skilled jobs. Many Greek slaves taught the children of wealthy Romans. How a slave was treated was very much luck of the draw: some were well looked after and even gained their freedom in recognition of the dedication they had shown to their masters; the word lībertus means a freed man.

Others, however, were subjected to terrible exploitation and corporal punishment and were sometimes killed, but laws did change to allow slaves to act against cruel treatment.

Tombstones have revealed that certain slaves were held in great affection. The modest little memorial in the images below was to Gnome Pierinis, a slave girl (ANCILLA) who had the special role of hairdresser (ORNATRIX) to her mistress.

Slaves who were freed often stayed in Italy rather than returning to their homeland. They could marry and have their own businesses. The tombstone in the images below refers to Antiochus who was a LIBERTVS (libertus), a freed man and a PICTOR (painter).

20.02.24: Asking and saying who people are

To ask who somebody is, simply change quid? (what?) to quis? (who?)

Quis est? Who is (s)he? The sentence has no word for (s)he; those words do exist, but the verb itself conveys that you are talking about a third person i.e. he or she, and context will determine whether you're talking about somebody male or female:

Agricola est. He is a farmer.

Discipulus est. He is a pupil.

Fīlius est. He is a son. (Can equally translate as 'He is my son' the word for 'my' omitted if it's generally understood that the person is referring to his / her own son.)

Medicus est. He is a doctor.

Nauta est. He is a sailor.

Nuntius est. He is a messenger.

Servus est. He is a slave.

Ancilla est. She is a maidservant.

Discipula est. She is a pupil.

Fīlia est. She is a daughter. (Can equally translate as 'She is my daughter' the word for 'my' omitted if it's generally understood that the person is referring to his / her own daughter.)

Look at the second image numbered 1-6 and practise saying who these people are.

Magistra est. She is a teacher.

Rēgīna est. She is a queen.