14.05.24: Review; future tense [10] final: Cavē canēs!

One of the most well-known images from Pompeii is CAVE CANEM (cavē canem): beware of the dog, but, in this brief note, I’ll change it to plural!

Cavē canēs: beware of the dogs!

Three sentences from three previous posts on the topic of the future tense:

[1]

"Sī Rōmānī cum Sabīnīs pugnābunt [future], │ Rōmānī Sabīnōs, Sabīnī Rōmānōs necābunt.

If the Romans fight [present tense] with the Sabines, │ the Romans will kill [future tense] the Sabines and the Sabines (will kill) the Romans.

[2] Ubi hī puerī adolēscentēs erunt [future tense], │ tum vērō Amūlius fātum suum sentiet [future tense].

When these boys are [present tense] young men, │ then indeed Amulius will feel [future tense] his fate.

[3]

Cum redībit [future] magister │ mē nōn inveniet! [future]

When the teacher returns [present], │ he will not find [future] me.

I use a lot of excerpts from schoolbooks – all of the texts that have reviewed the future have come from mainly Julia – a Latin reader, and Initium. These, and others, were written in more ‘modern’ times i.e. post-Victorian where concepts began to be introduced more gradually.

The brief notes given on those three words – sī, ubi, cum – are only small pieces of the jigsaw. In previous posts on different topics, I’ve sometimes said, for example, ‘don’t go there’ or ‘avoid side roads’ or ‘more on that later’. And that’s based on my own experience.

Those three words and a few others can do far more than what the three sentences might suggest. They can take different verb forms and may have different meanings in context.

Personal opinion: we live in an internet world where we want the “answer” now; if we can’t book a flight on Expedia within thirty seconds we’re jumping up and down with frustration.

One of the lessons I learned when studying this language is patience.

14.05.24: review; future tense [9]; the future tense of 3rd, 3-iō and 4th conjugation verbs; working with both types of future tense verb

This next longer text again shows you again the two types of the future tense working together.

From Initium; translation in the comments

Publius is in trouble, and this little dialogue is set in Ancient Rome where badly behaved schoolkids were not dealt with so kindly as they are now!

dō, dare [1]: give

interpellō, interpellāre [1]: interrupt

stō, stāre [1]: stand

doleō, dolēre [2]: hurt; suffer (pain)

__________

effugiō, effugere [3-iō]: flee; escape

cōnsīdō, cōnsidere [3]: sit down

parcō, parcere [3]: spare; have mercy for; be lenient to somebody;

the verb is followed by the dative case

pergō, pergere [3]: continue

quaerō, quaerere [3]: seek; look out for

veniō, venīre [4]: come

inveniō, invenīre [4]: find

__________

redeō, redīre: return

sum, esse: be

pos│sum, posse: be able; it has the same endings as sum, esse in all the tenses covered so far e.g. erō: I shall be > pot│erō: I shall be able; all three tenses of both verbs are reviewed below

____________________

Pūblius: Ō magister, parce mihi! Sedēre nōn iterum poterō. Parce!

Magister: Parcam tibi, sī nōn iterum interpellābis.

Pūblius: Grātiās! Nōn iterum interpellābō.

Magister: Sinite cōnsīdere.

Pūblius: (summissā vōce) Nōn cōnsīdam, sed stābō.

Magister: Nunc pergēmus. Post duodecimam hōram erit prīma hōra noctis, nam post diem veniet nox...

Pūblius: (susurrāns) Cum adultus erō, ut magistrō colaphōs dabō!

Magister: Iterumne, furcifer? Vae tergō tuō, mox ut numquam anteā dolēbit. Sed novās et validiōrēs virgās quaeram. (exit)

Pūblius: Ego effugiam. Cum* redībit magister mē nōn inveniet! (per fenestram effugit)

___________________

[A] Vocabulary and notes:

colaphus, -ī [2/m]: a blow with the fist

furcifer, -ī [2/m]: rascal, rogue, scoundrel

susurrō, susurrāre [1]: whisper

virga, -ae [1/f]: stick

*The word cum in Latin has two entirely separate functions and meanings:

[i] cum; preposition with the ablative case: (together) with

[ii] cum; conjunction; [i] when [ii] since (i.e. because) [iii] although

Dealing with [ii] is another example of a feature of Latin that takes time. How it is used, and what it precisely means, affects the verbs in different ways. This is an example, but, as has been said before, it’s certainly not the whole story.

Cum redībit [future] magister mē nōn inveniet! [future] │ When the teacher returns [present], he will not find [future] me.

Cum adultus erō [future], ut magistrō colaphōs dabō! │ When I am [present] an adult, how I will give [future] the teacher a punch (actually, colaphōs is plural, and so he’ll give him several punches!)

Notice that the Latin sentence uses the future in both in the same way that ubi functions in the text in the previous post.

Nōn dubitābō dare operam ut tē videam, cum id satis commodē facere poterō. (Cicero) │ I shall not hesitate to take pains to see you, when I can [will be able to] do it conveniently.

[B] Find the Latin

1. (it) will be

2. He won’t find me

3. I shall forgive you

4. I shall look for

5. I shall not be able to sit

6. I will be

7. I will give

8. I won’t interrupt again

9. I won’t sit down

10. I’ll escape

11. I’ll stand

12. If you don’t interrupt

13. It will suffer

14. The night will come

15. The teacher will return

16. We will continue

____________________

Publius: O, teacher, spare me! I won’t be able to sit again. Spare me.

Teacher: I will spare you, if you don’t interrupt again.

Publius: Thank you! I will not interrupt again.

Teacher: Release him, Marcus and Sextus. Let him sit down.

Publius: (in a low voice) I won’t sit, but I’ll stand.

Teacher: Now we will continue. After the twelfth hour it will be the first hour of the night, for after the day, the night will come…

Publius: (whispering) When I'm grown up, I'll give the master a punch or two!

Teacher: You again scoundrel? Woe to your rear, it will soon hurt like never before. But I will seek new and stronger rods. (goes out)

Publius: I will escape. When the teacher returns, he will not find me! (he escapes through the window)

 

14.05.24: review; future tense [8]; the future tense of 3rd, 3-iō and 4th conjugation verbs; tense usage

From Julia – a Latin reader; translation in the comments

vītō, vītāre [1]: avoid

sentiō, sentīre [4]: feel

sum, esse [irregular]: be

____________________

"Nōn ita," inquit, "rēx scelerātus fātum vītābit. Ego Rhēae Silviae marītus erō; mox puellae īnfantēs erunt, fīliī meī; ubi* hī puerī adulēscentēs erunt, tum vērō Amūlius fātum suum sentiet."

____________________

[A] Vocabulary and notes

adulēscēns, adulēscentis [3/m or f]: youth; young man / woman

fātum, -ī [2/n]: fate

scelerātus, -a, -um: wicked; criminal

*Ubi hī puerī adolēscentēs erunt [future tense], │ tum vērō Amūlius fātum suum sentiet [future tense].

When these boys are [present tense] young men, │ then indeed Amulius will feel [future tense] his fate.

When I learned French at school, this construction was called the ‘logical future’ i.e. When he arrives … [present tense] but, in French, Quand il arrivera … [future] i.e. When he will arrive, defined as ‘logical’ because it’s referring to something that will happen.

The Latin sentence in the extract does the same.

Ōtium ubi erit, tum tibi operam lūdō et dēliciae dabō (Plautus) │ When I have [there will be] leisure, then I'll be giving my attention to toying and dalliance to please you

[B] Find the Latin

1. Amulius will feel

2. I will be the husband

3. The king will not avoid

4. These boys will be

____________________

 "The wicked king, he said, will not avoid (his) fate in that way. I will be the husband of Rhea Silvia; soon they will be the girl’s children; when the boys are young men, then Amulius will truly feel his fate."

 

13.05.24: review; future tense [7]; the future tense of 3rd, 3-iō and 4th conjugation verbs; working with different types of future tense

From Julia – a Latin reader; translations in the comments

"Perfidus est Paris; perfidum est tōtum Troiānōrum genus, sed perfidiae stultitiaeque poenās dabunt. Tōtum exercitum meum ad ōram maritimam convocābō; equitēs peditēsque in nāvēs impōnēmus, et terrā marīque Troiam oppugnābimus. Ita urbem scelerātam excidēmus et genus perfidum ad Īnferōs mittēmus. Praedam quoque multam nōs domum reportābimus. Tū quoque Helenam tēcum domum ad rēgiam tuam redūcēs."

1st conjugation verbs

• convocō, convocāre [1]: call together; summon
• dō, dare [1]: give; poenās dō, dare: pay the penalty
• oppugnō, oppugnāre [1]: attack
• reportō, reportāre [1]: bring / carry back (e.g. victory, rewards)

3rd conjugation verbs

• excīdō, excīdere [3]: destroy; lay waste; demolish
• impōnō, impōnere [3]: place on
• mittō, mittere [3]: send
• redūcō, redūcō [3]: bring back (e.g. a person)

Find the Latin:

1. I shall summon
2. They will pay (give) the penalty
3. We will attack
4. We will bring back (plunder; spoils of war)
5. We will destroy
6. We will place … upon
7. We will send
8. You will bring back (Helen)

____________________

“Paris is treacherous; the whole race of Trojans is treacherous, but they will pay the price of their treachery and stupidity. I will summon all my army to the coast; we will put cavalry and infantry into ships, and we will attack Troy by land and sea. So we will destroy the wicked city and (we will) send the treacherous race to hell. We shall also bring home much booty. You, too, will bring back Helen home with you to your palace.”

13.05.24: review; future tense [6]; the future tense of 3rd, 3-iō and 4th conjugation verbs; examples in context

From Julia – a Latin reader; translations in the comments

[1] “Vōs autem meliōrēs fortiōrēsque estis hostibus; sī igitur bellum summīs vīribus gerētis, et virōs vōs praebēbitis, mox vōs victōrēs eritis et vestrās condiciōnēs hostibus ferētis. Ego Carthāginem nāvigābō nec fidem violābō.”

condiciō, condiciōnis [3/f]: term; condition; demand; usually plural: condiciōnēs

ferō, ferre [irregular]: bear; carry

gerō, gerere [3]: various meanings but with bellum, it means ‘wage’ (war).

Note: Two words in this extract can be easily misread which is why the author has put them both in the same sentence:

[i] vīs, vīs [3/f]: force; strength; power; often in the plural: vīrēs referring to physical strength

[ii] vir, -ī [2/m]: man; in the plural can also refer to ‘foot soldiers’

[i] summīs vīribus: with the greatest strength

[ii] virōs vōs praebēbitis: you will provide men (manpower; foot soldiers)

[2] “…et līber in līberā urbe tuā habitābis. Sed sī Rōmānī nōn ad pācem amīcitiamque adductī erunt, sed malās condiciōnēs ferent, et Poenōs odiō īrāque petent, tū nōn in urbe tuā manēbis, sed Carthāginem iterum veniēs, et vinculīs mortīque crūdēlī tē trādēs."

addūcō, addūcere [3]: lead, but has a second meaning of ‘persuading’ or leading somebody to a particular idea e.g. ‘peace and friendship’ from the text.

odium, -ī [2/n]: hatred

petō, petere [3]: (here) attack

trādō, trādere [3]: hand over; surrender

veniō, venīre [4]: come

[3] “Hodiē beātus sum, sed nōn semper fortasse rēs bene geram. Et ego fortasse veniam ā Dīs Immortālibus ōlīm petam. Captīvum igitur vinculīs flammīsque līberābō."

beātus, -a, -um: happy; blessed

petō, petere [3]: (here) beg; look for

venia, -ae [1/f]: forgiveness

vinculum, -ī [2/n]: chain

Note:

Here are examples of the two types of future being used in the same paragraphs:

līberō, līberāre [1]: free

nāvigō, nāvigāre [1]: sail

violō, violāre [1]: violate

maneō, manēre [2]: remain

prabeō, praebēre [2]: offer; provide

sum, esse [irr.]: be

[1] … virōs vōs praebēbitis, mox vōs victōrēs eritis et vestrās condiciōnēs hostibus ferētis. Ego Carthāginem nāvigābō nec fidem violābō. │… you will provide men, you will soon be victorious and you will take the demands to the enemy. I shall sail to Carthage, and I shall not break my word.

[2] Tū nōn in urbe tuā manēbis, sed Carthāginem iterum veniēs │ You will not remain in your city, but you will come again to Carthage

[3] Et ego veniam ā Dīs Immortālibus ōlīm petam. Captīvum igitur vinculīs flammīsque līberābō." │ And perhaps I will seek forgiveness from the Immortal Gods at that time. Therefore, I will release the captive from chains and flames.

____________________

[1] “But you are better and stronger than your enemies; If, therefore, you (will) wage war with the greatest strength, and (will) provide men, you will soon be victorious and (will) bring your conditions to the enemy. I shall sail to Carthage, and I shall not break my word.”

[2] "…and you will live free in your free city. But if the Romans are not moved / persuaded (will not be moved) to peace and friendship, but (will) bring bad conditions, and will attack the Carthaginians with hatred and anger, you will not remain in your city, but you will come again to Carthage, and you will hand yourself over to chains and cruel death."

[3] “Today I am happy, but I will not always manage things well. And perhaps I will seek forgiveness from the Immortal Gods at that time. I will therefore release the captive from chains and flames.”