Tuesday, April 8, 2025

07.07.25: Level 3; the ablative absolute [13]: noun + noun; noun + adjective

Given that esse has no present active participle, absolute phrases can be constructed with [noun | pronoun] + noun or [noun | pronoun] + adjective.

Begin with a basic construction “with X ¦ being Y” e.g. Caesare duce: (with) Caesar (being) leader, and then, reword the phrase to a more fluent translation if it is appropriate to the context, for example:

[i] Caesare ¦ [ii] duce:

  • With Caesar as leader, ..
  • Because / since Caesar was / is leader, ...
  • When Caesar was leader, …
  • Caesar was leader and …

Remember that tense sequencing will still apply in translation:

Caesare duce, Gallia invāsa est. │ (with) Caesar (being) leader = when Caesar was leader, Gaul was invaded.

Caesare duce, Galliā invādētur. │ (with) Caesar (being) leader = because Caesar is leader, Gaul will be invaded.

Examples:

noun + noun

[i] fēminā [noun] + [ii] fūre [noun] │ [i] (with) the woman [ii] (being) a thief

[i] fēminīs [noun] + [ii] fūribus [noun] │ [i] (with) the women [ii] (being) thieves

[i] virō [noun] + [ii] fūre [noun], hominēs discessērunt   [i] (with) the man [ii] (being) a thief, the people departed = since the man was a thief …

[i] virīs [noun] + [ii] fūribus [noun] hominēs conveniunt │[i]  (with) the men [ii] (being) thieves, the people come together = since the men are thieves …

noun + adjective

[i] incendiō [noun] + magnō [adjective] │ [i] (with) the fire [ii] (being) large …

[i] cōnsule [noun] + [ii] novō [adjective] │ [i] (with) the consul [ii] (being) new

[i] duce [noun] + bonō [adjective], mīlitēs bene pugnant │ [i] (with) the commander [ii] (being) good, the soldiers fight well = since the commander is good …

[i] rēge [noun] + [ii] salvō [adjective] cīvēs fuērunt fēlīcissimī │ [i] (with) the king [ii] (being) safe, the citizens were very happy = since the king was safe …

Rēge salvō, cīvēs laetissimī sunt. │ Because the king is safe, the citizens are very happy.

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