[1] Expressing likes / dislikes: grātus, -a, -um
The default
expressions in English are, for example, I (don’t) like, love,
enjoy etc. However, other European languages can use expressions which
do not make the person the subject of the ‘liking’ but rather the person /
thing that is pleasing to that person. In the three examples
below, all three languages use an indirect object, which in German and Russian,
are specifically expressed – as they are in Latin – by the dative case.
(Fr.) Cette
robe me plaît. This dress is pleasing to me.
= I like this dress.
(Gmn.) Dieser Mann
gefällt mir: This man is pleasing to me. = I like
this man.
(Russ.) Eto
vino mne nravitsya. This wine is pleasing to me.
= I like this wine.
In the text, we
see a similar pattern with adjectives:
grātus, -a, -um:
agreeable; pleasing (an adjective, not a verb)
Servus dominō grātus est.
The slave is pleasing to the master = The master likes the
slave.
Hic liber
nōn mihi grātus est. This book is not
pleasing to me = I don’t like this book.
Haec īnsula
est grāta mihi. This island is pleasing to me
= I like this island.
From a previous
post:
Magnum domicilium
est dominō et dominae grātum. The large
residence is pleasing to the master and mistress = The master
and mistress like the large dwelling.
When translating –
anything – from Latin into English, it is advisable at the early stages, to
stick as closely as possible to the Latin original, even if it sounds a little
stilted, so that you see exactly how the grammar of Latin is working.
Servus
dominō grātus est.
[i] The slave is
pleasing to the master. [ii] The master likes the slave.
While, of course,
[i] above is a way of expressing the idea in English, it would not be the one
that we would usually choose. After you become confident with any construction
and you know how it is working, then you can [ii] be more ‘loose’ in translation
provided that you still convey the meaning.
Hortī pulchrī puerīs et
puellīs grātī sunt.
[i] Beautiful
gardens are pleasing to boys and girls. [ii] Boys and girls
like / enjoy beautiful gardens.
Tabernae et puellīs et
servīs sunt grātae.
[i] The shops are
pleasing to both the boys and the slaves. [ii] Both the boys
and the slaves like the shops.
Soleae et tunicae
novae servīs sunt grātae.
[i] The sandals
and new tunics are pleasing to the slaves. [ii] The slaves
like the sandals and new tunics.
Tunicae rubrae
sunt Cornēliae grātae sed tunicae albae Secundae sunt grātae.
Cornelia likes the
red tunics but Secunda likes the white tunics.
Soleae rubrae
et Cornēliae et Secundae sunt grātae.
Both Cornelia and
Secunda like the red sandals.
Look carefully at
the use of two cases in this sentence:
Statuae ¦ deārum [genitive
plural] ¦ puellīs [dative plural] sunt grātae.
[i] The statues
¦ of the goddesses ¦ are pleasing to the
girls. [ii] The girls like the statues of the goddesses.
Praemia
dīligentiae sunt grāta discipulīs.
[i] Prizes for
hard work are pleasing to the pupils [ii] Pupils like
[getting] prizes for their hard work.
The second option
is a better rendering of the sentence, but it is important not to bypass [i] so
that you are sure how the Latin sentence is formed.
From a previous
post:
Domicilia pulchra
dominīs Rōmānīs semper sunt grāta.
[i] Beautiful
residences are always pleasing to the Roman masters. [ii] The Roman masters
always like beautiful residences.
And here is the
opening of a letter from Cicero – you met him when he was talking about
Aristotle in an earlier post:
Gratae mihi vehementer tuae
litterae fuerunt.
Your letter was
exceedingly pleasing to me [litterae is plural but
it is commonly used to refer to one letter] = I was exceedingly pleased with
your letter.
[2] The other
three adjectives, namely [i] amīcus, -a, -um: friendly [ii] cārus,
-a, um: dear and [iii] proximus, -a, -um: next; very near; near
by, also, like grātus, belong to a small group of adjectives which
are followed by the dative and are all conveyed by English equivalents with the
preposition to or towards:
Cornēlia et
Secunda ¦ servīs ¦ sunt amīcae.
Cornelia and
Secunda are friendly ¦ to / towards the slaves.
Īnsula nōn est ¦
Italiae ¦ proxima. Īnsula est Graeciae proxima.
The island is not
¦ close ¦ to Italy. The island is ¦ very near ¦ toGreece.
Graecia pulchra ¦
Rosae ¦ est cāra.
Beautiful Greece
is dear ¦ to Rosa.
Cornēlia quoque ¦
Annae ¦ est cāra.
Cornelia is also
dear ¦ to Anna. Again, other translations are possible e.g.
Anna feels / has affection for Cornelia.
Servae ¦ fīliābus
¦ sunt cārae.
[i] The slave-girls are dear ¦ to the daughters. [ii] The daughters feel affection for the slave-girls.
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